4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 9, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com CAUGHT! Suspect in 27 Queens & L.I. holdups in cuffs Antique lighting will illuminate Bayside’s Bell Blvd. BY BRIANNA ELLIS [email protected]/@briinformed Let there be antique lights at Bell Boulevard in Bayside. Councilman Paul Vallone is facilitating a project with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to install antique lighting on the Bayside strip with a capital construction project that extends from 35th Avenue to Northern Boulevard. The councilman believes that beautifying the shopping strip will be a profi table implementation that attracts more customers. “The next step would be these capital plans. I always envisioned like the old time lights and the benches, the fl owers you know when we do our outdoor festivals … all that brings everyone back and the residual fact is helping Bell Boulevard and getting people to shop here is the plan,” Vallone told The Courier in early May. The streetlights will be replaced with replicas of the original lights that lined the Robert F. Kennedy (Triborough) Bridge during the 1920s. Replicas of these lights currently line Jamaica Avenue’s shopping district in Jamaica. According to a spokesperson for Vallone, the total funding for the new lighting on Bell Boulevard has reached $670,000 so far; $350,000 was allocated by the councilman’s offi ce and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz contributed an additional $320,000. Vallone said that he is aiming to secure more funding for the project and the budget should be fi nalized by late June. Photo by NYC Department of Transportation Bayside will be getting an upgrade with antique teardrop and shielded teardrop lights. Lights shown in this picture were taken in Manhattan locations. The councilman is also working to construct a municipal lot that will increase parking and attract more shoppers to Bell Boulevard. Vallone is securing the space with owners on Bell that is controlled by the Bayside Village BID, a shopping district that represents more than 200 businesses along Bell Boulevard from Northern Boulevard to 35th Avenue. “I’m very enthusiastic about the project. The city has put several investments into projects throughout the city and it’s time that Bayside and Bell Boulevard gets its full share,” said Lyle Sclair, executive director of the Bayside Village BID. More streets across Queens will be repaved this month BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected]/@A_GiudiceReport Queens drivers will see smoother roadways by the end of this month thanks to lower oil prices, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. The mayor’s administration has taken advantage of low prices for oil — a main ingredient in asphalt — coupled with the warmer weather, to allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to expand the number of roadways that will be repaved this fi scal year, which comes to a close at the end of June. In all, 65 additional lane-miles of roads across New York City will be repaved, extending the 1,200 lane-miles originally planned for repaving by de Blasio’s offi ce. “New Yorkers who pump their own gas certainly know that lower oil prices are allowing us to keep more money in our wallets these days,” de Blasio said. “For the city, lower prices at the pump also means that the oil we buy to produce asphalt has been cheaper, allowing us to make even more of it.” DOT announced that the Queens roadways that will see repairs are as follows: - Queens Boulevard from Union Turnpike to Hoover Avenue; - Hillside Avenue from 184th Street to 188th Street/Clearview Expressway to Braddock Avenue; - Utopia Parkway from Horace Harding Expressway to Jewel Avenue; - Lefferts Boulevard from Kew Gardens Road to Metropolitan Avenue; - Kew Gardens Road from Lefferts Boulevard to Van Wyck Expressway; - The eastbound service road of the Horace Harding Expressway from Kissena Boulevard to 164th Street; - Ditmars Boulevard from 27th Avenue to Astoria Boulevard; - And the eastbound service road of the Long Island Expressway from 99th Street to 108th Street. “As we get closer to summer and look to attract more visitors to our beaches and other warm-weather attractions, having more miles of smoother, safer, driver-friendly roadways in Queens and elsewhere in the city will be both a pleasant surprise for motorists and a boon for our local economy,” said state Senator Joseph Addabbo. “I congratulate the DOT for taking advantage of lower oil prices and moving forward to more quickly repair an important part of our infrastructure.” This comes as part of de Blasio’s 2015 $1.6 billion commitment to resurface roads throughout the city over the next 10 years. BY ANGELA MATUA AND ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected]/@QueensCourier A man responsible for a string of restaurant robberies across Queens in recent weeks and many more on Long Island dating back to February has been arrested in Nassau County, police announced on Wednesday. NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert K. Boyce and Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter announced the arrest of Khalif House, 24, of Hempstead at the Nassau County Police Department headquarters in Mineola. The crook is believed to be responsible for a total of 27 capers across Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties dating back to February. In each of the cases, he allegedly visited shops and restaurants, displayed a knife and removed cash from the register. Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano said House may have been supporting a drug habit with the money he pocketed. The arrest announcement came less than 24 hours after the bandit committed his most recent bid for bucks at a College Point variety store at 9:50 p.m. on June 7, offi cials said. House was allegedly joined by Lisette Beltre, 24, of Valley Stream who police believe may have aided him in other robberies. About 20 minutes later, he robbed a Dunkin’ Donuts on Hillside Avenue in Little Neck. Soon after, offi cers in Floral Park noticed a female passenger in a gray Honda Accord near the Dunkin’ Donuts, said Chief of Department for Nassau County Police Steven Skrynecki. They approached Beltre after she ducked into her car and began acting suspicious and asked her to come back to headquarters. Police would not say whether she will face charges. Members of the 105th Precinct went on a manhunt once they saw House fl ee from the Dunkin’ Donuts, but were not successful in catching him until the next morning, Boyce said. They believe he broke into a home in Floral Park and slept there for the night. At 10 a.m. on June 8, police received a 911 call from a Floral Park resident who described a male fi tting House’s description. After “quite an extensive manhunt,” House was apprehended in a nearby parking lot, Skrynecki said. Police said the crook has held up 10 businesses across Queens since February, stealing cash at knifepoint from the registers of Carvel ice cream shops, Dunkin’ Donuts locations and Subway restaurants. He struck 13 locations in Nassau County and four locations in Suffolk County. Offi cials said House has a short rap sheet with minor offenses like resisting arrest; Beltre has no prior record. The FBI, which also collaborated on this case, said they are looking to press federal charges. Photo courtesy of Nassau County Police Department Police believe that Khalif House is responsible for 27 knifepoint robberies across Queens and Long Island.
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