Queens Seek

"We helped him, we gave him food and shelter, he would come by with his wife and leave his kids here for baby-sitting, and then he did this: He forged my name on deeds and stole the church and the land"

A con man posing as a parishioner forged deeds to a Brooklyn church, then used the false documents to sell the property to a developer, the church's pastor said. via WINS-AM New York

Hundreds of protesters led by Rev. Al Sharpton gathered near many of New York City's bridges and tunnels to protest the acquittal of three officers in the shooting death of a Queens man. via 92.5 KGB-FM

"He was a good kid. He didn't deserve to die like that."

A drag race along a residential street in Queens turned deadly early Thursday when one of the speeding cars hit a sport utility vehicle, police said, throwing a 5-year-old boy from the backseat and killing him ... via AMNY

"The city needed to be quicker to respond"

Parents and public officials are warning that schools in some city neighborhoods are overcrowded, because a jump in residential development is not being matched with an increase in new educational facilities.

City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. said in a report to be released Friday that the school system's capital planning processes were 'broken,' according to the New York Times.

'There are far too many neighborhoods with overcrowded schools and no hope of relief for at least several more years,' he said, according to the Times. Read more

Berlin Wall sections on 53rd Street between 5th and Madison. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology. Sharpton-led protest ties up traffic at Manhattan bridges and tunnels Several hundred protesters briefly shut down ... via NewYorkology

The hunt is on for three young men who fled a horrific Queens crash that claimed the life of a five-year-old boy this morning. via 7Online.com

"We're going to keep coming until we get federal indictments"

NEW YORK - Hundreds of chanting protesters rallied in front of NYPD headquarters and near major bridges and tunnels Wednesday to push for a federal civil rights probe into the 50-bullet police shooting of an ... via Asbury Park Press Online

A document containing John Lennon's iconic lyrics, "Give Peace a Chance," written during the legendary 1969 Bed-in protest for peace, will be auctioned in London this summer. In the meantime, fans can see it at Christie's New York auction house through Saturday.

Christie's says the famous Beatles gave the hand-written lyrics to 16-year-old Gail Renard during the eight-day Bed-in with Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Queens Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Lennon penned the lyrics and recorded the song in the hotel room with about 50 guests, who included singer Petula Clark and beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Read more

Authorities say a construction worker died after falling 30 to 40 feet from a scaffold on a bridge that connects to Queens.

Authorities say the man died at Elmhurst Hospital Center on Tuesday hours after the mid-afternoon accident on the Triborough Bridge. His identity has not been released.

A Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority spokeswoman says the accident occurred after an aeriel crane bucket lifted the worker to scaffolding on the bridge above Astoria Park near Hoyt Avenue.

The city's Department of Buildings does not have jurisdiction over the bridge agency or the project. The bridge authority is investigating the accident. Read more

"People are doing new jobs and are in a different kind of conflict than in the past when this policy was created"

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Women are officially barred from frontline combat in the U.S. military, but a new documentary shows that in Iraq, some are "out there playing GI Joe with the guys," as one female soldier puts it.

"Lioness," which premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival in April, is the story of female soldiers in an engineering unit who went on raids and house searches with infantry soldiers after their commanders realized it was culturally insensitive to have male soldiers search women. Read more

The New York Power Authority has approved a contract for the construction of a new natural gas-fueled generating plant in Astoria, Queens, that would supply power to the city's schools, public housing, ... via New York Daily News

"Friday's decision just did not make sense ... when you think of 50 shots and no one convicted"

It was in 1990 that then-Gov. Mario Cuomo closed the office of the special state prosecutor, which for 17 years ferreted out corruption and wrongdoing in the criminal justice system. via CW11 New York WPIX-TV

"We clearly believe adding competition will improve service overall"

The city said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Verizon Communications Inc. via Crain's New York Business

"The barbershop in African-American communities is where people talk politics, and something you hear in many black pulpits."

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was correct Monday when he told an audience at the National Press Club that the black church in America is widely misunderstood. via McClatchy DC

New York Gov. David Paterson says he's somewhat surprised by the acquittal of three police officers in the fatal shooting of unarmed groom-to-be Sean Bell. via WSTM-TV Syracuse

SL Green Realty Corp. said Monday it will work with Hard Rock on redevelopment plans for the Aqueduct Race Track. via New York Business.com

"We can't sit idly by and let this inhumane treatment continue"

Three days after a judge exonerated three police officers in the killing of unarmed groom-to-be Sean Bell, Rep. via Staten Island Advance

April 27, 2008 Police responding to a Queens car accident early Sunday morning found the driver had been shot and killed. via NY1

"I'm still praying for justice, because it's not over. It's far from over. It's just starting"

The family of an unarmed man killed in a hail of police gunfire on his wedding day pledged Saturday to continue its fight to have someone held accountable for his death, a day after a judge acquitted three ... via Post-Standard

"The verdict in the Sean Bell case proves it is almost impossible to successfully prosecute cases of police misconduct, especially in homicide cases"

Protesters react to the verdict in the Sean Bell case as they march through the neighborhood of Jamaica, Friday, April 25, 2008 in the Queens borough of New York. via Buffalo News