Editions

• Breaking

Thousands of subway riders faced extensive delays throughout the city Monday morning in part to signal problems and other malfunctions. 

• Breaking

Here we are in a compressed holiday season, with the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas as tight as can be. At least Chanukah starts relatively late this year! But as you scramble with gift buying, party planning and whatever else, there are as always plenty of events in Queens whose hosts hope you might attend! Here’s our weekly list of just five you might consider, with many more posted in both What’s Happening — our Community Calendar and our reader-generated Online Calendar.

When it comes to getting a flu shot, Dr. Bruce Hirsch, who specializes in infectious diseases at Northwell Health, acknowledges “Getting a shot is uncomfortable, inconvenient and unpleasant. But getting the flu is very inconvenient, very uncomfortable and occasionally can lead to making other health conditions worse.”

• Featured

The sweeping bail and discovery criminal justice reform laws are less than a month away from being enacted, but the debate over their impact continues.

Acting Queens County District Attorney John Ryan opposes the laws, while DA-elect Melinda Katz, who will take office Jan. 1, the same day they will be implemented, supports them.

This Christmas will be the fifth without Valentina Marie Allen, the Howard Beach toddler who won the heart of a neighborhood with her battle to overcome a rare birth defect.

The extraordinary 2-year-old died in May 2015 after a number of surgeries at a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to repair her defective heart.

Now that the long-sought reconstruction of the old Jamaica Bus Depot is nearing realization, elected officials from the surrounding neighborhoods and from areas served by buses from the terminal are asking the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to adopt what they see as the most environmentally friendly of three proposed construction options.

In a letter “expressing our disappointment” to MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye and NYC Transit President Andy Byford dated Nov. 22, 18 elected officials requested that the MTA pay the extra money to go with “Candidate Alternative D,” which would house the highest number of buses on-site and do so in enclosed parking facilities.

• Featured

Justice may be blind, but the MTA has been looking the other way for years when it comes to hiring bus drivers and train operators.

A report issued Wednesday by the MTA inspector general found the agency waited up to a year before doing background checks on its new hires.

Five people were injured in a Ridgewood fire Nov. 26, according to the FDNY.

Authorities were called to 363 Onderdonk Ave. at 9:45 p.m., responding to the fire on the second floor of the three-story building. The blaze was deemed under control approximately 50 minutes later.

“Recently we have seen some crime spikes,” said Captain John Hall, commanding officer of the 111th Precinct. “We are going to have more crime this year than we had last year.”

Hall was speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the 111th Precinct Community Council, at which he stated that while robberies are down in the area that includes Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale, Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows, felony assault, burglaries and grand larcenies are up. Hall told the precinct council and community members that burglaries have been an issue for neighboring precincts as well. The 111th has seen them go up 22 percent since last year, but Hall expects the crime to decrease in the wake of recent arrests, including one that awarded Patrol Officer Edward Stein the precinct’s Cop of the Month award for November.

Just 10 days after announcing Outreach NYC, the newest initiative to combat the city homelessness crisis, Mayor de Blasio revealed his plans to expand the program to friends and family of unsheltered New Yorkers.

“We are a compassionate City, and New Yorkers look out for one another,” de Blasio said at the Tuesday, Nov. 26, announcement. “With Outreach NYC, we are redoubling our efforts to bring our most vulnerable off the streets and into a pathway of lasting stability.”

• Featured

The Ozone Park homeless shelter resident wanted for skipping bail on charges of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old child in a Woodhaven laundromat is behind bars again.

After nearly a month on the run, Luis Olivo, 63, was arrested Sunday afternoon in Downtown Jamaica, police said.

by Lisa Komninos, Executive Director, GWDC

Hope you all had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and friends. Immediately after Thanksgiving I think Christmas — and since the stores have had their decorations out for some time now, it really feels like the holidays are coming much faster. Did you happen to see the new holiday lights strung along Jamaica Avenue?

by Katherine Donlevy, Associate Editor

Flushing Meadows Corona Park continued to honor its Thanksgiving tradition by hosting the annual New York City Turkey Trot on Saturday, Nov. 30.

by Katherine Donlevy, Associate Editor

A woman and her daughter spent Thanksgiving at the hospital after falling victim to a knife attack.

