JAN.    FEB.   MAR.   APR.   MAY   JUNE    JULY   AUG.   SEPT.   OCT.   NOV.    DEC.

It was the summer of mosquito maladies, and Asian beetles chomped up more of our trees... Queens native Joseph Dunne stepped into the NYPD’s only "4-Star" Chief spot... we dedicated a new library to the spirit of Langston Hughes, and mourned the loss of ex-Tribune reporter Kendra Webdale, State Senator Leonard Stavisky, Woodside’s beloved Tom Fowley…and Flushing’s hero Police Sergeant Gary Polito... then cheered as Glendale’s brave Nicole Barrett of Maspeth rallied from the brick bashing that rattled the entire city...

For the last six months of the last year of the 20th Century, we were bombarded by bugs… mosquitoes, Asian beetles, and the most irksome insect of them all – the Y2K "Bug"…

But Queensites are made of tougher stuff, and a little thing like the end of the world didn’t stop us from voicing our sentiments against foul play by city planners, parks plunderers and others who tried to change our landscape – or our quality of life....

Queens College officials announced plans to open an elementary school on the Flushing campus…vandals spray painted anti-American slogans on a boiler in the basement of PS 54 in Ridgewood... fur flew in Long Island City when a non-profit group turned a house into an animal shelter, starting with 100 cats…and embattled former School Board 28 President Lynn Gross passed away....

Former Tribune reporter Kendra Webdale was killed by a schizophrenic who pushed her beneath the wheels of an oncoming Manhattan subway....the New York Hospital of Queens played a tug of war with Jamaica Hospital for control of the bankrupt Flushing Hospital, and folks from southern Queens protested the proposed "Train to the Plane" over the Van Wyck....

A Trib feature zoomed in on the premiere of multiplex theaters in Queens, and RKO Keith’s owner Tommy Huang stayed out of the slammer by cutting a sweetheart deal with state prosecutors... the US Supreme Court refused to hear arguments regarding new zoning laws that forced the shutdown of most "XXX-rated" clubs in Queens...and a pair of Queens "dumbfellas" got caught trying to extort money from a Manhattan businessman, the dimwits faxed a letter demanding cash to the victim, who identified them by the sender number on the fax… we tasted the first snows of ’99 in January… and a Tribune feature exposed the city’s neglect of Queens’ Community Boards – officials failed to hook up the borough to NYC computers....

A Sunnyside woman walked through the door of the new Flushing library and became the library’s one millionth customer...and local activists balked at the construction of a hockey rink and bike path in Little Bay Park....

Queens Borough President Claire Shulman showed us the "State of the Borough," and borough politicians blasted city officials for shortchanging Queens contractors on municipal jobs...a Trib feature quizzed Mayor Rudy Giuliani on why Queens shouldn’t host the proposed city sports complex, and Caldor called it quits...the Museum of Modern Art announced plans to merge with Queens cultural and artistic "diamond" – PS 1… Con Ed sold its two Queens power plants, and Flushing Phil predicted an early spring ’99...

A Tribune feature asked "why" Queens legislators aren’t computer ready, and we exposed the reality of life-or-death at Queens’ only city-run animal shelter… Goldfingers lost its Midas Touch in February when officials shut down the "adult" club...residents blew sky high when the Port Authority announced plans to increase flights in and out of JFK International and LaGuardia Airports...

Federal Aviation officials announced plans (though sketchy), to transport the reconstructed remains of TWA Flight 800 to Queens, where aeronautics students could probe the doomed jet as part of their studies.…and Jamaica Hospital won a preliminary in the tug of war for control of Flushing Hospital...

The first driver arrested in Rudy Giuliani’s crackdown on drunk driving was a Queens man and Francisco Almonte had his car impounded, to boot...Beep Claire Shulman asked the Board of Ed to build more schools in Queens...a Trib feature examined the health of Queens hospitals, and the Bayside Historical Society charged it was being kept in the dark on the future of Fort Totten...Rudy Giuliani brought one of his Town Hall Meetings to Sunnyside, and law enforcement shook when an upstate jury handed convicted cop killer David McClary $660,000 for "suffering" he experienced in the lock-up McClary was the ringmaster in the execution of Police Officer Eddie Byrne in 1988...

