Police Commissioner Calls Queens Slaying a Hate Crime by Joseph Goldstein - NYTimes.com

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Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Tuesday that the fatal beating of an 18-year-old man in Queens early Saturday “falls into the category of a hate crime.”

The victim, Anthony Collao, was at a party at a house in Woodhaven when five gate-crashers, none older than 17, pushed their way inside, Mr. Kelly said. Once indoors, they began “making homophobic remarks” and writing messages on the wall in red markers, said Mr. Kelly, who was asked about the case after a City Council hearing.

As Mr. Collao, who the police said was at the party with a girlfriend, left about 1 a.m., he encountered the same group outside the house, on 90th Street. One of the teenagers had a metal bat and another had a cane, according to a criminal complaint.

With a shout of “this is my hood,” the teenagers chased Mr. Collao down 90th Street and set upon him in a storm of punches, kicks and blows from “an object that appeared to be a stick,” according to the complaint.

Mr. Collao was taken to Jamaica Hospital and died late Monday after he was taken off life support, Mr. Kelly said. The attack and the death were reported by The Daily News on Tuesday.

When the police arrested one of those suspected in the attack, Christopher Lozada, he had an Atlanta Braves cap that belonged to Mr. Collao, according to the complaint. The police also discovered blood on Mr. Lozada’s clothing and on the sneakers of a second person arrested in the case, according to the complaint, which said that a metal pipe with blood on it was recovered from the crime scene.

Mr. Lozada and three other suspects were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Monday on charges of manslaughter, gang assault and weapons possession. The police are still searching for a fifth suspect, whose name they did not release. The criminal complaint does not make any mention of antigay slurs, or offer any suggestion as to what motivated the attack. Mr. Kelly said that investigators with an expertise in hate crimes were looking into the case.

David Franzese, a lawyer for one of the defendants, Luis Tabales, 16, said that his client had nothing to do with the assault and “doesn’t know the other individuals he was arrested with.”

Mr. Franzese said the party was at an abandoned home that had become a hangout for teenagers.

Robbers Kill Woman in Struggle for Purse by Alice McQuillan - NBC New York

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A woman walking with her husband on a quiet Queens street Sunday night was shot and killed by robbers in a struggle for her purse.

The couple was outside in Hollis around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when three men wearing hoodies confronted them.

They demanded the 23-year-old woman’s purse and a struggle erupted. The robbers fired and the woman was shot twice in her torso in front of a home on 204th Street.

The unidentified woman was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Her killers escaped.

Detectives ask anyone with information to call 1 800 577-TIPS.

106th Cop Returns to Work After Shock by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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A 106th Precinct police officer who received an electric shock that knocked him to the ground and sent him to the hospital is now back on his feet.

The officer, who police declined to identify, returned to work last week, theysaid.

When the officer opened the door to the Sky Watch tower at Liberty Avenue and 133rd Street at 3:40 p.m. on Jan. 27, he received a jolt of electricity that caused him to fall, police said. An NYPD spokesperson said the officer was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where doctors determined he had fractured his left shoulder.

Sky Watch towers are elevated observation booths police use across the city.

A Con Edison spokesperson said the company could not determine what caused the electrical surge. Company technicians checked the Sky Watch tower’s electrical system after the Jan. 27 incident and found it to be working properly with no stray voltage, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted the company ordered the power disconnected as a precautionary measure.

When a Chronicle reporter checked for the tower at Liberty Avenue location last Friday, he found it was no longer there. The NYPD said it was put out of service.

The tower was part of a crime deterrent program initiated by the NYPD in mid-2007, police officials said.

Police said officers in the observation booth atop the two-story towers have a line of vision that gives them the ability to continually monitor conditions in a large area. Atop the booths are digital cameras that record images 24 hours a day, even when the perch is not manned.

The towers, which cost $90,000 each, are also equipped with high-powered spotlights that can illuminate the area when needed.

Disgraced Politician Dies In Federal Prison by Dominick Rafter - Queens Tribune

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Former State Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, who represented Southwest Queens for more than 30 years before resigning in disgrace in 2009, died Jan. 6 in a North Carolina prison at the age of 75.

Seminerio, a Democrat, was elected in 1978 to represent a Richmond Hill-based district in the State Assembly. His 133-vote victory assured him the seat for the next 31 years.

In later years, he often endorsed Republican candidates like Rudy Giuliani for Mayor, George Pataki for Governor, and Rick Lazio and Al D’Amato for U.S. Senate. During his time in the Assembly, he represented Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Woodhaven. He last faced a Republican opponent in 2000 and often got the nominations of both the Democratic and Republican parties in his reelection campaigns.

“For over 30 years Anthony Seminerio represented the 38th Assembly District with passion and dedication,” said Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven), who succeeded Seminerio in the Assembly. “We should remember all of the good things that he has done for the community. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife and his children. “

In 2009, a federal indictment was handed down on charges of fraud, after he was accused of using a fake consulting agency to collect payments on actions he took as an Assemblyman between 1999 and 2008. According to the charges, Seminerio solicited and received payments to a consulting firm he set up called Marc Consultants from persons and organizations that had business with the state for nearly a decade beginning in 1999, and sometimes threatened anyone who refused to pay to the firm. Prosecutors discovered that Seminerio did not perform “any bona fide consulting services that fall outside the scope of activities an elected official could readily be expected to perform on behalf of his or her constituents.”