Jamaica Hospital Medical Center celebrated Thanksgiving by inviting everyone in the community to its first “Friendsgiving” dinner last Tuesday.

Members of the Youth Explorers Post at the NYPD’s 105th Precinct, top, and precinct Youth Officer Carlton Epps paid a visit to the Barclays Center on Nov. 26 to watch the Roman Legends Classic, a men’s college basketball tournament.

Folks in the NYPD’s 113th Precinct spent the Thanksgiving holidays looking for people to do nice things for.

Cultural Collaborative Jamaica will host its annual Holidays on the Avenue celebration on Saturday, Dec. 14.

by Peter C. Mastrosimone, Editor-in-Chief

The Queens Chronicle’s Annual Toy Drive for needy children and young adults gets bigger just about every year, and we’re sure this holiday season will be no exception, thanks to the amazing generosity of you, our readers.

The Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District kicked off Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30 at the 71st Avenue Plaza, hosting its annual event with pictures with Santa, live holiday music, face painting, balloons and other giveaways.

The next community meeting of the 103rd Precinct Community Council on Dec. 10 will be switched to the Queens Central Library, located at 89-11 Merrick Blvd. on the lower level.

The United Neighbors Civic Association of Jamaica, Inc., the SpringJam Civic Association and Gateway JFK will host their annual tree-lighting ceremonies from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 in the Burger King parking lot at 154-05 Rockaway Blvd. in South Jamaica.

by Bob Friedrich

We are witnessing in real time the downfall of a once-great city by rigid political ideologues who are more concerned about protecting criminals than victims. Rikers Island, with a capacity of 15,000 and currently housing a historically low 7,500 inmates, is being replaced by four neighborhood prisons that shockingly will have a maximum capacity of 3,300 in 2026 when the city population is expected to exceed 8.5 million people. Yes, in a city of 8.5 million people, we will have jail capacity for only 3,300. The last time NYC had 3,300 inmates was in 1920, when the population was much smaller. The vote to close Rikers was overwhelmingly approved by Council members who will surely be re-elected by voters who know more about their members’ next Rain Barrel Giveaway than their voting records.

by Katherine Donlevy / Associate Editor

A woman and her daughter spent Thanksgiving at the hospital after falling victim to a knife attack.

The following stories were submitted for a School Spotlight at PS 254Q, The Rosa Parks School Magnet School for Leadership Development and the Arts in Richmond Hill, by a pair of elementary school students.

by Michael Shain, Editor

Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) is facing term limits on his City Council seat in 2021.

by Michael Gannon, Editor

Now what?

by Michael Shain, Editor

Parents in Queens’ sprawling District 28 will get their first look next week at how the city plans to alter admissions procedures and other policies to bring greater diversity to the schools.

by David Russell, Associate Editor

Think small.

by Katherine Donlevy, Associate Editor

The April death of 2-year-old Jason Alvarado has been ruled by the medical examiner as a homicide.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a plan that evaluates impacts of the current and expected future volume of combined sewer overflow discharges to the Newtown Creek Superfund Site Study Area.

by Richard Heaton, Chronicle Contributor

Just two weeks after a statewide law changing the age to purchase tobacco to 21, New York became the first city in the United States to ban flavored vaping products.

by David Russell, Associate Editor

The 112th Precinct is No. 4 in the city in crime reduction of the 77 precincts.

by Katherine Donlevy, Associate Editor

Friends, family and community members gathered to honor the life of Madeline Sershen on Thursday, Nov. 21 with a ceremony and candelight vigil.

by Michael Shain, Editor

Residents of Howard Beach have not complained enough about an onslaught of helicopter traffic over their homes for the federal government to take notice.