2 TIMES • APRIL 21, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Popular dance program heads to Ridgewood No major damage after Middle Village brush re Volunteer patrol in Glendale looks to help cops battle nancial crimes across area BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI editorial@qns.com @QueensCourier Members of the 104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol (104COP) are ready to help police stop identity thieves and other perpetrators of fi nancial crimes. The patrol’s president, Mark Pearson, relayed information on Thursday night in Glendale about the growing prevalence of ATM skimmer crimes that he learned while attending last Tuesday’s 104th Precinct Community Council meeting. “There’s different ways for perpetrators to skim information,” Pearson pointed out. Personal data can be hacked through data breaching or pulled from machines by a physical device skimmer. Targeted technology includes store card readers, gas pumps, ATMs and bank door card readers. According to the NYPD website, “identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in America today.” A newer development has been use of Bluetooth technology to lift personal information. Crooks install Bluetooth-enabled mechanisms inside of gas pumps to pull individual personal data information from afar. “Apparently there’s universal keys for these gas pumps,” Pearson said. “Perpetrators go in there, and they have a special adapter for certain gas pumps, and it’s a bypass.” To prevent becoming a victim of this particular trend, one member in attendance suggested going inside the station and paying for gas there, instead of swiping a credit or debit card at the pump. Another member recommended setting up text message or email alerts with banks or creditors in order to fi nd out about potential data breaches as quickly as possible. Pearson, along with many in attendance, recognized the scope of the task at hand. “ATM machines are in bodegas and 7-Elevens and pizza places — all these things,” said Pearson. “They even have these little bypasses, another Bluetooth thing, where it looks odd — a box next to a cable — and it’s collecting your information. It’s scary.” Despite the potentially sizable undertaking, all in attendance were in favor of helping survey the Glendale area for these machines. “We’re going to see if we can set something up with Detective Dina Moretti of the NYPD Financial Crimes Division and the 104th Precinct to see maybe if we can go out and start scouting out these ATM machines,” Pearson concluded. BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport Get ready to dance, Ridgewood — the wildly popular Mister Sunday party is coming to Nowadays. Two of the three owners of the outdoor bar, located at 56-06 Cooper Ave., Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin, will be bringing their DJ skills from Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, into Queens this summer when Nowadays opens for the season. For those who are not familiar with the iconic dance party, Mister Sunday is described as a Sunday afternoon party for all ages and all walks of life. “It is referred to as a party. There will be no live music playing, and we won’t be DJing like at a show,” Carter explained. “We will be playing records and people can come down, dance, drink and have a good time. It’s defi nitely an all-ages party. We had one Mister Sunday party at the end of last year at Nowadays. Lots of different kinds of people come.” A common sight at the Mister Sunday parties are parents with their kids, especially during the beginning of the day, Carter said. He also mentioned one fan who comes to dance who is in his 90s. Fans of music will be happy to know that the Mister Sunday parties feature a wide variety of genres, including funk, jazz, disco, soul and more. Mister Sunday is not the only new program coming to Nowadays this summer. Carter announced that Nowadays will be hosting a 10-week fi lm series in conjunction with the Maysles Center, as well as a summer-long educational series where college professors from Olio come to the outdoor bar and teach courses ranging from history to philosophy to anthropology. “This is really great. We wanted one of the big parts of what we are doing at Nowadays to be education, but we wanted it to be exciting education,” Carter said. “What’s better than learning something fun while having good food, enjoying a nice day outside and having a beer?” Every Wednesday night Nowadays will host a ping-pong tournament where contestants sign up for a chance to get their name on the weekly winner’s board and win some great prizes. “Of course we’ll also have all the other great things we had at Nowadays last year – good food, good drinks, and a really nice atmosphere,” Carter said. “Keeping things fun and mellow will be our main priority as we sprinkle in these other pieces of programming throughout the summer. We still want to be the neighborhood’s big backyard.” Nowadays is set to open on May 12. For more information on these programs, dates and times, visit the Nowadays website BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village did not suffer any signifi cant damage as a result of several small brush fi res that broke out on Monday afternoon, it was reported. According to fi re offi cials, FDNY received a call about the fi re at 2:16 p.m. on April 18 and 12 units and 65 fi refi ghters were on hand to combat the blaze at 67-29 Metropolitan Ave. The fi re was brought under control just before 5 p.m., the FDNY said. Reportedly, the fi re started in a fi eld close to Christ the King Regional High School, a few hundred feet south of Metropolitan Avenue, that is used for the disposal of fl oral arraignments. No graves were damaged or even in danger of being affected, a cemetery representative told the Ridgewood Times. Conditions were ripe for brush fi res on Monday due to a combination of warm temperatures, low humidity and wind gusts. The National Weather Service issued a red fl ag warning for the New York City area for Monday and Tuesday due to the potential for brush fi res. No injuries were reported. Cemetery offi cials believe the fi res may have been sparked by an errant, smoldering cigarette butt being tossed into the cemetery, but nothing has been confi rmed by the FDNY. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Scott Mitzner Plumes of smoke from this afternoon’s brush fi re in Middle Village can be seen from this Ridgewood street. Photos courtesy of Natalie Keyssar
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