Instead, he used his elected office to lobby state legislators and state agencies on behalf of his paying clients and occasionally against people and organizations, including some of his own constituents, who refused to pay his firm a fee.

According to specific charges, Seminerio approached the founder of a Queens-based consulting firm in 1999 for whom he once worked and demanded a share of the company’s revenue. When the founder refused, Seminerio sought to dissuade their clients from doing business with them and instead hire Marc Consultants. That same year, Seminerio also pressured Robert Richards, the President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, to pay fees to Marc Consultants and threatened to work against vital state funding to the Chamber of Commerce in the state legislature if they didn’t pay consulting fees. In January 2000, Richards agreed and paid a monthly fee to Seminerio’s firm for approximately two years.

More recently, in 2008, Seminerio had attempted to convince Dennis Whalen, a senior New York State Health Department official, to allow Jamaica Hospital, which had paid Seminerio’s firm consulting fees, to acquire the Caritas Hospitals. Whalen had mentioned that other state officials supported Parkway Hospital’s bid to acquire Caritas. Parkway had refused to pay Seminerio’s firm any money. Seminerio never disclosed to Whalen that Jamaica had paid him.

Seminerio had attempted to claim his actions were approved in 1996 and thereafter by the New York Legislative Ethics Committee, but the court rejected the assertion.

In February 2010, a federal judge sentenced Seminerio to six years in jail and a $1 million fine.

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125.

NYPD: 2 Shot in So Ozone Park Barber Shop, 1 Fatally - WSJ.com

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New York City police say two people were shot, one fatally, at a barber shop in Queens.

Police responded after getting a 911 call of shots fired around 1 a.m. Wednesday at the 135th Street location in the South Ozone Park section.

They found a 35-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another 35-year-old man had a graze wound to the face and a gunshot wound to the hip. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.

Police say there have been no arrests, and the investigation is continuing.

Senator Addabbo to Host Another FREE Health Fair on Sunday, September 26, 10 AM - 2 PM, at Nativity B.V.M. Church

Senator Addabbo will host another free Health Fair on Sunday, September 26, 10 AM - 2 PM, at Nativity B.V.M. Church basement, 101-41 91st Street, Ozone Park. 

Representatives from AIDS Center of Queens County, American Cancer Society, Community Health Network, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Food Bank of NY, Jamaica Hospital, Pearle Vision, Project Chernobyl, Queens Hospital Center and many more, will be on hand to provide free services like: HIV/AIDS testing; blood pressure screenings; eye check-ups; food stamp application screenings; glucose screenings; nutritional information; smoking cessation program; thyroid screenings. 


There will also be information on applying for Medicare, Medicaid, EPIC, Child Health Plus, and Family Health Plus, with free Child ID cards provided by New York Life.

Five Young Women Hurt When Their Car Crashes Into a Pole Near Woodhaven Boulevard by Annie Karni and Matthew Nestel - NYPOST.com

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Five young women were taken to Queens hospitals early yesterday morning after this devastating crash, which tore apart their car.

EMS crews had to cut the women from the destroyed vehicle, which was wrapped around a pole near the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Park Lane South in Woodhaven.

Four of the women in the car were 18 years old; the other was 21. Police did not say who was driving.

Two were taken to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, and the other three to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The 21-year-old was listed in critical condition at Jamaica. The conditions of the other four were not immediately available.

Van Wyck Plan Rapped by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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A plan to speed traffic to JFK Airport by closing down two exit ramps on the Van Wyck Expressway is facing tough opposition from Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and three community boards.

Under the proposal, crafted by the city's Economic Development Corp. and Department of Transportation, the Jamaica Ave. off-ramp on the northbound side would be closed along with the Liberty Ave. off-ramp on the southbound side.

City officials have said the closings would reduce car accidents on the busy highway while cutting travel time to the airport.

"Frankly. I'm disappointed by the lack of outreach with regard to this plan, and I'm opposed to it," Marshall said last week.

"I'm also concerned about the traffic on the service roads along the closed portions and the ability to access Jamaica Hospital," she added.

EDC officials had originally told borough officials that they hoped to start the this plan this summer. But that timetable appears to have changed.

"We're listening to the community and listening to their concerns as we evaluate whether or not to move forward," said EDC spokesman David Lombino.

Jamaica Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center located on the southbound service road of the Van Wyck, sits in the middle of the proposed closure zone. Hospital officials have said they fear that closing exits will make it tougher for ambulances and staffers to get to the facility.

Marshall, along with representatives of Community Boards 9, 10 and 12 - whose neighborhoods would be affected by the plan - met with EDC and Transportation officials last week to hash out their concerns.

Although Jamaica Hospital has been in contact with the EDC about the plan since last year, local officials said they were notified only in recent weeks.

Members of Community Board 9 passed a resolution opposing the plan before even meeting with city officials.

"My board has not even had an opportunity to hear what they had planned," said Betty Braton, chairwoman of Community Board 10.

"If you are going to do something like that, you need to talk to the community. It's not just airport traffic that uses the Van Wyck Expressway," she said.

Judge Questions Defense’s Statements in Seminerio Case by Anna Gustafson - Queens Campaigner

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After the attorney representing former state Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio argued that his client was a hardworking public servant who bent over backward for his constituents, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald expressed reservations about the defense’s statements.

