1) U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is forced to resign in June after sexting several young woman, setting the stage for the election of Bob Turner, the first Republican to win the Queens seat in 90 years.
2) Resorts World Casino New York City opens in late October, the first video lottery terminal gaming spot in the city and the creator of 2,800 jobs. The development cost hundreds of millions of dollars to construct, including a $370 million upfront payment to the state.
3) Same-sex marriage becomes legal in New York state, with 90 couples lining up at the Queens Marriage License Bureau on the first day, July 24.
4) The FBI launches an investigation into the fund-raising practices of city Comptroller John Liu, who represented Flushing in the City Council and was considered the Democratic frontrunner for mayor in 2013.
5) The Asian population in Queens grew by nearly 60 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to the latest Census report released in July, while whites and blacks left the nation’s most ethnically diverse county in droves.
6) Six teenagers are charged with murder as a hate crime after an 18-year-old boy was beaten to death outside a Woodhaven house party in March because his attackers mistakenly thought he was gay.
7) Queens Republican operative John Haggerty is sentenced to as much as four years in prison in December after being found guilty of stealing $1.1 million of the mayor’s money to buy his father’s house in Forest Hills.
8) Pat Dolan, head of the Queens Civic Congress who fought many battles to better the borough over many decades, is killed by a car in November as she crossed Hillside Avenue to attend a meeting on transportation safety. She was 71.
9) Two state agencies investigate the Indian Cultural and Community Center over its acquisition of Creedmoor property at a steep discount. The ICCC’s plan faces stiff opposition from civic organizations and Community Board 13, which votes overwhelmingly against the group’s proposal.
10) Barbara Sheehan draws a sentence of five years in prison on a gun possession charge in November after a grand jury acquits her of murdering her husband in the bathroom of their Howard Beach home. Her lawyer accused the Queens judicial system of not protecting battered women.
