4 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 15, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo courtesy of NYPD
Burglars in
the backyards
of NE Queens
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
Th e NYPD released video on Nov.
7 showing two men behind a recent
burglary pattern involving homes in
Bayside, Little Neck and Whitestone.
All of the incidents during the early
evening hours, between 6:35 and 7:10
p.m. Police said the perpetrators got
into each location by forcing open a
rear door — but in each instance, they
fl ed later without taking any property.
Law enforcement sources said the
fi rst incident occurred in Bayside on
Oct. 25, when the crooks broke into a
home in the vicinity of 33rd Avenue
and 214th Street.
Two other burglary attempts
occurred on Oct. 28, authorities
noted. Th e fi rst occurred at 6:43 p.m.
at a home in the area of 254th Street
and Leeds Road in Little Neck; the
other took place at 7:10 p.m. at a
home near the intersection of 77th
Avenue and 220th Street in Oakland
Gardens.
Finally, police said, two burglaries
occurred on Nov. 3 at homes in
the area of 33rd Avenue and 214th
Street in Bayside, and near the corner
of 6th Avenue and 147th Street in
Whitestone.
Th e incidents were reported to the
109th and 111th Precincts. Th e security
camera footage taken from one of
the burglarized homes shows the suspects
walking through the backyard.
Cops described one suspect as a
male with a dark complexion wearing
a dark-colored hooded jacket, and his
partner was a male with a light complexion
who wore a hooded jacket.
Anyone with information regarding
the burglary pattern or the suspects’
whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers
at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial
888-57-PISTA), visit the Crime
Stoppers website, send a direct message
to the Crime Stoppers Twitter
account (@NYPDTips) or send a text
message to 274637 (CRIMES), then
enter TIP577. All calls and messages
are kept confi dential.
Photo courtesy of Jorge Jacome
New tropical fi sh store hits Whitestone this December
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Jacome has been in the livestock-fi sh business
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
for over 20 years and decided to branch
out on his own when his old employer
Tropical fi sh enthusiasts will soon have a
FishTown USA closed down. Before working
new store to visit in Whitestone.
at FishTown, Jacome worked at a private
FishWorld USA, located at 152-69
shop in Flushing where he got his start
10th Ave. is set to open in the next few
in the business.
weeks according to the store’s owner Jorge
Th e owner keeps an active social media
Jacome—his goal is to open for business by
presence, oft en showing followers the renovation
Dec. 1 “the latest.”
progress through photos and videos.
Th e tropical fi sh shop will be housed within
He got the keys back in August but said that
the Whitestone Plaza shopping center,
unforeseen setbacks in renovations and permits
which includes a CVS Pharmacy, Shake ‘N
kept the store from opening on time.
Swirl and the soon-to-come Northshore
Once opened, Jacome said that FishWorld
Farms supermarket.
will specialize in live freshwater and saltwater
tropical fi sh as well as fi sh food, a range
of tanks and other related fi sh care supplies.
Fish come from all over the world, including
Florida, South America, Th ailand, Bangkok
and the Philippines and range in price from
99 cents to hundreds of dollars for rarer
varieties.
On average prices for fi sh go from $20 to
$50 according to Jacome who notes his reputation
for being able to get the “cheapest
prices in livestock.”
Th e store will be opened Monday to
Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday from
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m.
Storefront at FishWorld USA.
Modell’s in Douglaston set to close early next year
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Yet another store in the Douglaston
Plaza Shopping Center is closing its doors.
Modell’s Sporting Goods, located in
the open-air mall at 242-02 61st Ave. in
Douglaston, will be going out of business
by January 2019, according to a current
employee. A shopper fi rst reported the
news on the Bayside, Queens Facebook
page and snapped a photo of the storefront’s
“store closing sale” sign.
Th e sporting goods retailer suff ered the
same fate as Toys ‘R’ Us, MovieWorld
and Macy’s, which were all located in
the same complex. Earlier this year, QNS
reported that the family-owned theater
and department store would be replaced
by a Lowe’s Home Improvement store,
though it is uncertain when that is set
to happen. Th e big box store announced
recently that it would close 47 stores
in the U.S. and Canada that have been
deemed unprofi table, according to CNN.
Plans for the Lowe’s emerged in January
2017, with rumors circulating that the
home improvement store would be moving
into the mall. Residents started a petition
in response to rumors in order to
save the beloved movie theater but were
not able to acquire the 1,500 signature
goal at the time.
In February 2018, Community Board
11 approved a variance to enlarge the
shopping center’s main building to just
over 15,000 square feet.
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation
(AAC) are the owners of the 300,000
square foot shopping center, which currently
houses Fairway Supermarket,
Photo courtesy of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation
Burger King and Sprint. Th ere is no word
yet about plans to replace the Modell’s
once it closes in January.
QNS reached out to AAC and Modell’s
for comment and is awaiting responses
from both.
Douglaston Plaza Shopping Center.
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