“Someone who is elected is supposed to support his constituents without being paid more than his salary,” Buchwald said.

It was a phrase Buchwald frequently repeated several times throughout the defense’s daylong arguments at the Oct. 30 pre-sentencing hearing for Seminerio, a politician from Richmond Hill who pleaded guilty in June to taking money from Jamaica Hospital administrators in exchange for lobbying state health officials on their behalf.

“Mr. Seminerio admitted what he did was wrong, but it was not the full-fledged scheme the government alleges,” said Pery Krinsky, an attorney for Seminerio.

Krinsky spent the day in Manhattan federal court last Thursday refuting prosecutors’ statements that the former lawmaker created a sham consulting agency that he used as a bully pulpit to squeeze money out of such organizations as the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and Long Island Rail Road.

Seminerio twice wrote to the state Ethics Committee, in 1996 and 2001, to advise them of Marc Consultants, his company, and he was advised that it was fine for him to make money as a consultant provided he did not make financial gain at the expense of the public nor advocate for state legislation that would exclusively benefit the groups or individuals who were paying him, Krinsky said. He therefore found nothing wrong with accepting money from a variety of Queens groups, according to his lawyer.

Prosecutors had said last week that Seminerio had accepted money from various organizations not as a consultant but rather as bribe money to help the groups by advocating for them in Albany.

“The government has said Mr. Seminerio provided no bona-fide services,” Krinsky said. “… Mr. Seminerio provided very real consulting services for very real clients. Mr. Seminerio did make introductions, did open doors for people.”

Buchwald, again, said she was not persuaded by the defense’s arguments.

“Making phone calls and opening doors seems to be a great deal of what elected officials are expected to do for their constituents,” Buchwald said.

The judge also asked whether Seminerio had any clients who were not constituents, to which Krinsky said there was one: Winston Financial.

Prosecutors charged that Seminerio extorted Jamaica Chamber of Commerce President Robert Richards in 1999. After Seminerio threatened he would squash any legislation that would help the chamber if Richards refused to become a client, the chamber president began paying Seminerio about $700 per month for so-called consulting fees, the government said.

Jo-Anne Rickert, Seminerio’s chief of staff, painted a different picture, saying Richards and Seminerio had a longstanding close relationship and that Richards would frequently spend all day in the former lawmaker’s Albany office.

“He came to our office every day,” Rickert said. “He read the paper, made phone calls, acted up with the girls. He’d spend the day with us .… He was so proud Tony was his daughter’s godfather.”

Rickert said she had not known during that time that the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce was a consulting client of Seminerio’s.

Krinsky also said that while a former LIRR administrator had told prosecutors that Seminerio “called the Long Island Rail Road more frequently than other politicians and tried to get people jobs,” the total number of people he tried to help was about five.

“In approximately an eight-year period, Mr. Seminerio called to assist people in obtaining jobs at the Long Island Rail Road,” Krinsky said. “He sought jobs for one to two of his constituents about every two years.”
Buchwald emphasized to defense attorneys that Seminerio had been caught on tape saying he expected to land jobs for people after finding state funding for the MTA subsidiary.

“Any time that I would give them a $250,000 contribution, or $500,000, for repairs on the rail in to here, I need two jobs,” Seminerio said about the LIRR to former Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin, who wore a wire at the request of the federal government, according to court transcripts, to reduce his own jail term for corruption. “Even if I didn’t have anybody, then I find two people and get them jobs.”

For Seminerio, Former Assemblyman, Arranging Hospital Deals Was Costly by Jim Dwyer - NYTimes.com

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In the Atlantic Diner in Queens on an afternoon two years ago, you could hear the sounds of a man peeling open the tin can around his soul. Tony Seminerio was a member of the State Assembly from Queens. He’ll do you a favor, get you a contract, what do you need, let me make a call for you, I know that junior commissioner who can send bursts of government cash into the sky — why, he’s a dear friend. Just hire me, Tony Seminerio. Send the money to my consulting company. If you don’t, I hate you, you’re no good.

You might think this act — this burlesque of intimacy — would quickly get old. It is also risky.

To his grief, Anthony S. Seminerio discovered that the man sitting across from him in the diner, another of the dear friends, another crooked politician, was wearing a recording device that day. Mr. Seminerio talked himself into a federal conviction for taking money. Now 74, he waits to find out if he will spend his autumn years in prison.

But listen carefully. The case is about more than the coins rattling in the life of Mr. Seminerio, a former correction officer who spent 30 years in the Assembly talking tough on crime.

On the recording, he says, with truth, that he did yeoman service for the hospitals in his district. He helped Jamaica Hospital Medical Center get millions of dollars in special financing. He awoke to the realization that all he was getting for his labors in Albany were the thanks of the people he was making rich.

He went into business for himself, he said that day in the diner, speaking to Brian M. McLaughlin, a former assemblyman who was recording their conversation in hopes of saving his own hide.

When it dawned on him how well everyone else was doing from his work, Mr. Seminerio said, he decided: “From now on, I’m a consultant.”

Leaving aside laws against bribery, who could blame him?

An important client of the Seminerio consultancy was Jamaica Hospital, and its chief executive, David P. Rosen. Over a decade, Mr. Rosen arranged for payments of nearly $400,000 to the Seminerio company.

