Free Republic

Unlike Teddy Roosevelt, the president he quoted at last night’s Queens redistricting hearing, Republican Councilman Dan Halloran spoke loudly and did not carry a big stick. Mr. Halloran’s bruising 2009 City Council race in northeast Queens cast a long shadow over the hearing in Long Island City- the third of its kind in front of a commission tasked with the decennial redrawing of districts to reflect demographic changes in the city- where he and allied civic groups clashed with Asian advocacy organizations about whether a neighborhood, Oakland Gardens, should be incorporated into Mr. Halloran’s 19th District. The heavily Asian neighborhood,...

The woman walked behind the man along the platform, mumbling to herself, witnesses told the police, before shoving him into the path of a northbound No. 7 train just after 8 p.m. It is the second time this month that a man has been killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks.

A heavyset Hispanic woman — seen by five witnesses pacing and mumbling to herself — pushes a helpless man in front of an oncoming Flushing-bound No. 7 train in Queens. She was caught on tape while fleeing the crime scene: police. A MAN WAITING for an approaching No. 7 train in Queens died a gruesome death Thursday night when a young woman darted up behind the helpless straphanger and pushed him onto the tracks, police said. The unidentified victim was crushed by the first and second cars of the Flushing-bound train about 8 p.m, as his murderer hustled down the...

Civic Virtue has become a Greek tragedy. Queens residents are protesting the city’s plans to banish a controversial sculpture to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn — which would be the second move for the classic, 90-year-old monument that pols have slammed for decades as a sexist eyesore. “The Triumph of Civic Virtue” depicts a nude male warrior symbolizing civic virtue trampling two women, the sirens of vice and corruption.

Rep. Bob Turner (R-N.Y.) was one of the many whose homes burned down in widespread fires that devastated the Breezy Point community in Queens last night in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Officials estimated that anywhere from 80 to 100 houses were destroyed, according to The Associated Press. Turner issued a statement on his Facebook page, saying that he was safe despite the fire and urging support for those who weren't as fortunate. Here's the full statement: ***** "My thoughts and prayers are with all of my fellow New Yorkers and the many others who are experiencing loss as a...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Firefighters are battling a six-alarm fire in the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens. Officials say the fire was reported at about 11 p.m. Monday and involves about 50 houses situated in a flooded Zone A area. A fire department spokesman says nearly 200 firefighters are currently at the scene. He says two people have suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The four areas where organized crime reigns in America -- New York City, Dirty Jersey, Chicagoland and South Florida -- also account for the lion's share of corruption convictions by federal prosecutors against local officials as reported by Joe Palazzolo for The Wall Street Journal Law Blog. The U.S. Department of Justice has released the number of corruption convictions its prosecutors have won against public servants over the last ten years across the 93 federal judicial districts into which the country is divided, and at the top of the list is New Jersey with 429 convictions. Third on the list...

He picked the wrong guy to mess with. A drunken Queens man went berserk after he couldn’t get an ATM to work at a gas station early yesterday and was killed when he turned his rage to the attendant — a former competitive kickboxer. “I feel bad. I didn’t mean for the guy to die. He called me a Taliban,” said Jasjeet Walia, who was released from custody last night after being grilled by cops all day. “I feel like throwing up. I’m having a bad headache,” said Walia, an amateur kickboxer for seven years in his native Mumbai. Arzeno...

A speeding SUV flying down a Queens street at more than 85 mph smashed into a concrete stanchion yesterday — killing two children and three women and injuring three other passengers, law-enforcement sources said. The scene was so horrific, “one of the firemen cried as he looked at the children’s bodies,” said witness Ray Cortez, 52. None of the victims was identified, but all eight are related and have roots in the Nigerian town of Arondizuogu.

An MTA cop was clinging to life Wednesday after a violent confrontation with a man outside a Long Island Railroad station in Queens, sources said.

Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 candidate for the vice presidency whose position on abortion repeatedly put her at odds with New York’s late John Cardinal O’Connor, will soon be memorialized at Fordham Law School, according to a report in Fordham magazine. Ferraro’s husband, John Zaccaro Sr., and their son, John Zaccaro Jr., who are pictured in the magazine, recently made a “leadership gift” to Fordham in honor the late Queens congresswoman who rose to national prominence. Ferraro died of multiple myeloma in 2011. The gift, whose amount is not disclosed in the article, reportedly will go to support a new Law...

