Veteran lawmaker
Arthur Katzman stirred a storm as
new City Council Education Committee chairman. Some ill-chosen words
about what he identified as a European tradition of “liking for
learning” were interpreted by critics as an unflattering assessment of
blacks and Hispanics on their attitude toward education. He denied any
intent to insult, insisted his remarks had been taken out of context and
expressed regret at any offense taken, however mistaken the
misinterpretation….
WABC-TV aired Jeopardy quiz shows in which
Transit police officer and former Catholic high school teacher Frank Spangenberg of Flushing won
$102,597. The shows had been taped in the fall. He donated to Mother
Theresa’s AIDS and homeless programs in the Bronx the balance over the
$75,000 take-home limit Jeopardy imposes on winners...Forest Hills
natives Simon and Garfunkel
are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame….
In February, controversy over last-minute
communications between Kennedy Airport traffic controllers and the crew
of Avianca Flight 52 erupted in the
wake of the crash of the airliner into Cover Neck, L.I., killing 75
people…Despite stepped-up security efforts, over 150 tombstones are either damaged or destroyed by vandals over one weekend in Long
Island City’s historic Calvary Cemetery….
Plans to bring back the
Aquacade in Flushing
Meadows-Corona Park appeared to be set back with word that the Borough
President was being advised that only an indoor Olympic-sized pool ought
to be built, if at all. That would rule out an Aquacade renovation….
Tribune columnist Andy Rooney was suspended by CBS News for remarks about gays and blacks he denied
making to a journalist….The government’s third trial against mobster
John Gotti finds him
innocent of conspiracy and assault charges.
Gotti emerges as something of a folk hero in his Howard Beach and
Ozone Park neighborhoods, as people hang “Gotti For President” signs
outside their homes in celebration….
Former Miami Diocese Bishop
Thomas Daily succeeded Bishop
Francis Mugavero as head of the Brooklyn-Queens Catholic Diocese.
Mugavero stepped down after 21 years as prelate of the only totally
urban diocese in the U.S….
In March, the
Community
Bar and Grill in Flushing
closed. It had been the subject of a series of articles in the Tribune
about community concerns regarding drug and violence believed to be
associated with some of its customers. When the Florida owner of the bar
at 42-11 Bowne St. was sent one of the articles, he expressed shock and
took steps to end the lease…State Supreme Court Justice William
Friedman resigned as president of the Queens Historical Society
to protest plans to exclude the Society from the redevelopment of
Flushing Town Hall….
Clair Shulman was sworn in for her first
full term as Borough President, helping to remake that office’s images in
the wake of their predecessor’s scandals. |
State Senator Leonard Stavisky
was rumored to be interested in challenging congressman James Scheuer in
the Democratic primary. Indeed, the AFL-CIO political action committee
was reported set to endorse the State lawmaker’s primary bid for the
eighth C.D. seat. It let its displeasure with Scheuer over a trade bill
vote be known by disendorsing him….
The Trib reported that a federal
indictment was expected to be made against Queens Congressman Floyd Flake for
alleged mishandling of funds earmarked for community projects…A
21-year-old student who alleges that she was sexually abused by members
of St. John’s University’s lacrosse team
withdrew from the school but did not withdraw the charges. The incident
allegedly happened in March in a house on 175th Street near the
Hillcrest campus…BP Claire Shulman unveils the “Discover
Queens” publicity campaign.
The first poster bears the slogan: “We’re more than
airport.”…
Queens State Senator
Andre Jenkins was convicted of
federal charges of participating in a money-laundering scheme. The
assistant Democratic ship was arrested by the FBI after accepting a
briefcase in an agreement with an undercover agent to launder $150,000
through a Zaire bank. Jenkins called the prosecution part of government
“harassment of black elected officials.”…
State Senator Leonard Stavisky,
standing on the steps of City Hall surrounded by union officials,
announced his candidacy for the Eighth Congressional District seat held
by Rep. James Scheuer… Flushing Democratic leader Brian
McLaughlin thereafter announced
his candidacy for the State Senate seat Stavisky was giving up to run
for Congress….The Tribune lands an exclusive interview with
actor Robin Williams on
his portrayal of a Queens car salesman on Northern Boulevard in the film
“Cadillac Man.”…
The slaying of Queens labor political leader
James Bishop in Beechhurst was
seen as potentially figuring into the primary for the eighth C.D. seat.
The former head of the New York Painters’ District Council 9, he
reportedly was cooperating in an investigation by the Manhattan DA’s
office into labor practices and possible mob influence.
Political circles buzzed with reports that
Scheuer would exploit the situation in view of Stavisky’s close
political association with Bishop. After the Bishop slaying, two union
officials were arrested for allegedly making threats against him….
In June, newly installed
Bishop Daily led nearly 1,000
praying abortion protestors in a vigil outside a Rego Park
clinic…Reconstruction of the Queensboro Bridge
closed two lanes of traffic and created one of the worst traffic jams in
national memory…Marlene Manes,
the widow of the former Borough President, reaches a $116,000 settlement
agreement with the IRS on back taxes and penalties for bribes taken by
her husband….
The eleventh reported
suicide of the year at
Elmhurst’s Leben Home for Adults leads to calls for an investigation
of the largest privately-run residence in the City for former mental
hospital patients…The landmark RKO Keith’s Theatre on Northern Boulevard. is severely damaged in a case of arson…Civic and
elect leaders toured Cunningham Park in July, where illegal dumping had turned a section of park into a
wasteland of rubbish and chopped trees….
