NYPD

Word of advice: do not go shooting your guns off late at night in the middle of the night in Queens. Another word of advice: especially if you have an arsenal that would make the NRA proud hiding in your basement.More »

Sam Levin

City Councilman Jimmy Van Brammer with Sen. Chuck Schumer, representatives from Kaufman Studios, and other local elected officials.

New York City is oh so very close to being a better city for film and television than Hollywood -- if the federal government would just get out of the damn way!

At least that was the message today on the corner of 36th Street in Astoria, Queens, where Sen. Chuck Schumer, flanked by relevant neighborhood politicians, called on the National Park Service to stop making it difficult for a local film company to build New York City's first-ever outdoor studio.

This project -- which would convert 36th Street between 34th and 35th avenues into a movie studio lot -- apparently could make all the difference in attracting filmmakers and production companies to New York City, instead of Los Angeles, or Toronto, or New Orleans. That means, you guessed it, lots of jobs and economic development, all on one block in Queens.

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via City Planning's official challenge

Map shows change in vacancies over the last decade according to the Census

Sorry, Mike! The city is just not as big as you think it is.

That's according to the U.S. Census Bureau, anyway, which, in very unsurprising news, has announced that it is not revising its official population count for 2010, despite the city's official challenge of the final number.

Every ten years, the Census counts populations across the country, coming up with a new number that determines how different regions are funded and how populations are represented through new districts. The typical song and dance is that city government officials dispute the conclusion, arguing that their city is actually much bigger than the Census determined. This time around, the 2010 Census found the city's population to be 8,175,133, but the city's Department of Planning has argued that the population was closer to 8.4 million as of July 2010.

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via Facebook

​Thanks to a devastating blackout six years ago, biking in Queens in 2012 might become a little bit easier.

In 2006, a major electrical power outage hit Western Queens in a damaging nine-day blackout that impacted 174,000 people in the borough.

Six years later, those neighborhoods in Queens are getting rewarded for their troubles. Through an initiative called the "Greening Western Queens Fund," -- an $8 million effort to invest in energy-efficiency and environmental projects in the affected areas -- a fairly diverse group of local organizations are now pushing forward with projects aimed at greening Queens (the borough deserves some love, guys!). The funds are part of a community settlement with Con Edison and are being administered by North Star Fund, a local granting agency.

This month, the organization gave out its second round of grants through this fund, totaling $2 million, to 16 groups.

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CBS 2

An 57-year-old Astoria woman named Olga Borodina Annarumma and her daughter Valeria Lowery, 25 are in the hospital after being shot in the head in their home this morning. The shooting took place shortly before 9 o'clock this morning; one of the women was shot three times (once in the head) and the other woman took one gunshot to the head. They are both listed in extremely critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital. Police have taken in Guerino Annarumma, 52, the mother's estranged husband, for questioning. According to the Daily News, today was the day divorce court proceedings were scheduled to begin.

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Politicians, civic groups, and commuters gathered yesterday by the Astoria-Ditmars subway stop to mark the death-iversary of their dearly departeds: the W train and the QM22 bus line. One year ago, the MTA eliminated the W and V trains and dozens of bus lines, and reduced services throughout the system. We've all felt the pain since -- MIA buses, sweltering long waits on the platforms, having to listen to crazy people go completely aggro. But the folks in Astoria have taken it even more personally. And they want their bus back.

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Cody Goudeau

​Cops are looking for a 28-year-old Queens guy with a distinctive "Guapo Batman" tattoo on his right biceps. He's not in trouble; he's missing.

Cody Goudeau was last seen at 1 a.m. January 30 at 25-01 Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria. He lives at 21-63 36th Street. He's described as 5-5, 190 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt, tan sweater and pants, and brown boots.

Tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips at nypdcrimestoppers.com or text info to 274637 (CRIMES), entering TIP577.