Queens' Best Week Ever! 5/17 tree stumps, big cans, manholes 4 drugs

Time for another installment of Queens’ Best Week Ever! Where we go through the Queens papers, so you don’t have to.

This week, everyone’s favorite African-American Borough President, Helen Marshall,

had her hearing tested to make sure she could still understand constituents, according to the Queens Gazette

“The last time I had my hearing checked was years ago,” said Marshall. The borough president admitted that she has to have good hearing and good listening skills to communicate effectively with the tens of thousands of Queens residents with whom she meets each year.

Digital photography forced Broadway Photoplus, at 37-05 Broadway in Astoria to shutdown, the paper reports:

Since the advent of digital photography, 35mm film developing had declined to almost nothing… This very photograph is the last one ever to be developed in Broadway Photoplus’ illustrious two-decade career.

The article has no photograph.

A strange story reported by multiple news outlets, chronicles the recent success of New York Hospital of Queens. In one article, the hospital celebrates a recent uptick in pediatric surgery and in this piece, the hospital touts its increased emergency room visits.

NYHQ Vice President for Ambulatory Care and Emergency Services Maureen Buglino RN, MPH said. “Our volume has been growing steadily, five to seven percent increases annually.”
NYHQ had 2,700 ambulance transports and 130,000 emergency room visits.

Awesome.

In a wonderfully titled article: “Dutch Kills Crime Rates Rise Slightly in April” the Gazette gets the 411 on thefts from Lieutenant Nicholas Morales of the 114th Police Precinct.

Replying to inquiries about mobile phone snatching, he said that the instances of these thefts tend to rise beginning in late afternoon and continuing into the evening.

Finally, he noted a rumor of instances of manhole cover thefts. The thieves allegedly have been trading their illegal acquisitions for drugs.

We can imagine that transaction.

In other drug-related news, one Queens cop, Devon Daniels of the 111th Precinct, got nabbed for helping dealers out, according to the Queens Courier:

The alleged dealer also asked Daniels how to “get gun shot residue off your hands,” and was provided with an official NYPD parking plaque.

We thought those things only worked for parking…who knew?

The Queens Ledger, or whatever it’s called these days, has a story so strange it can be best summed up in this video:

The Queens Chronicle has some wonderful offerings this week. There is an excellent photo illustration of Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) by Ella Jipescu, for an article about the Citi Bike Share program which will come to Long Island City.

Another article about Arizona Iced Tea’s new controversial ad campaign: “I heart big cans” is also pretty entertaining. Reporter AnnMarie Costella explains that cans are not just cans.

The signs proclaim “I love big cans,” with a picture of the tall drink. But “cans” is also slang for breasts, or, in its singular form can refer to a person’s behind…

“It is disrespectful to black women, and all women in general,” said City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), adding that Arizona tends to advertise more heavily in minority communities…

“The ‘I love big cans’ slogan is based on the popularity of our 23-ounce pre-priced cans, which are the bread and butter of our business,” [Arizona spokeswoman Jackie] Harrigan said.

She added that the company was not aware that the slogan could be perceived to have an alternate meaning and that it was not Arizona’s intention in developing the campaign.

Donovan Richards, chief of staff to City Councilman James Sanders Jr. (D-Laurelton), said the lawmaker will be sending a letter to Arizona, asking them to pull the ads because they are inappropriate. He also said his staffers will ask bodega owners in the district not to post the signs.

“The cans ads need to be canned for their foolishness,” Richards said. “They are beyond disrespectful.”

Best article of the week, goes to The Queens Chronicle, for a piece about a tree that was chopped down in Sunnyside. Residents who were upset, took a sharpie to the tree stump to create a makeshift memorial complete with explicatives.

 “I have known this tree my whole life. Thanks for cutting it down. A**-holes!”

Wrote one angry tree fan.

…an obituary on the remaining stump reads, “Tear down the building, not the tree. I loved you. The best tree in Sunnyside.”

A squirrel gave its last goodbye before the remains were taken away.