Central/Mid Queens News

• 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.

The arrival of December means cold temperatures and snowy days. If you’re looking for some fun in the sun escapes to break up the dreariness, here are some ideas. Queens’ hometown airline, JetBlue, flies to all these places.

• Featured

A new chapter of controversy has started for the Queens Borough Public Library and its new Hunters Point branch, after a Queens woman and an advocacy group alleged the building makes it impossible for some individuals to access certain parts of the structure.

In a federal lawsuit filed against the QBPL, its trustees and the city, the Center for Independence of the Disabled-New York alleges the Hunters Point Library was “designed and built with a total disregard for adults and children with mobility disabilities and in flagrant contempt of the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

The city is vowing to clean up and repair the damage caused by a smelly sewage backup that flooded as many as 74 homes in South Ozone Park over the weekend.

Investigators from the Department of Environmental Protection still don’t know what caused the block in a sewage line under 150th Street at the Belt Parkway.

Thousands of delivery trucks block bus and bike lanes throughout New York City each day. That’s a $115 traffic violation, but the delivery firms don’t have to pay the full amount. Now many elected officials want that to come to an end.

The practice is known as the Stipulated Fine Program. On Cyber Monday — when many people make online orders that then get delivered by companies such as UPS and FedEx — Councilmember Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria) and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called for the program to be terminated.

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

“It’s your post-turkey workout. Your body will thank you later,” joked the registration table posters. All Community Events, the organizers of the Turkey Trot, teamed up with communities throughout the nation to form the American Turkey Tradition, a multicity running festival. Participants ran with neighbors at their local venue, but had the ability to later compare their results with other Turkey Trotters, totaling approximately 60,000 runners, across the country on a national leader board.

Police are searching for the above male in connection with a burglary in the 107th Precinct.

On Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2:28 a.m., the burglar forced entry through the basement door of Genesis Pharmacy at 65-58 Fresh Meadows Lane. The perpetrator was unsuccessful in gaining entrance to the main level of the pharmacy and fled the scene empty handed.

The Queens Chronicle’s 12th annual Holiday Photo Contest is now underway — and you’re invited to join in!

Take pictures of lights, miniature villages, snowy landscapes, joyous children and families — anything that reflects the season — and send them on in. Be inspired by these quality past entries, by Kimberly Graves, our 2013 winner, top, and Kayla Luongo.