One by one, the 10 oldest mothers in Ozone Park’s Shri Trimurti Bhavan were adorned with sparkling silver crowns and garlands of fuchsia-colored orchids in celebration of Mother’s Day – Hindu style.
Sitting on plush, red-velvet loveseats with silver lion-headed armrests, the moms were revered like queens by at least 500 congregants sitting knee-to-knee inside the cramped 97th Avenue temple.
FDNY Chief Brad Walls surveyed the facade of the Whitestone Shopping Center as his firefighters from Battalion 47 approached the flamed-filled Lollipops Diner.
Before the firefighters could turn their hoses on the blaze, the restaurant’s front window melted and the fire jumped to the awning. The overhang burst into flames and rained melted plastic onto the sidewalk like a fire-laden waterfall.
Concerned for his firefighters’ safety, Walls pulled back the battalion.
As children and their parents walked past crowded restaurants on Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights recently, men yelled “Chicas!” and handed out cards with phone numbers and pictures of busty, scantily clad women.
For Kika Cerpa, a woman in her mid-30s, those cards bring back memories of her harrowing ordeal as one of those “chicas.”
Read More
Dorothy Singh could barely contain her rage as she spoke about the future of the Aqueduct Racetrack.
For 25 years, the Ozone Park resident has sold shoes and clothing as a vendor at the flea market, held in the track’s parking lot on weekends and Tuesdays. But the proposed expansion of the track, with the addition of Video Lottery Terminals (VLT), could put an end to the market’s time at Aqueduct.
“A lot of people make their living here. What would we do next? Where would we go?” she said.
