Fear-Based RE

In an economy where nearly everyone is worried about their mortgage or the value of their home (not to mention the price of gas, toilet paper, and everything else), this kind of advertising has a Bushian, dated flavor.

Madeleine Realty is a fine agency–honest and up front. But it definitely should rethink this particular billboard, which isn’t clever or particularly effective, and if you’re going to mar Forest Hills’ landscape for a few month, at least have one of these things going for you.

Night Out Against Crime

You are invited to attend Night Out Against Crime

August 5, 2008

6 to 9 pm

MacDonald Park

(corner of Queens Blvd and Yellowstone Blvd)

Heidi Harrison Chain, President of the 112th Precinct Community Council, and Captain Christopher Tamola, Commanding Officer of the 112thPrecinct, request the honor of your presence at the 25th Annual Night Out Against Crime. The event will be held at MacDonald Park (across from the Forest Hills Post Office) on Tuesday August 5th from 6 to 9 pm.  In the event of rain we will be inside the Forest Hills Jewish Center.

This event is a celebration of our police community partnership. This event is a great opportunity for you to discuss your concerns with Captain Tamola and other police officers in the community. They will be there to answer all of your questions and address any of your questions.

Our event also provides a mechanism for our community to thank the NYPD for their efforts on our behalf in reducing crime.  During the event, I will be presenting to Chief Pizzuti and to Captain Tamola certificates of appreciation for each officer within the 112th Precinct and within Patrol Borough Queens North. We invite you to join us in celebrating the successes in our community. Crime is down and our officers help us improve our quality of life.

            You can also participate in our showcase of local talent at the event. So if you are an artist and want to display your paintings, crafts, photos or quilts—please be sure to contact us at Council112@yahoo.com. We also invite you to bring your family, neighbors and friends to see the art displayed. 

            There will be a dj and we will have a raffle. Some of our local restaurants will donate refreshments for the event and others have donated raffle prizes. In addition, many of our local stores are participating. Local businesses are donating prizes and th ere will be a raffle.

              The 112th precinct will be providing public safety information. NYPD  Transit District 20 will be providing information about subway safety. The FDNY will be there with information. We have also invited many City agencies to participate.

            There will be free health tests provided by Parkway Hospital and Forest Hills Hospital and the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corp.

            The Rego Park Forest Hills Lions Club will have a table and will be collecting used eyeglasses to help people who are less fortunate be able to=2 0see.

            Our Forest Hills Rego park CERT team will have a table and have information about  emergency preparedness.

            We are inviting local businesses to participate at the event. If you are interested please email us at Council112@yahoo.com or call Community Affairs at 718 520-9321.

            We had a great response when we had the free fingerprinting and Child ID program at our health fair. We have asked these officers to attend our night out against crime.  This important program will protect your child and is free. The NYPD is working together with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Operation Safe Child will be used with the state AMBER Alert program to give parents additional tools to keep their children safe. The NYPD will take a high resolution photograph of your child and digital fingerprints to produce a Safe Child ID card.  The NYPD is bringing their special equipment to provide this service to our parents.

            We will also have a formal program and hear from many officials in the community. We will end with a candle lighting ceremony. There will be activities for children at the event.

 

Acquitted

Slain dentist’s sister-in-law acquitted

BY NICOLE BODE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, July 25th 2008, 9:29 PM

The sister-in-law of slain Queens dentist Daniel Malakov was cleared Friday of charges she threatened a key witness in the trial of his accused killer.

A jury acquitted Natella Natanova just after 5 p.m., following a two-day deliberation that nearly resulted in a hung jury.

Natanova had been charged with approaching Malakov’s brother, Gavril Malakov, months after the murder and saying, “If you talk, you will be the next to go.”

“We’re ecstatic,” lawyer Melvyn Roth said after the verdict, “This never happened. … Justice has been done.”

Hours before the verdict, jurors sent a note warning the judge they could not agree on an outcome. They also asked for three separate read-backs of trial testimony in which Roth suggested victim Gavril Malakov had a motive to lie about the incident to gain custody of his niece.

Natanova’s sister, Mazoltuv Borukhova, is expected to go on trial this fall on charges she conspired with a relative to have her estranged husband shot dead in front of the couple’s 4-year-old girl.

The district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Guerrilla Gardening

As far as I know, this is the only representation in Forest HIlls of this “war against the neglect of public space.” 

If anyone knows anything about how this beautiful garden beneath the LIRR tracks that cross over Yellowstone Blvd. came about, please comment/share.

 

Your Nabe Scoop

Natella Natanova’s witness tampering seems to have been just the tip of the iceberg. 

Excerpt below from Yournabe.com. (I’m a big fan of the FoHi coverage on this site, the online arm of the Forest Hills Ledger).

Minutes before the court began to select a jury for Natanova’s witness tampering trial, Assistant District Attorney Brad Leventhal presented Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman Monday with evidence that the 39-year-old mother misled numerous creditors, banks and lenders, including JP Morgan Chase, when she applied for five separate mortgages.

According to the loan applications, dated between January 2005 and July 2006, the Uzbek immigrant stated she had hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets working as a “senior program analyst” at a Glendale taxi company called Communicar Inc. and as an “operation’s manger” at her husband’s dental office in Forest Hills, the prosecutor said.

“There are a number of bad acts… related to her credibility and willingness to place her own interest above the rest of society,” Leventhal told the judge.

Definitely not someone with whom you’d want to carpool or do a Hamptons share. 

Read entire story here.

Natanova’s fate is now in the hands of the jury.

