Forest Hills Gardens, get ready for your close up!
The popular TV show, “Blue Bloods” will be filming on the streets of Forest Hills from July 21 to July 24.
The filming will impact parking in Forest Hills Gardens, so do pay attention to signs posted around the area…especially on Ascan Avenue between Winter Street and Ingram Street. There will be no parking on the east side of Ascan Avenue.
“Blue Bloods” is a drama following a family of law enforcement officials. The series stars Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan and Will Estes.

Kettle Corn NYC’s Mohammed Khamis, known by co-workers and customers by Mo, has passed away.

Khamis worked at the Kettle Corn NYC truck near Austin Street and 71st/Continental Ave, where he often passed out samples of popcorn. He was known for his vivacious personality and his interaction with passersby.

He died early Saturday morning after his car collided with a utility pole in New Jersey. A passenger, 20-year-old Ahmed Elnagger, also died.

In a Facebook post, the company’s owner, Ken Nercessian, wrote in a statement, “Mo, we love you very much and you will always be within our hearts.”

On the Facebook post, one woman wrote, “I remember when I was pregnant, he would always make it a point to give me samples. He always had a smile on his face.”

Another customer stated, “He was such a ray of sunshine and would always brighten up my day whenever I saw him at the truck.”

A man has been arrested in connection to vandalism of Spectrum-owned cable wires.

Michael C. Tolve, a 48-year-old resident of Wantagh, was arrested last night for the vandalism that resulted in a massive Spectrum outage for 60,000 residents in Forest Hills and Rego Park on June 26, according to authorities.

He was arrested around 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, and was charged with Criminal Mischief. According to Charter Communications,  Tolve is an employee of Spectrum.

It’s currently unclear if Tolve is also connected to the outage that occurred this past Tuesday.

Yesterday morning, City Comptroller Scott Stringer joined members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 to picket outside of the Upper West Side Spectrum/Time Warner Cable office over contract disputes.

Update: July 13, 4:57 p.m. –  A comment from Charter Communication’s spokesman John Bonomo:

“It’s disappointing that one of our employees would unlawfully sabotage the infrastructure we all work so hard to maintain and inconvenience our customers in this way. We intend to support the prosecution of these crimes to the fullest extent of the law, as they put our customers’ well-being in jeopardy, cause local business to suffer, and are a general inconvenience for all. We’d like to thank the NYPD for its tireless work on this case and the many other investigations of vandalism to our facilities they have underway.”

Update: July 14, 11:51 a.m. – Charge dropped against Tolve
The Queens District Attorney has the dropped charge against Tolve. After confirming the arrest yesterday, an NYPD spokesperson could only confirm that Tolve’s arrest is “now sealed” this morning.
In a statement, the Queens District Attorney’s office said they are “declining to prosecute the case pending further investigation into the matter.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow coverage at Forest Hills Times.

Rego Center is located on Junction Blvd between Queens Blvd and Horace Harding Expressway, Rego Park.

www.regocenter.com

The streets were packed this weekend and expect them to stay crowded for the next four weekends.

Deemed the “Summer of Hell” by public transportation passengers, you may not want to hear that the MTA woes have officially made it to Forest Hills. The E and F lines will have their service suspended after 71st-Continental Avenue stop, which makes it the final stop. There will be shuttle buses that will make stops between 71st Avenue and 179th Street (for F train riders) as well as between 71st Avenue and Jamaica Center (for E train riders). The shuttles are distinctly marked near the busy intersection.

The weekend service disruption began on last Friday and will occur every weekend until August 7.

Don’t forget to add travel time to your weekend plans as lines for the shuttles and trains have taken up sidewalks. On Saturday and Sunday, lines of passengers waiting for shuttles extended to beyond four rows deep. Also, be alert on the crosswalks, especially on Queens Boulevard, as confusion nearly led to a few accidents over the weekend.

 

Looking for some local family fun? This Saturday, stop by Forest Park’s Carousel to see The Sammie & Tudie Show.

Come see why Sammie and Tudie are New York’s favorite Comedy Duo! With their signature brand of silliness, Sammie and Tudie will take both kids and parents on a wild ride of fun, magic, and zany props.

The Sammie & Tudie Show is one of free, family-friendly events taking place weekly at Forest Park. Every Saturday, the performances occur at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Other performances at the park include The Magic of Rogue. For more events, visit the Forest Park’s events website.