How did the years treat Mr. Rosen?

In 2007, Mr. Rosen drew two salaries, one from Jamaica Hospital and another from its parent company, MediSys, for $520,341 and $796,167. He also got a payment of $500,555 toward a retirement fund from the hospital, and $59,861 more from MediSys. This came to more than $1.8 million. The year before, his wages and benefits came to $2.2 million.

This is not to pick on Mr. Rosen, whose wages cover his services for three other hospitals managed by MediSys: Brookdale, Flushing and Peninsula.

A survey of the 200 largest nonprofit companies found that C.E.O.’s at hospitals and medical centers had the highest median pay, at $848,802, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In New York, the hospital industry pays few executives less than $1 million, with one prominent — and instructive — exception: the city’s public hospital system, the Health and Hospitals Corporation, where the senior officials make only a fraction of the salaries paid at the private hospitals.

Hospitals like Jamaica, which is not part of the city system, still receive almost all their financing from the government. Even so, the state has no part in controlling salaries.

“We do not set compensation levels for any hospital executive,” said Claudia Hutton, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Health. “Generally, that should be what the market will bear. We do not want a role in determining executive salaries.”

In February, the I.R.S. published a study of the compensation levels at hospitals across the country and found that they were reasonable by the standards of the tax code.

Mr. Seminerio’s performance on the recording is disheartening on many levels. There are plenty of officials who fight for their communities without putting their hands out. Moreover, it is almost embarrassing to realize that in the decade or so that he ran his consultancy, he collected less than $400,000 from the hospital executives who made millions with his help. He might as well have carried around a tip jar.

He felt entitled to his cut, as he explained in the Atlantic Diner. What, Mr. Seminerio asked rhetorically, “does it mean that we are elected officials?”

He answered his own question with a profanity. Then he asked Mr. McLaughlin: “What was that guy that you replaced?” No one remembered him, Mr. Seminerio said, “and he must have done a lot of good things.”

E-mail: dwyer@nytimes.com

Details Emerge of Anthony Seminerio’s Close Ties to Hospital by Colin Moynihan - NYTimes.com

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The relationship between a longtime assemblyman from Queens and a hospital in his district for which he had sought state funding was so close that in the early 1990s, the head of the hospital promised him a job if his political career faltered, according to testimony on Tuesday.

That assertion was made at a pre-sentencing hearing for Anthony S. Seminerio, who represented the 38th Assembly District in Queens for 30 years until June, when he resigned a day before pleading guilty to fraud. Mr. Seminerio, 74, admitted that he had promoted the business interests of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center before state agencies and fellow legislators without divulging that the hospital was paying him — in essence, he was pocketing money for his services as a legislator.

At the hearing, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, a prosecution witness, Arlene Pedone, who had once worked with Mr. Seminerio, testified that during a difficult re-election contest in 1992, David P. Rosen, the chief executive of Jamaica Hospital, sought to calm Mr. Seminerio.

“David Rosen assured Assemblyman Seminerio that if he lost the election,” she said, “there would always be a place at the hospital for him.”

The conversation Ms. Pedone described took place years before any formal relationship between the assemblyman and the hospital, but the anecdote highlighted their close ties. Prosecutors said the hospital paid Mr. Seminerio more than $300,000 to act as an advocate with legislators and lobby executive branch officials. The money was channeled through a consulting company that Mr. Seminerio had set up.

Jamaica Hospital has not been charged in the case. On Tuesday, a spokesman said, “The hospital has cooperated with the government’s investigation.”

The hearing afforded a revealing view into some particulars of the case that had been a mystery, and included evidence, like witness testimony and recordings of wiretapped phone calls, that often comes to light only during a trial.

Parts of the wiretap transcripts had been released previously by the United States attorney’s office, but on Tuesday, entire conversations were made public. In some instances, the identities of the people speaking on the phone with the assemblyman were made public for the first time.

A federal prosecutor, William Harrington, told the judge, Naomi Reice Buchwald, that the recordings showed that Mr. Seminerio had often improperly used his clout as a member of the Legislature to benefit clients of his consulting firm, from whom he received payments he did not disclose.

For instance, on June 20, 2008, prosecutors said, investigators recorded a conversation in which Mr. Rosen complained to Mr. Seminerio that he was facing a hurdle with an employee in the State Health Department.

According to the transcript, Mr. Seminerio offered to intercede, then a moment later said, “Uh, I’m due for a payment.”

Later, a lawyer for Mr. Seminerio, Perry Krinsky, called as a witness a former colleague of his client’s, who suggested that not every connection between Mr. Seminerio and Jamaica Hospital was tainted.

The witness, Serphin R. Maltese, a former state senator, wrote in a 2002 letter that he and Mr. Seminerio had arranged for a $25,000 grant for the hospital. But on Tuesday, Mr. Maltese testified that Mr. Seminerio had played no role in securing the money.

“Then why did Mr. Seminerio’s name appear in this letter?” Mr. Krinsky asked.

“I guess it was to make him look good,” Mr. Maltese said.

Queens Man is Shot Dead in a Home Invasion Robbery While Attempting to Protect His Dad by Barry Paddock and Rocco Parascandola - NY Daily News

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A Queens man who was shot in the head while trying to defend his dad during a late-night robbery attempt has died.

