December 2011 Juniper Berry Magazine

December 2011 Juniper Berry

The Juniper Berry magazine has a rich tradition in the communities of Middle Village, Maspeth and Elmhurst. It was first published in 1938. The quarterly magazine is an all-volunteer effort and contains articles on crime prevention, neighborhood issues, meeting reports and notices, neighborhood history and photographs, guest articles, editorials and more.

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Elected Officials to form Rail Task Force

At the October 25th meeting of CURES (Civics United for Rail Environmental Solutions) of which the Juniper Park Civic Assn. is a founding member, elected officials agreed to form a rail task force to deal with the many issues facing the communities of Middle Village, Maspeth and Glendale.

Markey Still Missing...but Takes Credit!

Conspicuously absent from the October 25, 2011 CURES meeting was Assembly Member Margaret Markey. Should anyone be surprised?

Turner Pledges Support to JPCA Issues

On November 9th JPCA President Robert Holden and Treasurer Tony Nunziato met with newly elected Congressman Bob Turner is his Forest Hills congressional office.

Civic helps collect donations for local families in need

Many local families are in need of help this Christmas Season. Stepping up again as they did last year Juniper Park Civic Association Executive Board Members Theresa Riley and Mary Ann Ricevuto are taking their annual Christmas Collection for the Holidays.

Christmas Lights Will Be On Again in Middle Village!

Middle Village is a strong community with families raising their children here for generations.Holidays and traditionsare an important part of family life in this community.

A SMART Move for Christ the King Day Care and Universal Pre-K

For 19 years Christ the King Community Day Care has been proud to offer the community quality childcare starting at 6 weeks of age. Since opening, they have provided professional care that stresses both academic and social growth in a warm and caring environment. According to Executive Director Janine Michel, "The key to our success is staying true to the original vision. We watch for community needs and respond. Five years ago we saw a need to offer a Universal Pre-K program and once again, the response has been amazing!"

Crowley & Council Cronies Pass Legislation to Halt Deportations of Jailed Illegal Aliens

At a time when the people's trust in government is at an all-time low, our Council Member, Elizabeth Crowley, co-sponsored legislation which increases the number of dangerous illegal immigrants in our neighborhoods. Under the recently passed law, Introduction 656, the New York City Department of Corrections will no longer cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents concerning approximately half of the illegal immigrants who get arrested in the City.

Letters to the Editor

Out of the blue one day a call came from Florida. It was Linda Doerrler all excited that her house was in the Sept/Oct. 2011 issue of the Juniper Berry. "Turn to page 41," she said. In the right corner up on the hill was her house! She had a balcony over the garage. Someone was standing on it, maybe her! Her family wash was on the clothesline! (see photo).

Post No Bills Here!

Have you ever heard that phrase "Post No Bills?" Many constructions sites still have this warning. The description "Bills" is a term that is used to refer to advertising and it has survived throughout the years in advertising such as a "Billboard" or a "Handbill." Well, no matter the origin, the meaning is the same; the phrase means do not affix any posters or advertisements in this area.

The Elizabethan error

With apologies to Queen Elizabeth I, whose name has become a synonym for the era which she dominated (1558-1603), Elizabeth the First's deft political skills and strong personal character were directly responsible for putting England (at the time of her accession in 1558 a weak, divided backwater far outside the mainstream of European power and cultural development) on the road to becoming a true world economic and political power and restoring the country's lost sense of national pride. Her legacy is such that students today earning a master's in political science, or especially an international MBA, study her 400 year old actions. BRITANNIA.com

Preserving Green Spaces

Cars, cars, cars. It seems that they are everywhere and everyone has one, two or three in the family. A car is very convenient for getting around especially for those of us in Queens where transportation services are limited and slow but when we get where we are going we all face the problem of parking. Countless time and energy is spent looking for the elusive parking spot.

Resist Overaggressive Real Estate Sales Tactics

Thanks to the banks and their eagerness to grant mortgages to everyone in the past several years, including unqualified applicants, the real estate market in the United States has tanked. Foreclosures are rampant and to further add insult to injury we the taxpayers helped the banks out of their financial mess through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

Captain Michael Cody

The Juniper Park Civic Association welcomes Captain Michael Cody to the 104th Pct. and we are delighted to report that he is a hands-on Captain and responds very quickly to issues affecting our neighborhood. We wish Captain Cody the best of luck as Commanding Officer of the 104th Precinct and we all look forward to working with him in his Command. The following is a message from Captain Cody written in his own words.

Juniper Valley Park's 70th Anniversary

The third of a three part series on the history of our Juniper Valley Park as we celebrate her 70th Anniversary...

Juniper Juniors in Action

The Juniper Juniors are cleaning up this town. See their latest accomplishment.

Interview: KATHY O'CONNELL

The Juniper Berry will be featuring interviews with people from our community, people you see all the time, no matter how briefly, and whom you may want to know more about. This month Dave Shapiro visits KATHY O'CONNELL.

Amazing Stories: WOMAN'S BODY FOUND ON TRACKS

New York Times February 7, 1939 • The body of Mrs. Winifred Rex, 34 years old, of 65-07 Seventy-seventh Place, Middle Village, Queens, was found early yesterday morning beside the Long Island Railroad tracks on the trestle over Woodhaven Boulevard near the Rego Park Station after she had been struck by a passing train and killed.

Amazing Stories: Grand Jury to Get D'Olier Case Today

Newcombe Clings to Theory of Murder, but Lacks Any Evidence for Charge Wants Witnesses Sworn Whether or Not Further Progress is Made He Desires Official Record of Inquiry

Amazing Stories: Confession Forces a Family To Relive Decade-Old Killing

December 14, 1990 • In the 10 years since her mother, Jacqueline Hogan, was killed in Queens, Celeste Stofan and other family members have bitterly come to accept the idea that the killer would never be caught and the motive never known.