The Queens Supreme Court on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica turned 60 in March, and a Trib featured examined the building’s prestigious past... A Borough Hall senior administrator has some strange family ties...a Trib story went where no one else had gone – to interview Max Grodenchik, brother of Queens’ Barry, the man behind "Rom" on Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine...

Municipal budget cuts threatened to shut libraries earlier in the day... local residents exploded in anger over a Queens College dormitory proposal… and a young Forest Hills resident shared his memory of "Joltin’ Joe" DiMaggio after the Yankee "Clipper" passed away in March...

Parents wanted answers when they learned that city school reading scores took a further dip...and employees at Edwards and Pathmark supermarkets in Queens questioned their future when the two retailers merged...a College Point restaurant offered free transportation to its patrons, who worried about being stung by the city’s crackdown on drunk drivers ... and residents at a Rego Park condominium went public to cut the shackles placed on them by the buildings’ sponsor....

Queens applauded the NYPD’s newest lady Chief, Glendale native Joellen Kunkel became a Deputy Chief in March… cemetery workers went on strike to protest new regulations imposed on them by supervisors, and a Tribune feature took residents inside Queens Traffic Court for a day, an enlightening experience....

Claire Shulman goes to bat for Monica Lewinsky?...movie multiplex replaces Flushing Hospital?...Hustler publisher Larry Flynt donates $4 million to the Queens Library? – we don’t think so, but these and other items made a great "April fool" page 3, it’s a Tribune yearly tradition...we spread the word to Queensites about free trees that were available through the city’s Parks Department... Someone placed a sign on the Long Island Expressway near the Queens/Nassau border that read: "NYC Cops Deserve Better Pay!"...the sign was posted directly underneath a sign that reads "Welcome To Queens" – a message from Borough President Claire Shulman, it was all part of a salary dispute between the city and city cops....

The Tribune "TribPix" page kept on clickin’ to document social and community events throughout the borough...we published photos of missing kids from Queens in April, along with numbers to report sitings, tips on how to safeguard kids and short synopses of the featured youngsters...Queens’ civics gathered to protest a city plan to "rearrange" truck routes in the borough, and the saga of the Dopplar Radar Station proposed for Queens continued....

An "unstable" portion of the structure was demolished and rebuilt, to make driving through the station safe again...The Mets didn’t take off running from the gate on Opening Day at Shea...the Marlins beat the boys from Queens by a score of 6-2...the Tribune celebrates its 30th year in April, and to mark the occasion we celebrated "all things 30"...people, places, professions, proprietorships...a "Been Doin’ It For 30 Years" section showcased people who have been at the same job for 30 or more years, along with profiles of folks who haven’t shaken a habit in 30 years...The Mets’ John Franco set his own record in April, chalking up his 400th career save....

Tribune newshound Richard Schack took a sampling of some opinions from Queens high schoolers on the shootings in Colorado...and a Trib feature examined the emotions and expectations of Serbian immigrants who’ve settled in Glendale...we unveiled a program at the Queens Hall of Science that is pioneering methods of making exhibits accesssible to the visually impaired, and some of the "magic" reappeared as the Mets entered May on a six-game winning streak....

Hizzoner Rudy Giuliani threatened to "blow up" the city school system and put it under the control of a mayoral commissioner as School Board elections whimpered along… the Tribune rang praises of Moms throughout the borough and awarded prizes to winners of the paper’s annual Mother’s Day Contest…

Queens historians announced a decision to make Fort Totten an "Historic District," and a $2.3 million restoration project restored the wetlands to Alley Pond Park… City Council members blasted a Taxi & Limousine Commission decision to establish 193 new "Dollar Vans" – 150 in Queens… First Lady Hillary Clinton came to I.S. 226 South Ozone Park in May, to take part in the Board of Education’s "Principal For A Day" program…

Silvercup Studios began a $20 million renovation on a building in Long Island City where sound stages will host TV, movie and commercial productions, stashing a lot of bread in the city’s kitty… the First Central Savings Bank opened its doors in Queens – the first newly chartered bank to open in 10 years… the Queens man charged in the shooting death of an off-duty police officer and an East Elmhurst businessman went on trial in May… prosecutors told the jury that George Bell bragged to jailhouse cronies about the murders… Queens Board of Education member Teri Thomson fought for kids in Queens – and won… Thomson secured 35,084 new seats in Queens schools at a price of $1.05 billion…

