8 JUNE 14, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Local pols
seek Down
Syndrome
lic. plates
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Drivers in New York could
soon have an easy opportunity
to raise money and
awareness for Down Syndrome
aft er a bill introduced by Queens
representatives recently passed in
both the state Senate and Assembly.
The bill sponsored by Senator Joseph
Addabbo and Assemblyman
Mike Miller — whose districts
overlap in Glendale and Woodhaven
— would foster the creation of a
special license plate for New York
drivers that want to raise awareness
for Down Syndrome. Money
raised from the sale of the license
plates would also go toward a new
Down Syndrome Research Fund.
“I appreciated the support of
my legislative colleagues who
voted to pass this proposal, which
has great potential to increase
awareness of Down Syndrome,
add to scientifi c research about
this condition, and highlight the
many contributions that have
been made, and are being made,
by people born with Down’s,”
Addabbo said in a press release.
According to the bill, the license
plates will have the phrase “Down
Syndrome Awareness” along with
a design that will be approved by
the commissioner of the Department
of Motor Vehicles if the bill
becomes law. Those who wish to
apply for the license plate may
do so as soon as the bill becomes
law, and service fee Need
there will be an annual
of $25 for the plate.
Addabbo idea for the more
and Miller said the
bill originated from
a mutual constituent.
“I am very pleased with bill no.
A5305-B space
passing unanimously in
the Assembly,” Miller said. “The
Department of Motor Vehicles
will now off er distinctive license
plates for family members whose
relatives have Down Syndrome.
Anyone who purchases a license
plate will help fund research for
causes, treatment and prevention.”
Down Syndrome is the most
commonly occurring chromosomal
condition and it affects
people of all races and socioeconomic
status. Every year, about
6,000 children are born with
Down Syndrome, or about 1 in
700 babies.
Big guns & drug stash
found in F.H. home raid
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Narcotics detectives found stashes
of cocaine and marijuana
— along with a small arsenal
of weapons — inside a Forest Hills
home during a police raid on Saturday
morning.
The NYPD Narcotics Borough
Queens North came calling at 6 a.m.
on June 9 to 52-year-old George Mirzayans’
Thornton Place home. They
executed a search warrant obtained
as a result of an investigation.
Officers entered the home and
observed Mirzayans running down a
fl ight of stairs toward the basement;
they apprehended him without further
incident.
According to the criminal complaint
that the Queens District Attorney’s
offi ce provided, Mirzayans asked law
enforcement agents why they were
there. Police soon answered his question
when they looked inside his den
and found it packed with cocaine and
marijuana left out in the open.
Law enforcement agents seized
two heat-sealed packs of cocaine
left on the floor near a shelving
unit, and several ziploc bags of the
white powder on the shelving unit
itself. They also recovered a white
scale that contained cocaine, along
with 36 plastic bags of marijuana
Members of NYPD Narcotics Borough Queens stand before some of the
guns and drugs seized in a June 9 raid.
weighing in excess of 10 pounds
and 19 cartridges of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), a concentrated
form of marijuana’s psychoactive
property.
As the search continued, detectives
found numerous fi rearms and ammunition
in the living room, in the basement
and even concealed in a hole in
the wall inside of a closet. The fi rearms
seized included a .44-caliber lever action
rifl e; a .45-caliber semi-automatic
pistol; a .25-caliber semiautomatic
pistol; a Ruger old army cap and ball
revolver; a .38-caliber semiautomatic
pistol; a .22-caliber semiautomatic
Photo via Twitter/@NYPD112Pct
rifl e; and a .30-caliber lever action
rifl e.
Police also recovered more than
$4,700 in cash left on top of a computer
desk inside the basement.
Mirzayans was taken into custody
on multiple counts of criminal possession
of a controlled substance,
criminal possession of a weapon,
criminal possession of marijuana,
criminally using drug paraphernalia
and unlawful possession of
firearms.
Court records noted that Mirzayans
was ordered held on $100,000 bail and
to return to court on June 25.
Tazzina, owned by a Chopped champion, closing in Forest Hills
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Tazzina, an Italian restaurant in
Forest Hills owned by a former
champion of the Food Network
show “Chopped,” is closing at the end
of the month.
Restaurant owner and chef Jason
Zukas broke the sad news to diners
in a June 6 post on the eatery’s offi cial
Facebook page. Tazzina originally
opened on 88th Street in Glendale in
2010 before relocating to its current
spot on at 102-15 Metropolitan Ave. in
Forest Hills three years later.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I have
to announce the closing of Tazzina
Forest Hills. June 30 will be our last
dinner service,” Zukas wrote in the
Facebook post. “Between the neighborhood
changing, huge problems
with the landlord and business being
slow, I have decided to close and look
for a new location.”
The Ridgewood-native Zukas
trained at the Culinary Institute of
America and worked at numerous
Manhattan restaurants, including
Ouest, La Bottega and Blue Water
Grill, before opening Tazzina in 2010.
The menu features a modern take
on traditional Italian-American and
Mediterranean cuisine.
Zukas won $10,000 on an episode
of “Chopped” — the popular competitive
cooking show hosted by
Ted Allen — in 2009, and returned
the following year to compete in a
“Chopped” tournament of champions
the following year.
His appearance helped get Tazzina
off the fl ying start, and the restaurant
gained a loyal following among
local diners. While Zukas said he’s
closing the chapter on Tazzina’s
reign in Forest Hills, the restaurant
still has a future.
“This is not the end of Tazzina, just
a little time out until I fi nd the right
spot again,” Zukas wrote. “Tazzina
was founded in 2010 and still has so
much life in her. We’ll be back soon
better than ever! I hope to see you all
soon!”
Photo via Google Maps
Tazzina restaurant on Metropolitan
Avenue in Forest Hills is closing its
doors on June 30.
link
link
link
