Jan
Feb Mar Apr
May Jun Jul Aug
Sep Oct Nov
Dec

Mother Nature wasn’t kind
to us – nor were the "powers" that be.

Winter 2003
was bone-chilling, nose-frozen frigid, with more than 50 inches of the white
stuff dumped on Queens. A major malfunction pulled the plug on us on Aug. 14,
leaving Queens – and most of the northeast – in the dark for up to 24 hours
as we sweated it out.

We mourned
two of our bravest, and welcomed a new Trib baby. We dealt with budget cuts
that closed one borough firehouse, and almost cut library hours and garbage
pickups.

We watched
with the rest of the world as the United States captured the "Butcher of
Baghdad," and kept close watch on our Queens neighbors sent overseas to
fight in the Middle East. This was the year 2003 in Queens . . .

A 79-year-old
Douglaston man faced deportation after the feds fingered him as a Nazi…Neighbors
of the NYPD Queens South Task Force rallied to keep the cops at their
73rd Avenue headquarters…Express bus service for eastern Queens residents was
saved from Bloomberg’s budget ax, thanks to a fare hike…

The stage
was set to transform the RKO Richmond Hill Theater into a branch of the
Museum of Sound Recording… Former City Councilmember and borough President candidate
Sheldon Leffler pleaded not guilty in January to charges that he accepted
illegal campaign contributions…It was "Blue Lights Out" at Kmart,
as the retailer filed for bankruptcy and shuttered its Glen Oaks store…A proposal
for a catering hall at Fort Totten gave local residents agata…

Queens’
new Borough President, Helen Marshall, outlined her plans for 2003…A
Queens jury sent Wendy’s massacre mastermind John Taylor to New York
State’s Death Row…

Queens flew
its flags at half-mast to mourn the shuttle crew….City Councilmember
Peter Vallone, Jr., said it was time for New York City to secede from
New York State…State environmental officials moved forward with their plan to
have Phelps-Dodge shell-out $19 million to clean its former Maspeth plant…

More than
30 Queens schools were added to the list of "most improved"…
Queens residents and straphangers did their best to adopt to counterterrorism
enforcement…

It began
with a few flakes and buried us on Feb. 17. The big blizzard dumped 28
inches of the white stuff on Queens, shutting us down for a day…Firefighters
at Engine Co. 261 in Dutch Kills battled a five-alarm blaze, a roof collapse
and a blast at a Con Ed facility on the day of the blizzard. Ironically, 261
was later shut down by the City’s budget ax...

Queens got
flu shots and $37 million for our West Nile "battle of the bugs."…

The NBC
series "Third Watch" filmed a segment in Dutch Kills…Con Ed
removed a utility pole from the middle of a Kew Gardens street…The Trib
followed-up on sinking homes in Jamaica Hills...

Queens was
a big winner when school officials annouced 20,000 new seats in the borough...the
Steinway Piano company turned 150 years old...

Queens went
to war, and the Tribune kept readers informed on security and our neighbors
who went to Iraq to fight…

Actor Adrien
Brody cast the Queens family of Army Reservist Tommy Zarobinski into the
spotlight at the Academy Award ceremonies in April…Gary Anthony Ramsay,
a columnist for the Trib’s sister publication, The Southeast Queens PRESS,
began reporting for Tribune readers from Kuwait…

Tribune
account executive Evelyn Gillen gave birth to a son, Nicholas.

Maspeth
Marine Robert Marcus Rodriguez, 21, died in combat in Iraq...A pep
rally supporting troops overseas was held in Kew Gardens Hills...Flushing
man Nat Broizman held a yellow ribbon rally in New Jersey in protest
of the town’s policy to confiscate yellow ribbons...The City kicked butt in
April, making smokers take themselves to the street to take a drag…

The borough lost a hero this year when Marine Robert Rodriguez died in Iraq, but the borough’s patriotic spirit was never lost.

Budget cuts
threatened to slice deep into Queens libraries, and communities in two parts
of Queens rallied to try to convince Mayor Bloomberg to keep their firehouses
open. Bloomberg threatened to shut two Queens houses – in Woodhaven and
in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City…The Tribune profiled a heavy
metal musician from Fresh Meadows who fought overseas... Nobel Prize winner
Elie Wiesel speaks at Queens College...

Eleven men
were arrested and charged on April 23 with stealing $1.6 million worth of mini-liquor
bottles from a LaGuardia Airport storage facility – and reselling them to
area merchants…A dozen trees in Forest Park were killed by the Asian Longhorned
Beetle....