Heating Up

If you are following the ongoing, disturbing details surrounding the murder of Daniel Malakov, then you are probably aware that the trial of the sister of accused Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova, Natella Natanova, began this week.

The Queens district attorney says Natanova approached the brother of the victim, Daniel Malakov, back in March and said, “You should know if you talk, you will be the next to go.” 

If convicted, Natanova faces up to four years in prison. 

 Later this week, there promises to be some big news on this front…

A Spot of Tea

No further need to schlep to Disney World to give your daughter that perfect princess moment. We now have our own princess parlor–

Your Royal Highness Invites You:

Tea & Story Time with a Princess at the Palace.

Locations: Dudes N Divas

104-12 Metropolitan Ave.

Starting July 14, Monday-Friday, 11-12:30 a.m.

Includes:

• Dress up/Hair/Makeup/Nails
• Finger sandwiches & juice
• Story time, craft, & games
• $20/chil

718-575-4040. Call to reserve, but walk-ins are also welcome.

Whatever you might think of this, in all fairness, Dudes N Divas has a lot more going on than just this. So if you can get past the name, you might be interested in some of the other activities they offer for kids.

Jazz Thursdays in the Hills

Press release from the Splitting Hairs in-box. I’m including most of the release because it gives me the sense that this could be a nice series.

—————————————————————————————-

Jazz Thursdays in the Hills…Forest Hills

The Shop Forest Hills Jazz Thursdays Summer Concert Series

Jazz Thursdays concerts are the only all-Jazz concert series offered in Queens, free to the public. The Shop Forest Hills Jazz Thursdays Summer Concerts feature headlining Jazz artists, and are a cool way to spend a hot summer night groovin’ to the music and taking in all that is offered in Forest Hills. Have a delicious meal, do a little shopping and end the evening outdoors listening to great music. The Jazz Thursdays concerts are held right in the heart of the Forest Hills shopping district.

The Forest Hills Chamber Of Commerce and president and concert producer Leslie Brown bring the community together with sizzling Jazz to encouraging a fun mix of commerce and culture. Forest Hills invites residents from all 5 boroughs to come out and enjoy Jazz Thursdays in the Hills!

2008 Concert Dates:

Thursdays August 7^th, 14^th and 21^st

Time: 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM (same time for all 3 dates)

 Location: 70^th Road between Austin Street and Queens Blvd, Forest Hills

Admission Free/Seating Available

More Information Call:718 268-6565 or visit www.shopforesthills.com or www.jazzthursdays.com

Jazz Thursdays Headliners

Thursday August 7^th

The Boilermaker Jazz Band

The Boilermaker Jazz Band is an ecstatically fun band performing authentic American hot jazz and swing. The group can make an audience swing to a classic jazz standard, get sentimental over an old time ballad, boogie to a hot jump tune or get low down with some gritty blues.

Leading the band on clarinet and vocals is Paul Cosentino who founded the band in 1988 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His wonderfully distinctive sound comes from an antique Albert system clarinet. The Boilermaker Jazz Band has performed throughout the world including Lincoln Center in NY, The Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Paul and the Boilermakers have recorded 6 critically acclaimed CD’s. “Impeccable renditions of classics…soak up the sounds ‘cause there’s nothing like this around anymore,” writes Hits Magazine. “You will think you’ve gone to jazz heaven when you hear these guys!” says the Sacramento Jazz Society.

The Pittsburgh Gazette raves “musicians at their improvisational best! The Boilermakers ensure that the tradition continues.” Listeners and dancers agree that the infectious beat and enthusiasm of the Boilermaker Jazz Band can make any crowd move.

Thursday August 14^th

New York’s Finest Jazz Ensemble

New York’s Finest Jazz Ensemble is comprised of eighteen members. Every member is a full time Police Officer with advanced and varied musical talents and backgrounds. Members of the band get together while off duty from their respective precincts to rehearse and perform.

Tony Stewart Musical Director, Queens resident and Police Officer formed the jazz ensemble in 2005. The ensemble has performed in Tokyo, Quebec City, and Hong Kong and throughout the United States. New York’s Finest Jazz Ensemble also gives performances at veteran’s and children’s hospitals. The band gives workshops to budding young jazz musicians in the NYC area, devoting hundreds of hours of their personal time to reach kids at risk in some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods.

Performing on their own time in full dress police uniform New York’s Finest Jazz Ensemble is committed to the community by sharing it’s collective talents whenever possible. Their large repertoire of jazz ranges from classic to contemporary, and they perform all styles of jazz including swing, Dixieland, bebop, Latin jazz and blues.

Thursday August 21st

The Brawner Brothers

The Brawner Brothers are a dynamic jazz-funk group that infuses blues, R&B and Latin influences into their repertoire. Kenny plays his own distinctive style of jazz described as “rich, romantic, with a strong stomping beat” says John Wilson of the New York Times.

The Brawner Brothers have appeared as back up to B.B. King at clubs around the country. They regularly appear at St. Nicholas Pub, one of Harlem’s premier venues and at Terra Blues and The Cutting Room, two of downtown Manhattan’s renowned music clubs. They will be performing with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in the upcoming winter season.

 

Symphony in the Park

Queens Symphony Orchestra will be holding free concerts this summer. Here are the details:

McMansion Blog

Queens Reborn–for better or worse.

Click on the link, peruse the blog, and decide for yourself. It’s shocking to see pix of so many Queens McMansions all in one place. Blogger DisceningEye has yet to get shots of Forest Hills’ contribution to this architectural wonder, but no matter–there’s an interchangable quality to all of them.