There was a lot going on across Queens during the last full week in January, including Shia LeBeouf opening an anti-Trump art exhibit in Astoria — and his arrest for an altercation at the site — a four-alarm fire that ripped through a commercial building in Flushing, and a few drug busts that took plenty of drugs off the streets.
Here are the top 10 stories from around Queens this week.
- The top story of the week was about a Whitestone woman who pleaded guilty to helping her husband and son smuggle cocaine through their Corona-based restaurant. Eleanora Gigliotti could serve anywhere between five and 40 years in federal prison.
- Bayside’s Bay Village Mini Mart convenience store located at 205-11 35th Ave. closed for good on Sunday, Jan. 22. Owners of the “Mini Mart,” as it was known to locals, said they were closing down because they could just not afford to pay the rent any longer.
- A Ridgewood man was arrested as the co-leader of a drug ring that put nearly $3 million of oxycodone pills into New York’s black market. Six other individuals from Queens and Brooklyn were also arrested and charged.
- Four Queens restaurants are featured in this year’s NYC Restaurant Week. Jan. 23, marked the start of NYC Restaurant Week, where diner can visit more than 375 restaurants in 41 neighborhoods and each restaurant offers three-course prix-fixe lunches for $29 and three-course prix-fixe dinners for $42.
- After a dispute outside of his public art instillation outside of the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, actor Shia LeBeouf was arrested on misdemeanor charges.
- Officers from the 114th Precinct obtained search warrants for two apartments in Astoria and found three guns — including a .40-caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic — ammunition, cocaine, heroin and prescription pills. Six men in total were arrested.
- The community was abuzz when they learned that Lane Towers in Forest Hills had launched sales for 21 apartments in the post-war cooperative building.
- Spot Dessert Bar opened up a new location in Flushing this week, where they debuted a brand-new treat for their customers, Misugaru. The Misugaru is a rich and creamy soft-serve ice cream.
- Firefighters battled a four-alarm fire at a commercial building located at 135-42 Roosevelt Ave., in Flushing on Wednesday afternoon. The blaze shut down a section of Roosevelt Avenue to allow firefighters to address the situation.
- St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows received special recognition for their visual arts and school counseling programs, which were deemed “Programs of Distinction” by the Middle States Association.