Police said Gerardo Antoniello, 29, was shot about 10 p.m. Wednesday, as he scuffled with a pair of armed bandits who followed his father home from the family pizzeria Wednesday night.

Antoniello was taken to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition and died about 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

"I don't understand what kind of people would do something like this," said Frank Rossomangno, 31, the victim's best friend.

"Rob them, do what you have to do and leave. Why do you have to kill someone?"

Cops believe the suspects were lying in wait for Romeo Antoniello when he came home Wednesday night after picking up cash from Romeo's Pizzeria in Ozone Park.

Hearing a commotion, his son came out of the house and tried to stop the attack, cops said. "There was a scuffle at the door and the father was hit in the head," a police source said.

"The son comes from inside and tries to help the father. He gets shot in the head."

As the suspects ran off empty-handed -- leaving behind a knapsack and packing tape -- Romeo Antoniello and his wife, Gaetana, placed a frantic call to another son, Carmine, a Queens Task Force cop who called 911.

Scores of officers descended on the family's Ozone Park home.

The dad was roughed up by the suspects but not hurt. His 58-year-old also was not hurt. Neighbors were stunned. "It's a shame," said Steve King, 32, a regular at the pizzeria.

"Nice place, good food, hard-working man. (The father is) there all the time." Another neighbor, Pat, 53, who would not give her last name, called the family "great people." "Down-to-earth, honest, hard-working -- great people to have in the neighborhood," she said.

"I'm in fear for my own life now. If they can push people into their own homes, what's to keep them from coming to where I live?"

After the shooting, police searched the area with dogs and a helicopter in a vain attempt to find the suspects.

Crash Claims Ozone Park Man by Ivan Pereira - New York Post

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A fatal accident on an Ozone Park street early Sunday morning sent residents into shock as they raced to try to save the man who was hit by a luxury car.

Donald Bryan was dropped off by a cab near his home around 85th Street and Sutter Avenue around midnight when he was struck by a 2008 Lexus that was being driven westbound on Sutter by a unidentified 18-year-old, police said.

The 32-year-old, who worked at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center as a security guard, was flipped in the air, then hit the back window and landed on the street while the car crashed into the gate of Mokom Sholom Cemetery on Sutter Avenue and 84th Street, according to eyewitnesses.

Bryan was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital less than an hour later due to brunt trauma to his lower body, police and the city's medical examiner said.

"Quite a lot of people were coming out with towels," said Kevin Wickers, 47, one of several nearby residents who ran to help when they heard the accident. "He was bleeding all over the place."

The teen driver, who was with two other passengers, stayed at the scene of the accident and had not been arrested or charged as of press time Tuesday, the police and Queens district attorney's office said. It was not known whether he was speeding, although Wickers and other neighbors said they heard the car go fast.

"They weren't hurt, they were more shook up," Wickers said of the car's occupants.

Wickers and several other neighbors said a cab was dropping off Bryan from Manhattan after he finished work that night. Christopher Gianni, who stayed with the victim until first responders arrived, said he saw the cab drive off after the accident.

Gianni, who spent 20 years with the U.S. Navy and currently works with the U.S. Coast Guard as a civilian, said he tried to administer first aid to Bryan.

"He asked, 'What happened?' and I told him, 'You were just hit by a car,'" Gianni recalled.

Friends of the security guard set up a makeshift memorial at the edge of the cemetery where he was hit. In addition to flowers and a candle, the memorial included a picture of Bryan, posing casually in a black T-shirt.

Several neighbors said the road in the area, which borders Tudor Village, has had problems with speeding drivers over the years. Several drivers have caused minor accidents and near-misses due to their excessive driving, according to Wickers.

"They come off flying off the Conduit," he said.

Gianni said he and several neighbors have complained to the city about the dangerous road and said the fatal accident could spur someone to come up with a way to curb speeders. He suggested a flashing yellow light to slow down drivers.

"I hope after this they could do something with the street," Gianni said.

Hospital Boss Sues Over 'Bribe' Try - by Melissa Klein - New York Post

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The president of a defunct Queens hospital who refused to pay bogus consulting fees to disgraced former Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio is suing him and a rival hospital president who did pay the lawmaker.

Dr. Robert Aquino, who ran Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills, slapped Seminerio and David Rosen, president of Jamaica Hospital, with a $100 million suit Friday in Manhattan federal court.

Seminerio pleaded guilty in June, admitting that he lobbied the state on behalf of Jamaica while keeping secret that he was paid a consulting fee.

The state closed Parkway in November.

SUV Carjacked with Child in Backseat - Eyewitness News with Jamie Roth - 7online.com

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An infant took the ride of his young life when carjacker stole his father's SUV, left idling outside a store in the Jamaica section of Queens.

Police say the boy's father left his 1995 Chevy Blazer running when he went into a store at 92nd Street and Jamaica Avenue just before midnight.

He left his son, an 18-month-old named Micholas, in the back seat.

As he entered the store, the father said he turned around and spotted someone in his car.

He yelled, "Bro, my son is in the car! My son is in the car!" But the suspect took off.

The father called police, who quickly responded and searched the area.

The carjacker, apparently spotting the boy in the back, dropped off the child in front of a nearby house on 104th Street.