Queens Navy
Corpsman Ted Bittle returned home from Iraq with a Purple Heart…A four-foot
long alligator was found roaming around Alley Pond Park....

A group
of Queens lawyers and realtors were charged with stealing customers’ identities
to collect on phony mortgages…A State

Supreme
Court Judge ruled that the MTA would have to roll-back transit fares...
A good Samaritan found and returned Jackie Russell – the 13-year-old Jack Russell
terrier/companion of NY1 News entertainment reporter George Whipple…

Engine 261 may have been closed because of budget cuts this year, but Engine 293 in Woodhaven was saved in July.

After 31
years of delivering lunch to the Tribune, Good Food Deli in Flushing
— the place across the street from the Trib’s former office — planned on closing
its doors...

Engine 291
in Woodhaven was saved from the budget axe...

The Tribune
turned 33 1/3 -years-old and prepared for many more years of covering the
news...

A court
decision kept Queens school district office open, as reconstruction of the school
system moved forward . . . Queens Library supporters pleaded with
Mayor Mike Bloomberg to restore cuts to the budget . . . And the city awning
law kept changing signs in Queens . . .

Trib newshound
Angela Montefinise raised the curtain on plans for a 14-story tower on the site
of the RKO Keith’s Theater in Flushing . . . Spraying began in Queens’
annual battle with West Nile mosquitoes as Trib founder, Representative
Gary Ackerman, walked his daughter down the aisle at Shea Stadium, and the
Mets muddled on . . .

Queens cops
kept an eye on the July 4 "bang" . . . A pilot program brought
yellow cabs to Queens . . . A strike was averted at a Keyspan
plant in Astoria, and a last-minute budget agreement saved the Queens Zoo
and lightene the burden on libraries and sanitation cuts . . .

Mayor Mike
came to Ridgewood to remind us that the city can help wuth graffiti removal
. . . Queens came one step closer to hosting the 2012 Summer Olympic
Games . . . We took a peek inside a local group home for adults,
and an appeals court said we would have to fork over more bucks to get from
here to there on city transit . . .

Astoria
resident Fabrizio Rinaldi ate his way to pasta fame on July 5, when he
slurped down more than two pounds of pasta – in eight minutes . . . A Queens
cop became the hero of City Hall when he shot and killed a man who murdered
City Councilmember James Davis on July 22. Police Officer Richard
Burt was honored and promoted for his actions, which officials said "saved
hundreds of city lives" . . .

New questions
came up about West Nile virus in Queens, and the feds decided not to
open a homeless shelter at Fort Totten . . .

A Ridgewood
soldier lost his life in Iraq. Army Spec. Willfredo Perez, Jr. was killed
while guarding a children’s hospital in Ba’quabah . . . Funny lady Whoopie
Goldberg began shooting her new sitcom at the Astoria Studios . . . And
Victims’ relatives held a vigil on Queens Boulevard . . .

They pulled
the plug on us on Aug. 14. With a blip on a grid, we blacked out for
almost 24 hours. It was a too-familiar site – Queens residents walking home
along bridges and boulevards . . .

A new child
abuse prevention center opened in Forest Hills, and Flushing activists took
their first step towards creating a Business Improvement District in
the area . . .

Queens’
kids hit the books as school bells rang in the new school year . . .
There were few surprises on primary night in Queens, with incumbent Councilman
Allan Jennings surviving the only real challenge – a candidate run by the
Queens Democratic Party . . . Angela Montefinise reported on Queens’ continuing
diversity, and the family of a Little Neck hero battled for honors
for his Sept. 11 bravery . . .

Queens marked
the second anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks with memorials,
prayers and quiet remembrance . . . The Trib featured a series of street
name changes memorializing the borough’s fallen heroes . . . Firefighters
at the Queens HazMat Unit recalled their 19 fallen comrades . . .

A Supreme
Court decision allowed XXX-clubs to wiggle in Queens . . . Talks continued
on the use of the former Elmhurst Gas Tank site . . . We waited and watched
for Hurricane Isabel and the Trib featured the plight of an animal shelter
in need of a new home for its homeless pets . . .

Private
bus companies
threatened service cutbacks in Queens . . . Subway crime plummeted .
. . We examined cyberchanges in the postal service, and exposed issues
on the RKO Keith’s Theater redevelopment . . .

Bishop Daily
bid farewell in a Trib interview . . . Mayor Mike announced "big"
changes in traffic on the Grand Central Parkway – part of it opened to
trucks . . . Bruce Springsteen rocked Shea Stadium, and the Trib broke
the new of a new skycraper planned for Queens Plaza . . .