The annual Queens Festival was cancelled in May, the first time in 21 years the two-day celebration didn’t fill Flushing Meadows-Corona Park… New York Hospital of Queens broke ground on a $72 million modernization project at the Flushing facility… a Flushing man made the Guiness Book of Records in May for owning the world’s largest coin collection… Trekkies came from everywhere to take in a viewing of "Star Wars: Episode 1" at a Cineplex in Fresh Meadows… a Trib story looked into the "roadside monuments" that dot the borough’s streets and intersections – memorials paying homage to people who were killed in traffic accidents and by hit-run drivers…

A Trib feature applauded the "Women of Queens" from Assistant Queens Parks Commissioner Estelle Cooper and New York City Deputy Commissioner for Administrative Services Judith Bergtraum, to City Council Speaker Peter Vallone’s press aid Bernice Spitzer and Elmhurst cop Roseanne Mulvey... we listed school reading scores, and exposed a Con Ed cover-up involving the utility’s failure to clear PCBs from our air… Elmhurst Detective Frank Hunt took center stage in a cable documentary on the NYPD Hostage Negotiating Team… federal officials announced plans for the development of a state-of-the-art FDNY training facility at Fort Totten… "Fire City" is slated for construction in 2000… and the Jamaica Loew’s Valencia theater was landmarked....

Queens resident and gubernatorial aide Jeff Wiesenfeld was nominated to serve on the CUNY Board of Directors... Borough President Claire Shulman announced plans for the expansion of the Queens Museum – right into the borough’s only "real" skating rink… Shulman proposed the takeover of the World’s Fair Ice Rink for the expansion and the construction of a new rink in Cunningham Park....

We deep-fried in June… temps on local streets soared to 101 degrees as parks and pools stayed open to help us beat the heat....

We published what’s best in the borough in June… from cultural institutions and theaters to diners and "places to go"... the city broke ground on a new Queens Family Court building, and State Senator Leonard Stavisky, 73, passed away after suffering a stroke, Stavisky, the longest-serving democrat in the state senate (34 years), represented Flushing, Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and Woodside...Stavisky served in the City Council, the State Assembly, and he was a member of the original (1972-74) NYC Charter Revision Committee....

From fathers to sons, husbands to wives, we examined the "Roots of Queens Politics" where seats are passed on to family members in Queens… city officials served up another silent July 4 by enforcing tough "Zero Tolerance" laws to the sale and use of illegal fireworks… Fort Totten was – at long last – landmarked... and 20 families were left homeless when sparks from a nearby fire set their Astoria apartment building on fire....

Construction crews began work on dormitories at Touro College in Kew Gardens Hills… Mike Piazza thrilled Mets fans with a 24-game hitting streak, and we suffered through an Independence Day scorcher when Mother Nature sent temperatures soaring into triple-digits, causing sporadic blackouts and part of the roadway on the Van Wyck buckled beneath the heat…

The Tribune exposed one of the reasons why Queens straphangers swelter in the city’s subterranean sweatboxes – aka the subways. It seems that someone for some unknown reason ordered vents cemented shut during the 1970s… Transit officials gave us a "so what?" response, saying the streets are just as hot in the summer as the subways… residents and businesses in Bayside voiced concern over inadequate parking proposed in plans for a new multiplex on Bell Boulevard, and members of the Elks Lodge sold their "homestead’ on Queens Boulevard....

A Tribune feature broke the story of some parties that didn’t swim with Forest Hills residents. Sponsors were hosting thousands of people at "pool parties" at the Forest Hills Country Club, bashes that broke up at 4 a.m., sending neighbors into a spin… we plugged into changes at local utility companies that replaced Con Ed… police scuba divers dipped into Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadow Corona Park, trying to retrieve a weapon that was used to kill a Fire Chief outside a Bally’s fitness club in Little Neck, and the Tribune scooped the only one-on-one interview given citywide to the media by Whitestone resident and new NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Dunne....