The boy, left with a bottle, was reportedly found by residents. They called police, who reunited the child with his father.

The boy appeared unharmed. Both were taken to Jamaica Medical Center for evaluation.

The suspect fled in the SUV. No arrests were immediately made.

Seat Scramble in 38th A.D.: 3 Eye Filling Seminerio's Seat Following His Guilty Plea and Resignation by John Lauinger - NY Daily News

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For three decades, Anthony Seminerio held an iron grip on Queens' 38th Assembly District.

The Democrat had Republican friends in high places, leading GOP brass to back several of his reelection bids.

But Seminerio's stunning downfall - capped by his resignation and guilty plea on influence peddling charges this week - has created a wide-open race for the once-unattainable seat.

At least three candidates want to replace the disgraced lawmaker, who faces 14 years in prison for taking secret payments from Jamaica Hospital officials.

Seminerio formally resigned Monday. A successor is to be selected by a partisan contest in the November general election.

That arrangement was made possible when the state Board of Elections certified the vacancy on Wednesday, the same day Seminerio pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court.

But Gov. Paterson could still call for a nonpartisan special election.

"We don't yet have a plan to do so," said Paterson spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein.

To get on the ballot, candidates have until July 16 to get the required number of signatures.

Queens Republicans favor a general election because they believe Mayor Bloomberg's presence on the GOP ticket will help candidates down the line.

But the party faces an uphill battle even in a special election because Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 3 to 1 in Seminerio's district.

City Councilwoman Liz Crowley (D-Middle Village) has been mentioned as a contender to replace Seminerio, but her spokeswoman said Thursday she is "not considering" a run.

Republican Donna Marie Caltabiano, executive director of the Forest Park Senior Citizens Center, said she has been planning her campaign for months.

Caltabiano, 55, of Woodhaven, touted her experience as vice president of community school board 27 in the days before mayoral control of schools.

The Republicans have yet to select a candidate, but Caltabiano believes she has the inside track.

"I believe that I am their candidate," she said, adding that the Queens GOP has been giving her advice.

On the Democratic side, Community Board 9 member Nick Comaianni faces a likely primary against Ozone Park lawyer Albert Baldeo, 49, who ran for state Senate in 2006, losing to then-incumbent Serphin Maltese.

Comaianni, 41, who is president of Community Education Council 24, said education is his priority.

"I want to bring some transparency to Albany, which is a mess right now," he added.

With Brendan Brosh

Murder-Suicide Stab Horror Claims Life of Queens Barber and Wife by Oren Yaniv and Bill Hutchinson - NY Daily News

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Scene outside Selvin's Unisex Hair Salon in Queens on Sunday night after a husband slit his wife's throat before turning the knife on himself. Hagen for News

A 76-year-old Queens barber slashed his wife's throat with a butcher knife Sunday, then turned the knife on himself as their developmentally disabled son watched in horror, cops said.

The bloody murder-suicide occurred about 7:35 p.m. in the Ozone Park (95-16 Jamaica Ave Woodhaven) apartment that the killer, Eusebio Salazar, shared with Geraldina Salazar, 51, and their grown son, who was born with Down syndrome.

"My mom! My mom!" cried the son, who ran downstairs to get deli owner Darrio Urquijo, 50.

Urquijo said he found the husband and wife on the floor of their bedroom, a brown-handled knife sticking out of the man's chest.

"I go with the kid and I see the guy on the floor, the wife, too, and he has a knife in his chest," Urquijo said. "There was a lot of blood on his hands."

Geraldina Salazar was still breathing when cops found her with several stab wounds to the neck and torso. She died at Jamaica Hospital.

The couple owned the Selvin's Unisex Hair Salon downstairs from their apartment on Jamaica Ave.

Neighbors said Eusebio Salazar suffered a stroke recently and had been depressed.

"They were wonderful people," neighbor Sandra Liciaga said. "They looked happy. That's why I'm so shocked."

She said the couple showered affection on their son, who is in his 20s. "They lived for that boy. Their son was their life," Liciaga said.

Liciaga said she saw the son making a slashing motion with his hands across his throat as he tried to explain to cops what he saw his father do to his mother.

"I just feel bad for that boy," said Liciaga. "He doesn't know any better."

whutchinson@nydailynews.com

Queens Residents Call for Better Healthcare at Weiner Talk by Anna Gustafson - YourNabe.com

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Congress should enact sweeping health care reform and cover millions of the country’s uninsured and under−insured individuals, said many Queens residents who spoke at a health care forum held by U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D−Forest Hills) in Forest Hills last week.

“Corporate America is not interested in taking care of us,” Ozone Park resident David Quintana said. “We need mandated coverage.”

Hours after announcing he would not continue his bid for mayor, Weiner sponsored the forum in Forest Hills’ Queens Community House May 27.

Congress returned from a week−long recess Monday, and Weiner said lawmakers planned to begin discussing proposals that would provide universal health care coverage.

“For years we’ve had a weird dichotomy,” Weiner told the crowd of about 40 people. “We’ve had the best health care in the world … but we also have a system that’s left many, many people uninsured or under−insured. We are one of the few industrialized nations with no comprehensive health care coverage.”

According to the 2007 U.S. Census, more than 46 million Americans lack insurance.

