2004

When the Steinway Street bridge collapsed it isolated dozens of businesses from the rest of Astoria. Tribune Photo By Azi Paybarah

The City purchased the $12 million former home of the Elmhurst Gas Tanks for $1…two former staffers accused City Councilman Allan Jennings of sexual harassment…ownership of the historic Bowne House was transferred to the City…Former City Councilman Sheldon Leffler avoided jail but was barred from practicing law…City health officials announced they wanted to open syringe exchange program in Queens for the first time.

Roger Ling of Douglaston became Queens’ third casualty in the Iraq War… A sex scandal rocked the St. John’s University basketball team…Workers at Jamaica Hospital took to the streets to protest layoffs…Designs for the proposed Olympic Village in Long Island City were unveiled…

A Trib feature examined and offered new insight on the 40th Anniversary of the death of Kitty Genovese…“War – One Year Later” examined the Iraqi conflict and its consequences on Queens…a Queens Village family mourned, and questioned the failure of the 911 system in the death of its 77-year-old patriarch…Trib Assistant Editor Stephen McGuire’s idea to preserve a “Redbird” subway car was turned into reality thanks to Borough President Helen Marshall…

A high-risk sex offender managed to walk into several Queens public schools, where he scanned through student records…Queens missing kids were featured in a May 20 examination of child abduction – and how authorities are handling the heart-wrenching crimes…Morton Manes, twin brother of the late Queens Borough President Donald Manes, died on May 20.

The Drake Business School startled students, and the public, by shutting its doors a week after its CEO was shot in an Astoria subway station…a City cop from Bayside accomplished what federal investigators couldn’t, by getting a fanatical Islamic preacher, nabbed in Britain, to spill the beans on his terrorist ties and activities…outrage followed the actions of State Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne after she had a suspect escorted from her courtroom to evade his arrest…Mayor Bloomberg vowed to rezone Queens in an effort to stop overdevelopment…on a rain-drenched night a Long Island man barely escaped death when the Steinway Street bridge collapsed onto the Grand Central Parkway.

Former Councilman Sheldon Leffler was slapped with a $400,000 fine by the Board of Elections for his campaign shenanigans…Gov. George Pataki announced plans to send hundreds of state jobs from Queens to Manhattan…The nasty race for a Jackson Heights Senate seat turned nastier, when tires were slashed and tongues cut into rival candidates’ posters…Jimmy Meng of Flushing became the first Asian member of the State Assembly…forensic teams unearthed the remains of two mob capos at the Ozone Park boneyard…plans were shelved for development on the former Flushing Airport site… Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lam became Queens’ fifth casualty in the Iraqi conflict…the City’s new “R2A” zoning law kicked-in and hit the streets of eastern Queens.

St. John’s University pulled out of Big East contention when it admitted that a member of its team had been illegally taking money…Wal-Mart announced plans to build in Rego Park…former Queens Councilman Matt Troy died Dec. 3.

Dr. Robert Hampton stepped down as president of York College…former Councilman Sheldon Leffler was denied an appeal…Queens natives and immigrants reached out to send aid to victims of the deadly tsunami in Southeast Asia that killed more than 150,000 people.

Angela Montefinise

Angela Montefinise : Angela came to the Tribune fresh from Queens College and quickly moved up the ranks from reporter to managing editor. She is currently an investigative reporter for the New York Post. Editor Angela Montefinise learns from Trib publisher Michael Schenkler.

I’ll never forget the first time I walked into the Queens Tribune’s offices. It was June of 2001, and I was nothing but an infant in the world of newspaper reporting. The ink on my Queens College diploma was barely dry, and I was all excited for a shot at becoming the next Woodward, Bernstein or Breslin.

I sat down at my empty desk, grabbed a notebook and pen, and couldn’t wait to get started. Of course, there was one little problem – I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

Now don’t get me wrong, Queens College was an amazing school that taught me all the technical skills needed to succeed. But I knew I needed more than rhetoric about inverted pyramids to become the Cracker Jack ace I wanted to be. I needed real, every day experience.

And, boy, did I get it at the Trib.

I covered the long meetings with the furious homeowners. I rubbed elbows with the politicos.

I broke stories no one else had. I conducted tough interviews, went through heaps of documents, and investigated scandals.

I laughed over made up headlines like Miscreants and Deviants, and joked about how one councilman didn’t walk to the beat of his own drum, but to the beat of his own tuba.

I wrote Trib Action Desk items and QConfidentials. I worked until the wee hours of the morning sometimes, making sure every word was spelled right in a huge glossy edition.

I paid my dues, I learned my lessons, and I became a proud part of a 35-year tradition that I am certain will continue to grow for decades and decades to come.

That’s the tradition of the Queens Tribune – the historic voice of the rich and vibrant borough I call home. The paper that for more than three decades has documented the comings and goings of a continuously changing place, where people from all over the world come together and live side by side.

And I am happy to say that I took my journalistic baby steps under the guidance of a man who not only has a passion for the news, but also a love for teaching – none other than Trib publisher and owner Mike Schenkler, who’s also celebrating his 25th anniversary with the paper.

The first time Mike spoke to me was at the end of my first day. He said, So, you break anything yet? I said no, and he responded, I thought she was good. A full day’s work and she hasn’t gotten crap.

With that kind of sense of humor and high expectations, he taught me the ropes, built up my confidence, and trained me to succeed in the business of the news.

He promoted me to editor after two years, giving a baby-faced 24-year-old hot shot a chance at running the place. Mike – who has seen a lot of employees and editors walk through his doors – took a chance on me and on my abilities and I will always be thankful to him for that.

I’ve moved on to the New York Post now, where I’m still learning and sharpening the skills I acquired during my three years at the Trib.

I made great friends there, had great times and learned great lessons.

And when I win my first Pulitzer, I’ll be sure to give Mike and the Trib the exclusive.

Happy anniversary to the paper that gave me my start, and to the man that helped push me forward.

Thank you for everything, and keep up the good work.