Wow. On the heels of his possible congressional opponent, Rory Lancman, bowing out of a run for Congress, Queens/Long Island Rep. Gary Ackerman is now bowing out too, according to a press release I just got from Ackerman’s office. I am told the Queens Dems are meeting tomorrow to nominate congressional candidates, but two people I’ve spoken to close to the Queens Dems were unaware of Ackerman’s retirement. I also have heard rumors that Rep. Joe Crowley would be interested in this seat, since this would be a favorable district for him, but I have no idea if that’s actually...

Molotov cocktails made from Starbucks glass bottles were hurled at three sites in Queens last night, including a mosque with 100 people inside, a Hindu Temple and a bodega. Cops were investigating whether a nearby fire that caused major damage to a private home was also part of the frightening pattern. One attack damaged the front door of the Al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation on the Van Wyck Expressway in Jamaica at 8:45 p.m. “We were having a gathering tonight, spending some time with members of the mosque after a service, and someone alerted us that there was a fire outside,” said...

A Queens man is very upset after trying to put his trash out for collection and ending up with a ticket. He, and others, are getting snared in an enforcement of a law that few people even know exists. The scrooge award goes to the New York City Sanitation Department for the $100 tickets. Raymond Janson says he received the $100 fine for putting his garbage cans at the curb 30 minutes early. It is legal to put out the trash cans the day before pick-up but the time of the day matters. City sanitation rules say the cans can...

He preys on women with sick, vicious stealth. An armed serial rapist who has attacked three times in southeast Queens in the past two months has been caught on shocking video surveillance pouncing on his latest victim — a 22-year-old woman whom he grabbed from behind Wednesday and dragged by her neck down the street. But the hooded monster’s 2 a.m. strike near 154th Street in Jamaica was ultimately foiled by a pajama-and-slippers-clad single mom of six who lives nearby and ran to the aid of the screaming victim, authorities said. “[The victim] was saying, ‘Please stop! Please stop! Don’t...

AP has called the race for Turner

So a Catholic priest walks onto a tennis court. Seriously. It happens, for Father Paul Arinze, every day at the United States Open. Often, Arinze climbs into the chair, as a certified bronze badge umpire. There, he officiates serves, not church services, matches instead of Mass. Below, players cross themselves and pray for victory or take the Lord’s name in vain. They do not know that while God may not be interested in their tennis match, a clergyman is watching from close range. “Sometimes, I’m tempted to say, ‘You know, you have a Catholic priest sitting here,’ ” Arinze said, reclining...

A Queens party advertised on Facebook and Twitter as "Drama Free" turned into a shooting gallery early Saturday. Eleven young people were shot, including a teenage girl left paralyzed, when a gunman opened fire into the crowd. About 100 people were packed into the backyard of the single-family home on Inwood St. in South Jamaica shortly before 1 a.m., when the shooter sneaked up a back alleyway and opened fire into the yard through a chain link fence. Police said six males ages 15 to 23, and five women, ages 15 to 21, were shot, with bullets hitting them in...

FULL TITLE: Moving on and out: Anthony Weiner and pregnant wife Huma finally sell Queens apartment as they prepare for first child As the Weiners try to put the year's events behind them, it was only natural their marital home - Anthony Weiner's former sexting headquarters - should be one of the first to go. Thankfully for the couple, after putting their Queen's two-bedroom apartment back on the market - after quietly taking it off during the scandal - they have finally found a buyer. Their 875-square-foot home on Ascan Avenue was listed at $449,000 in June.

Much of the attention being paid to Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., is focused on the salacious - whether he sent the lewd picture to a college undergrad or whether he was the victim of a grand hoax. Few are talking about the possibility that Republicans could pick up Weiner's seat. If the scandal snowballs, however, there could be some serious political implications for Democrats from the incident. While Weiner represents a New York City district that's conventionally thought to be safely Democratic, in reality it has trended sharply in a Republican direction in recent years. If Weiner stepped down from...