Weiner has basically backed President Barack Obama’s proposal to mandate Americans to be insured, similar to how all drivers must purchase car insurance. Individuals would have the option to join a government−run insurance group, which Weiner said would force private insurance companies to provide more competitive and affordable prices.

“What’s going to happen is if you have health insurance you like, nothing is going to change that,” Weiner said. “If you have Medicare, we’ll try to improve that. We’ll get all the uninsured people in a pool and tell insurance companies to bid for their business. We’ll have different plans poor people can choose from, and we’ll give citizens the option to join the plan, like what federal employers have.”

He added. “When someone walks into Jamaica Hospital and they don’t have health insurance, it’s not the Bill Fairy that pays the bill, it’s all of us.”

Forest Hills resident Josephine Donahue, a representative of the AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, said she was especially concerned about residents over the age of 50.

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“People in the over−50 group are more likely to be laid off and lose their insurance,” Donahue said. “We want affordable, quality insurance for all Americans.”

Photo caption: U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner speaks at a forum on health care in Forest Hills. Photo by Anna Gustafson

Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.

Comptroller Wants Aid for Crowded Hospitals by John Blau - Queens Chronicle

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Queens emergency rooms, already crowded following two recent hospital closures, are now “in crisis,” according to city Comptroller William Thompson Jr.

Based on a policy alert he released to coincide with a press conference Monday at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Thompson said Queens medical facilities do not have enough beds to meet demand, patients are waiting longer to receive care and ambulance response times are slowing in the wake of closures at St. John’s Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica.

Swine flu has tested the current system’s limits even more, as concerned citizens are rushing to emergency rooms to be tested for the illness. With an influx of H1N1-related visits, the comptroller’s report said Jamaica Hospital’s ER is seeing more than 500 patients a day.

The ER had been crammed before the outbreak, handling 350 patients or more on each of 20 days from mid-February through the end of March, as opposed to only two days during the same time period in 2008. Flu fears have only worsened the situation.

“Clearly, these efforts and conditions cannot be sustained,” Thompson said.

Joined by Borough President Helen Marshall, Thompson called on the state to offer more funding to Queens hospitals. He asked for loans to be provided to medical facilities that, in the midst of a recession, may not have the necessary funds to expand its surge capacity or hire more staff. In addition, Thompson seeks immediate aid for Queens, reminiscent of the sort sent to an area struck by a flood or fire.

Thompson, who is running for mayor, also criticized Mayor Michael Bloomberg for what he called “his silence” in regard to the hospital crisis. He then reminded the public of his own letter to the New York State health commissioner shortly before the two Queens hospitals closed Feb. 14. In the letter, Thompson said he warned of the stress the medical center shutdowns would have on emergency care.

As of now, Thompson recommends that individuals with flu symptoms be directed to ambulatory care facilities as a way of reducing emergency room traffic.

“I don’t know if it’s a question of approval [for funds] as much as we need coordination right now from both the city and state to provide the leadership to pull these things together,” Thompson said. “It’s about making the commitment at both the city and state level to make sure people are taken care of.”

Caritas Health Care Inc., which owned both hospitals, was allowed to fall into bankruptcy, and the two hospitals closed without required approval of a closure plan from the defunct company, according to Thompson’s report. From the “final draft” of Caritas’ plan dated Feb. 5, the city’s two Health and Hospitals Corp. facilities in Queens, Elmhurst Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica, needed to take on an estimated 30,000 more emergency visits a year and 8,000 additional inpatient admissions. Caritas admits “these hospitals may not be in a position to absorb this projected demand in the timeframe contemplated.”

According to a 2006 report by the Borough President’s Office, Queens had 1.4 hospital beds per 1,000 residents. Manhattan, on the other hand, has 7.1 beds per 1,000 residents. Thompson’s report documents cases at Flushing Hospital and Queens Hospital Center in which doctors were given temporary permission by administrators to admit patients and have them wait in corridors up to 48 hours. Blood transfusions have been moved at times into hallways, as well.

A “living nightmare” was how one veteran doctor described conditions at Queens Hospital Center’s emergency room to the comptroller’s staff.

“The people deserve better,” Thompson said. “Our doctors, nurses and medical professionals deserve better. Our city, and the borough of Queens, deserves better.”

Marshall said she warned Gov. David Paterson around the time of the two hospital closures — long before the swine flu outbreak — that the borough would not be able to handle a major medical emergency. Queens, she said, has always been “under-bedded,” even when St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals were in operation.

Visiting the remaining care facilities, such as Jamaica Hospital, Marshall said she has witnessed significant overcrowding, with patients in the hallways and nurses working 13- to 14-hour shifts. Often times, burn victims are transported to Manhattan.

“We need more beds, not less,” Marshall said. “Really and truly, we need help.”

NYC Comptroller Thompson: Hospital Emergency Rooms In Queens Are In Crisis Due to Closures and H1N1 Virus

--State, City need to take immediate action --

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today charged that hospitals in Central and Eastern Queens are in a “state of crisis” as their emergency rooms confront a torrent of patients amid H1N1 virus worries and the closures of St. John’s and Mary Immaculate Hospitals.

“Hospital emergency departments in much of the Borough of Queens are in crisis,” Thompson said. “A new approach is needed if we are to ensure that the Queens hospitals and all of our remaining hospitals and emergency rooms are able to provide the public with quality care.”