A Tribune feature exposed an apparent explosive situation at Fort Totten, were there live (old) munitions sitting beneath the surface at the Fort… city officials pulled the plug on the late night swim parties in Forest Hills after the Trib feature shed light on the problem… Queens’ kids sweated-out the summer in summer school, and New Yorkers confided in "NYConfidential"–the column continued to educate and entertain…

We worried when it seemed like someone pulled the plug on our water supply… and, how clean was the water?, we asked… "Project USA" posted some nasty anti-immigrant notices on local billboards... and Queensites turned out in droves throughout the borough to participate in crime prevention’s annual "National Nite Out" celebrations… hearings on the City Charter Revision came to Queens…

First Lady Hillary Clinton brought her "Listening Tour" to Queens as a precursor to her campaign for a possible New York Senate seat. Our Tribune shutterbug snapped Hillary glancing through the pages of Queens favorite weekly newspaper… a Jackson Heights man was arrested, charged with assisting his wife in her suicide. The woman was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease…

The Trib asked new CUNY Chair Herman Badillo, what he thinks the system needs to improve itself... and we entered the underworld of prostitution in Queens during a one-on-one interview with "Nikki," a lady of the night… and a Queens woman startled police, paramedics and onlookers when she walked out from beneath the wheels of a subway car, unhurt....

We examined the state of education in Queens, and took a peek behind the curtains of multiplex theaters – present and planned – in the borough… USTA officials welcomed the world to Flushing and the US Open on Aug. 30, and dedicated a tennis stadium to Satchmo – Louis Armstrong....

A Trib feature unmasked the dangers of asbestos cleanup efforts at city schools… we took another look at the state of uniforms worn by kids in city schools... and we visited with St. John’s University students who moved into new dorms at the university....

Duck!!!… they came (seemingly) from nowhere and filled our skies with a death-threatening dose of St. Louis Encephalitis – mosquitoes… the blood-sucking, spiny creatures killed at least three people in Queens with the diseases and sent nine others to local hospitals....

Officials fought back by spraying chemicals into our backyards, and by making on-site discoveries on private property of sites where the critters spawned… the attack and human counter-attack continued until the weather cooled off, leaving gaping questions about our vulnerability when summer arrives in 2000....

A Trib feature examined opening day madness at local schools, and how the mosquito crisis was affecting students and teachers… Tropical Storm Floyd pummeled us with deadly winds and a steady downpour… two Emergency Service cops from Flushing headed to New Jersey to assist in flood rescue efforts, and natives of Taiwan who live in Flushing mustered to aid their earthquake-stricken homeland....

Chants of "You Gotta Believe!" filled the skies over Shea Stadium in the fall as throughout the borough Mets fans of ’99 cheered-on the Queens Boys of summer in their "close-as-this" quest for a title. The Mets gave fans a run for their money and renewed dreams of a subway series with the NY Yankees....

Officials renamed the mosquito-bite virus, and knocked door-to-door for volunteers who would give blood for testing… we delved into the world of the NYC Sheriff and explored what becomes of our vehicles when they’re towed… and Trib publisher Mike Schenkler was honored by the Salvation Army in October at the group’s annual bash....

Six Queens schools faced state takeover when tests revealed phenomenally low scores in math and reading… a Trib feature exposed "Gypsies, Vamps and Thieves… a behind-the-scenes look at scams and scamsters in Queens… the faithful continued to believe – and pack Shea Stadium to support efforts by the Mets… and a Tribune feature asked the question: "Do you think you could manage JFK or LaGuardia Airport better than the Port Authority?....

It was all over for the METS in October... the Queens Boys of summer struggled valiantly to bring home a championship to the fans… borough subways got a great crime rating in a city survey, the "XXX" adult club "Wiggles" gyrated back onto Queens Boulevard… the naughty nitespot reopened after waging war with city officials who shot the place down… we offered readers an "Election Primer," and spooked ‘em with tales of local spirits at Halloween....