Amazing Stories: His Ward and Wife Against Him ‒ A Newtown Game Constable Accused of a Brutal Assault.

Joseph New, game constable of the Township of Newtown, was arrested by Constable Meyers at 4 o'clock yesterday morning on a charge of brutal assault preferred by his ward, Mary Felinck, 14 years of age.

Amazing Stories: To Honor Old Skeletons; Connolly Refuses to Permit Burial of Ancient Bones as Paupers

Maurice E. Connolly, Borough President of Queens, refused yesterday to permit the burial in Potter's Field of the bones of ten Indians and two whites found Saturday in a beach alongside Powell's Cove on the Malba estate, Whitestone.

Amazing Stories: Wilton O. Allen's Death

Gen. Otis's Report Clears a Mystery in Elmhurst Home

Amazing Stories: Fireman Killed in Crash

Hook and Ladder Truck Hits Rear of Surface Car in Queens

Amazing Stories: Bus and Car Crash, Run Wild, Kill 2

A 4-year-old girl and her 13 month-old brother were killed yesterday afternoon when a Queens bus and a private car, out of control after a collision, ran onto a sidewalk where adults and children were standing. Seven persons were injured, including the children's mother, whose condition was critical.

What we do

The year 2012 is fast approaching. When I was a kid growing up in Elmhurst, Queens my friends and I, at P.S. 102, would often wonder and make guesses as to what the world would be like in the future. And what kind of life each of us would be living. We did this from 1960 thru 1967, my years at the elementary school on Van Horn Street. I don't recall our thoughts, our fantasies, took us as far ahead and into the second decade of the twenty-first century. As young children we never imagined being sixty, or God forbid, seventy years old. At the time those people were ancient.

Business Spotlight: GRANDSTAND Restaurant & Pub

I had the pleasure to meet with John Browne, owner of the Grandstand Restaurant & Pub on Grand Avenue in Elmhurst. Once John started his recollections about the restaurant the information literally flowed with many stories about the history of the Grandstand and how the name evoked a recollection of his homeland in Ireland. John emigrated to the United States in 1957. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1959 to 1962.

Younger Voices: "...but I studied Mom, I really did..."

Hello again readers, it's good to be writing for you again. I want to help students in the eighth grade like me who are studying in school and for the TACH test. I want to share tips about studying that I feel are important and the simplest way to study for a test, so trust me when I say this will really help you.

The United States of America

It is with great difficulty and trepidation in which I write this article but the truth needs to be told. In less than a year we are going to elect, or re-elect, a president. The Republican Party debates have been under way for some time and I have to give these candidates, despite their frailties, their inexperience, and their incompetence a little praise for what they're going through. The debates are a sham, a fraud. I find it amazing that every four years all of the sudden these ineffectual candidates are thrown at us! Their smiles are all the same, forced and premeditated. Their teeth appear whiter, larger than normal.

Newtown and the American Revolution

During the Revolutionary War, Newtown Township lay in the hands of the British, and while it is contrary to say so, most of the Newtown folk were Tory in sympathy, if not in actual action. It is not often taught in our schools that so many of the early Americans were appalled at the idea of Independence from their mother country, England. After all, they were, firstly, Englishmen and while they were being much abused by the English Colonial Policy which kept them from doing their own manufacturing, and which bled the colonies of raw materials while taxing them abominably, the colonists here still considered themselves English, and hoped only for a fair representation at home in England, and the relaxation of the harsh taxes. It was therefore, not so surprising when a small band of what today we would call anarchists, began to incite the colonists to rebellion against their accepted ruler, King George, and to meet in unruly bands comprised in great part of the ragged edge of society, the unemployed and uneducated, that the main body of colonists looked upon the Independence movement, at first, as a dangerous idea conceived by a dangerous rabble.

Killy's Korner December 2011

Send info and photos to: KillysKorner@aol.com or write: Juniper Berry PO Box 790275 Middle Village, NY 11379 deadline for next issue: February 15th

Business Spotlight: Paul D'Arienzo ‒ Nationwide Insurance

The D'Arienzo Agency 91-31 Queens Blvd Suite 420 Elmhurst, NY 11373 Office (718) 821-1002 Toll Free (888) 977-2853 Fax (206) 350-2126 Cell (516) 313-1247

THE JUNIPER BERRY

The Juniper Berry magazine, first published in 1938 is an all-volunteer effort containing articles on crime prevention, neighborhood issues, meeting reports and notices, neighborhood history and photographs, guest articles, editorials and more.

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Press Releases

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NYC to be more attractive for criminals around the world

At a time when the people's trust in government is at an all-time low, our City Council Members have introduced legislation which increases the number of dangerous illegal immigrants in our neighborhoods. Under the recently passed law, Introduction 656, the New York City Department of Corrections will no longer cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents concerning approximately half of the illegal immigrants who get arrested in the City.

COUNCIL MEMBER ELIZABETH CROWLEY DASHES HOPES FOR ST. SAVIOUR'S PARK SPACE. Impetuous decision has dire consequences.

Last week, park and community advocates including the Juniper Park Civic Association, Newtown Historical Society and NYC Park Advocates were shocked to learn that the City's Department of Parks and Recreation and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley have dropped their bid to acquire the 1.5-acre former site of St. Saviour's Church in Maspeth, Queens. The groups had been working for 5 years to have this site converted into parkland before the decision to quit was made by city officials without any community notification or input.