| 2002
The
Tribune “went on the road” for a day with the new Borough
President Helen Marshall…
A Steinway Street bridal shop
went bust, leaving dozens of brides in tatters….
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The Queens
private bus strike
ended in August, when a deal was finally struck
between owners
and the workers’ union.
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Plans moved forward for a new
elementary school at the Queens College site…
Neither rain or snow – or a wildcat
bus strike – kept Queensites from getting where they had to
go…Controversy swirled around a move by the Queens
Women’s Center….
The Astoria
Theater turned down its lights for the last time on Jan. 1. The Theater opened
in November 1920….
A mystery rash
sent
students at Richmond Hill’s P.S. 161 home for several days…Mayor
Mike announced plans to march in Queens at its all-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day Parade…Glendale’s Michael Voudouris headed for Salt Lake City to compete in the
Olympics…Krispy Kreme
began baking donuts in Astoria....
Plans paved the way for a mayoral
takeover of the Board of
Education…Trib Assistant Editor Stephen McGuire featured
the Jamaica business that made gold medalist Sarah
Hughes’ skates….
Queens marked the six-month anniversary
of the World Trade Center
attacks with a series of services and memorials…Queens Firefighter George Johnson was one of three of New York’s Bravest
depicted on a postage stamp unveiled in March. The three firefighters
were caught on camera raising a flag in the middle of Ground Zero….
The body of Police Officer Moira Smith was found amid the rubble at Ground Zero
on March 20. The Queens Village mom was the only female police victim of
Sept. 11…Trib reporter Angela Montefinise interviewed Army
Sgt. David Wurtz who came home to College Point with a Purple
Heart he earned in Afghanistan....
The death of
John Gotti in June left the Gambino family without a godfather and the
Ozone Park community without a leader. |
The judge in the Wendy’s massacre trial decided jurors should stay away from the
fast food restaurants while they heard the case…The Trib
learned that plans for a new skating rink at Flushing
Meadows-Corona Park were years away…Security was upgraded to
the tune of $5 million at JFK
and LaGuardia Airports….
The Trib spoke with the wives of
firefighters from Maspeth’s
HazMat and Squad 288 who were lost on Sept. 11.
Minnesota-born Dr. James Muyskens was named the new president of Queens College…Queensite
Robert DeCanio headed to
the South Pacific to compete on CBS TV’s “Survivor: Marquesas.”…
The Trib told the story of a
Beechhurst iron worker who cut down the last beam at Ground
Zero…Army Engineer Andrew Follender headed for Afghanistan…The Trib reported
on crooked tow operations
in its feature, “Tow Truck Drivers From Hell”….
The city’s former top cop, Whitestone
resident Ben Ward,
died…Residents packed the streets of Howard Beach to bid farewell to
their beloved “Johnny” after John
Gotti died on June 10 in a federal lockup….
College Point
residents said they were going to resort to baseball bats to keep their
streets safe…A building under construction in
Corona collapsed under the weight of materials stored at the
site…A late night collision between two boats on
Little Bay left two men dead….
West Nile virus returned to Queens, in a College Point mosquito pool...Borough residents
were introduced to a “cyber” system of tracking local airport
noise…Controversy surrounded planned renovations at the Queens Museum of Art….
The Queens bus strike came to a screeching halt on Aug. 7…Two men were
arrested in the 1999 murder of a Quinnepac
College student. Samiya Haqiqai disappeared on her way home to
Flushing…
Studies showed that Queens’
air was dirty and area power plants were deemed the culprits…The
Skyway Motel became a homeless shelter…The Trib broke
the story that former City
Councilmember Julia Harrison had moved campaign funds into her
personal account.
An Egyptian native was nabbed at JFK
Airport for selling fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11
terrorists…All three of the borough’s
Wiz stores shut down…
City officials declared that P.S.
65 in Ozone Park was safe from contaminants and that the school
would be open to students in September, despite a finding of toxic water
underneath the building….
Jury selection began on Sept. 11 in the Wendy’s
massacre case. Suspect John Taylor was facing capital murder
charges…Community activists met to discuss proposals for development
at the former site of the Elmhurst Gas Tanks…A Queens electrician peddled his way to
Washington, D.C. from Ground Zero in memory of 17 members of Local 3 who
were killed in the terrorist attack.…
Wendy’s massacre defendant John
Taylor grabbed headlines when his attorney told prospective
jurors, “He did it,” admitting Taylor was guilty…Reporter Shams
Tarek uncovered the story of a display at the Jamaica Center for Arts
and Learning that would create a media frenzy – and public outrage. “Falling”
depicted people jumping from the World Trade Center. The exhibit
lasted about one week before it was removed….
|
Queens said
goodbye to
Jam Master Jay in October after the hip-hop pioneer was
gunned down inside of his Jamaica studio.
Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen
|
Former Queens City Councilmember Sheldon Leffler vowed to fight charges that he
violated campaign finance laws during his 2001 bid for Queens Borough
President…Investigators continued to probe the Sept. 30 derailment of
the AirTrain, as the lone
victim, Kevin DeBourgh Jr., was laid to rest…Bobby
Valentine was fired by the Mets….
There seemed to be a light at the end of
the tunnel for the embattled RKO
Keith’s Theatre as development plans were announced for the
site…City agencies gathered in Long Island City on Oct. 17, to
participate in “war games”
– a designed response to terrorist attacks….
Families of the victims of Flight
587 went to Washington, D.C. to protest the location of hearings
on the October 2001 crash…Art
Howe came to Queens to take over as manager of the Mets…
Ownership of the largest weekly newspaper
in Queens changed hands as the Queens Tribune was acquired by an investment group headed by
its publisher for 24 years. Michael Schenkler, and Congressman Gary
Ackerman….
Jurors sentenced John Taylor to death for his role in the Wendy’s massacre, making
him the first Queens man to head to
death row since the death penalty was reinstated in 1995….
Queens bid farewell to Jason Mizell, aka Jam
Master Jay, the hip-hop pioneer who was murdered at a Jamaica
recording studio…Officials announced a bleak future for employees at
the School Construction
Authority….
Officials announced a proposed Auxiliary
Police Booth in downtown Flushing so civilian volunteers can keep
an eye on activities in the area…the Richmond
Hill Republican Club was landmarked...Friends and family members
of 77 people killed in traffic accidents on Queens
Boulevard dedicated a memorial in their honor.…
Police nabbed five homeless men, charged
in the brutal rape and robbery
of a Queens mother in Flushing Meadows Park, and the robbery of her male
companion...The Tribune told the story of a Queens woman’s struggle to bring her husband to the United States
– a man who has been imprisoned by the Chinese government for his
belief in the meditative practice Falun Gong.
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