A Trib feature examined heroics by members of local Volunteer Ambulance Corps… the Ramada Inn at JFK once again became a place of sadness as relatives of the doomed EgyptAir Flight 990 gathered there to wait for word on loved ones. No one survived when the plane crashed… and a Queens man got even with his former lover by killing the man and chopping off his head…

We set readers straight on local election results, and exposed a need for funding by Queens AIDS researchers… we reported on a snag in the establishment of Charter Schools in Queens… and we spread the good news – Northern Boulevard in Long Island City was reopened to vehicular traffic… part of the highway had been closed since 1995 to accommodate construction of a new subway tunnel… we took a close look at the Prescription Drug Price war being waged in the borough, and said a sad goodbye to Flushing’s hero cop, Sgt. Gary Polito, who passed away while cleaning his own gun. A Tribune obit reminded women in Queens that it was Polito who took the ATM Rapist off borough streets in 1995....

A Trib feature examined the state of missing children in Queens, and advised parents of ways to prepare for and prevent abduction of children… the issue of illegal conversions heated up again in Queens, and a Flushing law school student disappeared into thin air… we examined safety in city schools one year after the NYPD took over policing the institutions of learning… and we began a "countdown" to the holidays, and probed the condition of homeless services and the homeless in Queens....

The Flushing Remonstrance went on display in the Flushing Library in November. The circa 1650 document signifies religious freedom in the U.S…. and Glendale resident Nicole Barrett fell to the blows of a homeless man who bashed the 27-year-old Texas native on the head with a brick – revenge for a day of "poor revenue" at his panhandling… and we examined the status of the mentally ill homeless in Queens… The heart of the Woodside community stopped beating in November when Ed Fowley passed away… Fowley was the ultimate one-man Woodside cheering squad, father, brother and friend to all those who crossed paths with the feisty activist....

Domestic Violence took a front seat in Queens – and in a Trib feature, after a Jackson Heights woman was shot down in cold blood by a spurned lover… Bell Atlantic repair crews cut a cable that knocked out phone service to sporadic areas in Queens – including the Trib… and we broke the news about police plans for enforcement of the upcoming millennium madness… cops nabbed Nicole Barrett’s "basher" and the remarkable "Nikki" began to bounce back from her horrendous beating…

We probed the condition of school bus safety in Queens after a second youngster this year was mowed down to his death by a bus… a transit strike loomed over millennium celebrations and daily straphanger trips… Queens’ teachers were caught red-handed, helping kids to pass tests required by the state… new plans for redevelopment of Fort Totten were released by officials, and we reviewed a TV broadcast of "Tuesdays with Morrie"–a NY Times bestseller written by former Trib editor Mitch Albom…

The Trib began its annual "Holiday Section," packed with tips and tales for the holiday season… In "When The Party’s Over," we examined "life after alcohol"… Trib Publisher Mike Schenkler (finally) took pen-in-hand (a computer mouse) and reinvented his weekly column, now dubbed "Not For Publication". In the column, Schenkler explores and exposes politics, pundits and predicaments… The transit strike never happened… workers accepted a last-ditch offer by the MTA… Trib artist Julie Messina was surprised in December with a diamond by her soon-to-be-husband Nelson Palacios... see Jules, good things do happen... and Hercules, a 60-year-old 10-pound lobster, disappeared from a tank in Rego Park. He was the lobster who fled a waiter in a T.V. commercial, then ran from a restaurant with a Budweiser in-hand…

And we featured a 102-year old Charles Prutzman on the cover of our millennium issue. The centurion shared his thoughts of the old and new centuries with Trib readers… we listed Queens Top 10 stories of the 20th Century, and reviewed the goings-on in the borough in the first six months of 1999....

We made it!!… to be part of a millennium celebration is an exciting and humbling experience, for this is our time, and the time that will be examined by journalists and the like who gather to welcome in the 22nd Century… we did our best, tried our hardest and hoped that our actions would help make Queens a better, safer, and happier place to live and work in the 21st Century....

We hope our successes will be heralded and our failures few and forgiven… to the families and friends of Kendra Webdale, Leonard Stavisky, Ed Fowley and Gary Polito we offer our heartfelt condolences – they will be missed… to our "heroine" Nicole Barrett we offer a "way to go, girl," and look forward to the day Nicole will return to live among us again in Queens… to new Moms and Dads, Brides and Grads, we offer our congratulations... and as the century comes to a close, we remember some of the friends Queens has lost: Saul Weprin, Donald Manes, "Buzz" O’Rourke, Jane Planken, Julia Pappas, Max Schenkler and Joe Queen…

And so it goes…

Click Here For 1998 Year In Review