Angela Montefinise
brought her Phi Beta Kappa to a key position at the Trib. beacme the paper’s
youngest-ever managing editor brought new energy to the newsroom in October
. . . The families of the victims of Flight 587 fought for a permanent
memorial at the Belle Harbor crash site . . .

The Trib
featured the opening of the Louis Armstrong House in Corona . . . We
gave readers an update on the sale of the Klein Farm in Fresh Meadows,
and examined controversy over a school book banned in Queens classes
. . .

Another
crash plagued the AirTrain, and the city reached an agreement to extend
leases on LaGuardia and JFK Airports . . . The Concorde took off
for the last time over Queens’ skies . . .

Legislation
extended private bus service in Queens, as a Woodside man lost his life
in the Staten Island Ferry crash . . . Jury selection began in the fraud
trial of former Councilman Sheldon Leffler, and the Trib announced endorsements
in the upcoming election . . .

The Redbird
subway cars were retired, as the Trib called for a permanent Queens memorial
for the screeching symbol of borough transit . . . marathoners hit the
pavement in the New York City race through Queens, and incumbents won big
in the City Council elections . . .

In a Tribune exclusive, we looked at new counter terrorism measures along borough subways.

The Trib
featured what’s happening in the "rebuilding" of city schools
. . . Civics called for a park at the Elmhurst Gas Tanks site, and a
Glen Oaks teen was mowed-down by a motorist on a rainy night . . .

Renovations
neared completion at Queens Borough Hall, and the Trib broke the news
that former City Councilmember Sheldon Leffler was convicted of finance
fraud, examining the issues of the case . . .

The Trib
explosed "Elevated Surveillance" by the NYPD Counter terrorism
cops along Queens subway lines . . .The paper’s bid for a Redbird memorial
was put on track by Borough President Helen Marshall . . .

The Tribune examined the case against former Councilman Sheldon Leffler.

Mets fan
"Doris From Rego Park" passed away, and we offered tops on
holiday "dos" . . .

The Trib
offered an inside look at the behind-the-bars life of Wendy’s massacre mastermind
John Taylor, one year after a Queens jury sent him to death row . . .
Private bus lines kept rolling along the streets of Queens . . .

Kids ‘R
Us stores
joined the ranks of retailers gone bust, and a temporary memorial was removed
from the crash site of Flight 587 . . .

Officials
broke ground for the new automotive training center in College Point,
and the Trib Action Desk continued to break through red
tape for answers to readers’ questions . .

"Blessing
or Boondoggle" examined the pros and cons of the AirTrain . . .
the state issued a pink slip for a Queens Plaza unemployment office .
. . Borough President Helen Marshall continued work on her pledge to return
a Redbird subway car to a Queens memorial . . .

Students
at P.S. 144 in Forest Hills decorated Gracie Mansion for the holidays,
and Queens’ rock legend Joey Ramone was honored with a street renaming
in Manhattan . . .

The Trib
examined violent video games available to youngsters and local support
for presidential candidate Howard Dean . . . The Mets signed shortstop
Kazuo Matsui, and sparks flew over the possible landmarking of Douglaston
Hill . . .

The Queens
Historical Society marked its 35th anniversary with a public exhibit of
"35 Treasures" of Queens, and the city gave Queens some bucks to battle
Asian Longhorned Beetles . . .

The AirTrain
took off for its first ride over Queens on Dec. 17 . . . A controversial
plan by the city to open an asphalt plant in Willets Point drew sparks
from local competitors . . . Convicted ex-councilman Sheldon Leffler
showed up at a Community Board 5 meeting on Dec. 10 to act as a spokesperson
in a local land use issue. Leffler will be disbarred after his Jan. 9 sentencing
on his fraud conviction . . .

The Trib
examined proposed rezoning in Northeast Queens, and we buried hero Flushing
Firefighter Thomas Brick . . .

A Trib holiday
feature took readers on the Fantasy Flight to the North Pole taken by
young patients at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park. Santa and
Mrs. Claus were at LaGuardia Airport on Dec. 13 to bring Christmas to the kids
. . .

Yankee heartthrob
Derek Jeter’s organization the Turn Two Foundation gave Queens teens
the chance to wrap gifts for underprivledged youngsters . . . A Queens contractor
was forced to stop work on the College Point sports complex after the
city fired him for doing "shoddy work" . . .

The
Trib published its first-ever Immigrant’s Guide to Queens, a how-to
listing of municipal and other programs, and the borough braced itself with
beefed-up anti-terror measures as Christmas and Hanukah arrived with a terrorist
threat . . . We rang in the New Year with anticipation, thanks and
traffic checkpoints .