Queens' Best Week Ever! 5/3 featuring Super Hootie, lovely latinas and more

Welcome to another installment of Queens’ Best Week Ever! Where we sift through the local news so you don’t have to.

This week, Heather Senison of the Queens Ledger captures a 114th Precinct community meeting with riveting detail. Police at the 114 have no manners, according to Laura DiFrenza, who (citizen’s arrest style) successfully pulled over a driver when he ran a red light. She proceeded to call 911, but when the cop came, her encounter was less than pleasant.

I don’t know if they get training on respect, but this cop literally spoke to me like I was dirt on the street,” DiFrenza said…

She said the driver [she stopped] had a license from the Czech Republic and told the officer that the sun was in his eyes so he didn’t see the red light …

“When I told [the officer] I just wanted to make sure this guy is able to drive because he almost killed me and ran a red light, he goes, ‘well, you know you’re going to die eventually,’” DiFrenza said. “I’m 28 years old and I know I’m going to die eventually, but there’s no reason for a cop to speak to me like that.”

Police at the 108th Precinct aren’t doing much better, according to the Sunnyside Post…or ARE they?

“We don’t have a lot of cops, but we know who the bad guys are in this neighborhood [precinct],” [108 Precinct Commander Donald] Powers said, referring to felons who are out on probation or are known recidivists. “It’s like small town policing.”…

One couple, whose house was almost broken into, said that the police wrote up the crime as “criminal mischief” despite there being evidence of an attempted burglary. “Our screen doors were slashed,” the couple said…

One Sunnyside Gardens resident complained that when she called the community affairs office at the 108 precinct the phone rang 40 to 50 times without answer.

The Queens Gazette features helpful hints for parents who are trying to determine whether their children are gang members.

“You have to look at colors your son doesn’t want to wear,” officials said. “If you come home with a red shirt and your son tells you, ‘I can’t wear that’, and you ask, ‘Why?’ and he just looks at you, well – you know why.”

Crime expert Liz Goff tells the tale of a a would-be bank robber in Flushing, who had some very precise demands.

“Do not move. I have a gun. I want $2,000 in 100s. You have 15 seconds to give note back.” When the teller alerted the bank manager the suspect fled the scene empty-handed—leaving the note behind.

Did he need the note back in 10 seconds? We will never know.

In other criminal news, the TimesLedger reports that some residents think Whitestone is safe enough to leave cars unlocked and running in front of Dunkin Donuts. Trusting individuals have had their pricey rides jacked, the paper reports.

I do it all the time,” said resident Adam Schreiber, who left his SUV running outside the store. “My friends tell me all the time I’m crazy.”…

Tony Vagelas left his black Chevy Tahoe running outside the donut shop — even though his uncle was the man who had his Porsche stolen…

But it is actually illegal to leave a car running, even if it is only to dash into a Dunkin’ Donuts. That is why officers from the 109th Precinct said they have been keeping an eye on the location…

Yes, that is why.

Local leader Ann Jawin proves to the Queens Chronicle that she can understand the economic theory of supply and demand as she faults the Queens Tribune for running controversial ads.

“Those ads say ‘Lovely Latinas’ and ‘Hot Asian Girls,’” Jawin said. “But they promote prostitution. And when you have more customers, you need to get more girls.”

Strangest occupation of the week: Urologist Richard Yoon, a reverend at the First Korean Church of New York, featured in this article that has nothing to do with his occupation.

And AnnMarie Costella of the Queens Chronicle interviews Queens District Attorney Richard Brown about what it’s like being old and in charge.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown has spent more than five decades in public service acting as a judge and counsel to both a governor and mayor, as well as being the longest-serving DA in Queens County history.

“If you do something you really love, it does not feel like work,” Brown said in an email statement. “I continue to findmy job personally fulfilling and challenging.I amin the office by 7 a.m. each morning and am often the last to leave the building.”

Email ischallenging.

The highlight of the week can be found in the Queens Chronicle‘s report on the measures Con Edison has taken in Howard Beach to ward off wild parakeets that nest near telephone poles.

The parakeets are thought to be descended from a group of birds that escaped from their crates in the cargo area of John F. Kennedy International Airport in the 1960s…