Thompson was joined by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall in front of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. Jamaica Hospital is among the Queens hospitals severely affected by recent closures.

“In recent years, the State Department of Health has closed four hospitals in Queens,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “Most recently, St. John’s and Mary Immaculate, which each saw approximately 50,000 emergency room visits annually, shut their doors, representing a loss of more than 400 inpatient hospital beds. In addition, emergency rooms and a trauma center were closed. Short term funding from the State was targeted for equipment and infrastructure expansions, but did not address the need for additional healthcare professionals, especially nurses. Comptroller Thompson is right when he says that emergency rooms in Queens are in crisis. I warned the Governor’s Office that the hospital system in Queens would not be able to handle a major emergency.”

“The healthcare crisis in Queens has gone from bad to worse,” said Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. “It was troubling enough that the closing of two intensely needed hospitals could not be prevented. In January I called on the city to explore every viable option before deciding to shut down St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate Hospitals, a decision which could put excessive strain on surrounding hospitals and jeopardize the health and safety of New Yorkers.”

She continued: “Unfortunately, the outbreak of the H1N1 virus not only demonstrates the lack of sufficient emergency care capacity in Queens and around the city, but it has elevated the severity of the hospital crisis. I want to thank Comptroller Thompson for drawing attention to this important issue and I echo his call for immediate action to ensure that the city can provide New Yorkers with quality emergency care.”

Thompson has consistently warned about the impact of hospital closures in the region on remaining facilities. In December 2006, he issued Emergency Room Care: Will It Be There?, a report that assessed the impact of five city emergency room closures proposed by the Berger Commission. Earlier this year, he spoke out repeatedly about the need to better prepare for the closures of St. John’s and Mary Immaculate Hospitals.

The new Policy Alert, Closures of St. John’s and Mary Immaculate Hospitals Are Overwhelming Remaining Emergency Rooms; Emergence of H1N1 Virus Causing ER Crisis in Queens, found that emergency rooms are being flooded with patients, many who must now await admission, ambulance turnaround times are rising, and medical professionals are facing extraordinary challenges in their ability to provide care. Among the findings:

• The number of emergency room patients at the surrounding hospitals soared right after St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals closed earlier this year. For example, from mid-February to the end of March, there were 20 days when Jamaica Hospital’s emergency room exceeded 350 patients versus only two such days in the same period in 2008. The number of patients waiting to be admitted from the emergency room also rose dramatically in the surrounding hospitals.

• The number of patients brought to surrounding hospitals’ emergency rooms by ambulance soared. For example, comparing January and March 2009, the number of patients arriving by ambulance at Queens Hospital Center rose 51 percent, and at North Shore University Hospital-Forest Hills by 40 percent.

• Ambulance turnaround times – the amount of time from arrival at the emergency room until the ambulance is free to make the next call – increased significantly at Jamaica, Queens and North Shore University-Forest Hills hospitals.

• A Queens Hospital Center emergency room doctor with more than two decades of experience told the Comptroller’s Office that he now sees 35 patients per shift compared with 20 before the two closures, that conditions at the hospital have become a “living nightmare,” and that “the state of emergency medicine in Queens is the worst I’ve seen in my career.” His observations echoed other physicians, some of whom spoke of an overwhelming added patient load.

In his Policy Alert Thompson noted that there had not been any public or inclusive discussion concerning transition plans or how the closures would affect area residents. Thompson faulted the New York State Department of Health (SDOH) and the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) for failing to acknowledge the deteriorating financial condition of Mary Immaculate and St. John’s Hospitals in a timely fashion and failing to put in place a plan to address the impact of the closures.

Thompson also noted that the SDOH allowed St. John’s and Mary Immaculate Hospitals to close without finalizing and approving a closure plan, in violation of the Department’s own requirement. Nine days before the hospitals’ emergency rooms closed, in its “Final Draft” closure plan (February 5), the operator of the closed hospitals, Caritas, revealed, “We have yet to determine that alternate resources will be in place upon the closure of Caritas.”

Noting that Elmhurst and Queens Hospital Centers could face an additional 30,000 emergency room visits and 8,000 inpatient admissions, the closure plan stated that “these hospitals may not be in a position to absorb this projected demand in the time-frame contemplated herein.”

“What we are seeing now is a crisis in the hospital and healthcare system in Queens, a version of which may very well spread to other boroughs if H1N1 virus outbreaks appear in other neighborhoods,” Thompson said. “To be sure, while the timing of the H1N1 virus itself was not foreseeable, the likelihood of some event of a similar nature causing a sudden surge in demand was both foreseeable and inevitable.”

Thompson offered a number of recommendations. Among his priority items: individuals with flu symptoms should be triaged at ambulatory care facilities; the necessary resources to deal with emergencies should be activated; loans and working capital should be provided to cover expansion costs; data on emergency room utilization should be made public; hospitals should be staffed-up to meet increased demand; and, gaps in services created by the closures must be identified.

“The City and State need to pull key healthcare providers and other stakeholders together immediately to share information, identify problems and develop solutions to address the current surge in demand stemming from the H1N1 virus,” Thompson said. “If the State Department of Health had begun planning in December 2006, as I suggested, it is likely that much of the current impacts in Queens could have been minimized or avoided entirely.”