Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivered on a campaign promise, and reopened Engine Co. 294 in Richmond Hill. The Jamaica Avenue firehouse was shut by the Dinkins administration in January of 1991, despite the pleas and protests of local residents and politicians….

Patrick Bannon was sent to a maximum-security prison upstate for at least 30 years by Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy. Describing the Elmhurst resident as a “thug,” Hanophy sentenced Bannon to 25 years to life for the murder of Housing Police Officer Paul Heidelberger and five to 15 years – consecutive – for Bannon’s manslaughter conviction in the July 1992 death of Flushing resident John Camarda (see page 87)….

Queens teenager Dale Ramphal was acquitted in the December 1992 murder of 16-year-old Ryan Dionne in the much-publicized “Maze” murder case….

The Tribune spotlighted motorists’ ire over cameras installed by the City at red lights, designed to catch drivers who ignore the traffic signals….

Queens Congressman Tom Manton really didn’t need to plan on “wearin’ green” when he prepared to strut down Fifth Avenue as the Grand Marshal of the 133rd St. Patrick’s Day parade….

Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin passed away on Feb. 11. His son Mark Weprin, ran to fill the vacated seat.

Mike Abel was elected in March to lead Republicans in the City Council, sweeping past Middle Village Councilman Tom Ognibene.…

March 13 marked the 30th anniversary of the brutal stabbing death of Kitty Genovese – a case scarred by the failure of eyewitnesses who saw the attack and did nothing to help. The Forest Hills murder has become one of the most significant single-person murders in history, thanks to witnesses who “didn’t want to get involved.”….  

Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn fought for AIDS babies in 1994.

A March Tribune feature focused on a $10 million “slush” fund administered and held by trutees of the Queens Borough Public Library….

A 63-year-old Blue Atlas Cedar tree died in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It was killed, City parks officials said, by poor handling when tree movers hired by the U.S. Tennis Association uprooted the tree to make room for expansion of the U.S. Tennis Center. At a funeral for the tree, City Parks Commissioner Henry Stern pointed a finger at USTA officials, and promised an “inquest” to verify the cause of the tree’s death. The tree was a gift from the Emperor of Japan, planted in 1964….

Police at the 107th Precinct packed their gear and moved into a brand new stationhouse in April. The $10.5 million stationhouse was the first new police precinct constructed in Queens since 1983….

The Queens Tribune, along with News Communications’ other publications, became the first New York City newspapers to be printed on 100 percent recycled paper. NCI President Michael Schenkler challenged other city newspapers to follow suit….

Astoria native and New York City Police Officer Sean McDonald was shot to death when he walked into a robbery in progress at a Bronx bodega. McDonald, who was married and the father of two small children, was shot point-blank when he interrupted the holdup in a store on his beat in the 40th Precinct….

Carjacking became a constant fear in Eastern Queens in April, after the “Silver gun carjacker” pulled off more than eight gunpoint attacks in Bayside, Flushing and Whitestone….

Queens College President Shirley Strum Kenny stepped down from her nine-year stint as head of one of the borough’s leading academic institutions.... School Board 24 member Frank Borzellieri raised more than eyebrows when he called for the removal of books which he dubbed “Anti-American” from City schools….

City Parks Commissioner Henry Stern and Queens borough President Claire Shulman turned on spectators at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on the last day of May, dedicating the renovated “core area” of 28 acres surrounding the Unisphere. Newly renovated fountains were turned on as spectacular symbol of world unity….

Two Elmhurst cops turned the table on operators of several brothels, when they pretended to be on the table, and promised to leave the brothels alone in exchange for bribes. The operators bought the cops’ story and  paid a total of $7,500 in bribes to Police Officers Thomas Lacetera and Michael Zirpoli before police closed in on the men, and the brothels. Cops arrested 20 men, and closed six brothels as a result of the sting….

Queensites mourned the fate of the Ederle Amphitheatre - the Aquacade at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The once-grand, but now crumbling amphitheater was doomed….

Protestors wagged their placards at patrons, employees and management of “Wiggles”, the topless bar industry’s newest addition to the Queens landscape….  

Captain Joellen Kunkel became the first ever female commanding officer of a Queens precinct in August. Kunkel spiced up policing at the 104th Precinct and in the communities of Maspeth, Glendale and Ridgewood….

It was official: Queens was chosen by the I Love New York State committee to host the “I Love New York” campaign in 1995 – and it was about time. The City’s friendliest borough would be the focus of a festival slated to run from Sept. 5 through Nov. 4, 1995 at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park….

Municipal shovels dug deep into the heart of the Long Island City waterfront, breaking ground for the massive Queens West project, and a judge in Manhattan Federal Court decided that trash could be art, ordering the owner of the former Macy’s warehouse in Long Island City to keep hands off a bizarre art exhibit in the building’s lobby….

The City announced plans to evict women from the Flushing Armory Shelter, only to replace them with men….

Subway officials broke ground at a ceremony kicking off the long-awaited start of construction on a connection that wold link the 63rd Street “Q” line (the infamous Tunnel To Nowhere) with the Queens Boulevard line. The cost? Approximately $645 million – and the digging was expected to continue through the year 2002….

Giuliani announced that he was backing incumbent Governor Mario Cuomo in Cuomo’s bid for a fourth term in office….

After weeks of emotional testimony before Board of Education officials, Queens parents held their breath, waiting for a final decision on a revised school redistricting plan….

A Tribune feature exposed the underside of the “Queens Festival and announced the possible demise of the weekend-long borough bash….

Governor Mario Cuomo was out George Pataki was in and New Yorkers prepared to witness the swearing-in of the first Republican Governor in the state since Nelson Rockefeller brought his billions to the statehouse in the late 1950s….

Queens politicians and residents balked at a proposal by Fire Commissioner William Safir to remove fire boxes throughout the City, as the Queens Museum opened its newly renovated doors to Queensites at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, featuring an upscale and updated Panorama of the City of New York….