Thanks to Maspeth activist-about-town Christina Wilkinson for this one: After a night of drinking, someone ended up dead on the kitchen floor of a federal Customs agent’s Forest Hills home. The circumstances are hazy, but you can add that to the seemingly growing file of bizarre local deaths.

I’ve got a sudden flood of Things You Should Know About, so why not share them all right here? And heck, why not drag out the ol’ bulleted list?

• The always-underutilized West Side Tennis Club is playing host to not one but two events. This weekend the American Cancer Society will hold a “Relay for Life,” where people will be perpetually moving around a track and candles will be lit to honor cancer victims and survivors. They also promise “entertainment all night,” and try finding that somewhere else in Forest Hills. Registration is at 5 p.m. this Saturday.
• But first! Today (Tuesday, that is) my one-time tennis fave, Jim Courier, will be at the Club to host a clinic for kids. That’s at 3:45. There’ll be “skills, drills and Q&A,” plus free strawberries and cream to honor Jimmy’s Wimbledon success. I was informed in somewhat unclear language that this event might not be open to the public, so I’m not sure whether you, the common folk, may go. But I don’t know, call and find out! What, they’re going to turn away your tennis-loving kid? He or she could be a member one day!
• I thought Tierra Sana, the West FoHi health-food destination, was already open and had been for some time. But no, it seems they’re holding a Grand Opening event this Thursday! Dinner is at 7:30. It looks like there’ve been a few changes since I last visited, so it might be worth checking out.

Returning NYC ex-pat Michael Jaye sure hopes so!

In about a week, he is opening NY Diamond Boutique, a new fine jewelry store on Austin Street - which happens to be diagonally across the street from Chateau Jewelers! Wow, talk about having big rocks!

While window-shopping on the strip this Sunday, I came across preparations already in progress at his new store. I had a short chat with Mr. Jaye about his store and business on Austin Street. He’s been in the fine jewelry business for 20 years and returned to NYC after business was flagging at his store in the tony Buckhead area of Atlanta, GA — “Where old money lives, new money parties.”

So, nu? Why Austin Street, when other small retailers are closing? Why put up with the high rents? Why so near other jewelry stores like Chateau, Stoa, GemStory?

Mr. Jaye was very relaxed and confident about competing with the other jewelry stores in the area. He told me that, after extensive research, he found Forest Hills to have the best demographic and parameters for his store: lots of pedestrian and street traffic, “buyers, not browsers,” and, in general, shoppers with “Manhattan tastes” who come to Austin Street from all over as a “shopping destination.”

Obviously, we had never met before. [RIMSHOT]

In the name of full-disclosure, I showed Mr. Jaye my engagement ring, which was indeed purchased at Chateau, and it garnered a moment of respectful admiration.

Mr. Jaye expects to open his store around July 1, and you’ll get a free gift that he promises to be “much better than a refrigerator magnet” just for stopping in.

Good luck to NY Diamond Boutique!
P.S. By the way, if anyone else was out shopping on Sunday and was lucky enough to enjoy the sunshine - despite typhoon-like rain predicted - who was that guy next to Giorgio’s who seemed to be selling something, talking up anything that moved? He was a tall, white, brown-haired, middle-aged guy, and his product was a bunch of flat rectangles that looked like packages of lox. He seemed to have a “posse” of 3 or 4 guys hanging on the stoop assisting him (mostly by sitting on the stoop and watching him.) My investigative journalistic energy having been spent, I didn’t take the time to inquire. As our eyes and ears, gentle readers, it’s up to you to gimme the scoop!

So much for the news flash and purple bunting. AJ’s Pizza was open for business tonight, at 9:15 PM. Same signage, same menu, and a few customers waiting on line. (Sorry I didn’t have my camera-phone charged up.)

Hey, did you catch that rain last night? Pretty brutal, huh? Turns out it was more brutal than you thought–here’s a FoHi-centric report from CBS.

Suddenly, it seems like a lot is going on–or, more accurately, not going on–’Round These Parts™:

• That McDonald Park-adjacent Italian restaurant most recently known as Positano is changing hands. Again. The new name, purportedly, will be “Casa Positano.” Creative! The “casa” really adds extra homeyness, don’t you think? I ate at this restaurant the day I looked at my very first Forest Hills rental apartment, back when it was called–oh, who knows. The strange thing is that the owners change but the restaurant never does, and from the table settings I saw when I walked by there today, we might be in for more of the same. But maybe we’ll luck out! I’ll try it anyway, even though I don’t think I ever tried the last two incarnations. Oh, also, the new owners “will not be serving alcohol,” reports Splitting Hairs. Huh?
• Legendary Austin Street pizzeria AJ’s is closed, forever. AJ’s was your ultimate neighborhood polarizer. Some thought it was an embarrassing eyesore, others swore the pizza was great. I have no opinion–I don’t eat pizza (I know, I know) and have never even been inside. And now I never will be. The replacement? Inside sources say a Chinese restaurant. Given the high-rent location, there’s a slight chance that might be creative and interesting, but oh my, I certainly wouldn’t wager money on it.
• Forest Hills 72’s usual intrepid reporting reveals that the Staubachplex may never happen. But is it true? I could go either way on this. On the one hand, the sign advertising it is still up on the roof and I don’t see a major national real-estate company like Staubach just canceling this out of nowhere. But on the other, it’s supposed to open in January 2009 and I sure don’t see that happening what with no demolition having started yet, plus all of FH72’s evidence. The Staubachplex was no architectural gem, but this is somehow still kind of depressing.

So Queens libraries are in for a $7 million budget cut, and that’s kind of disgraceful considering the Queens library system is already sorta embarrassing. Just think of how it’ll be when it has even less money. Y’know, when I moved to Forest Hills, the library on 71st was terrible, but then it closed for a major renovation. When it reopened–yep, still terrible. Seems to me like the kids’ offerings aren’t bad, but libraries aren’t just for kids. Can’t we piggyback on the NYPL like the Bronx and Staten Island do?

Anyway, like at least one other local blogger, I was asked to post a link to an online petition to stop the bleeding, and because I think libraries are a vital community resource, I’ve already done so, right there, earlier in this sentence.

Hey! I’ve been gone forever, but what better event to bring me back (besides an extended Mickie T. vacation) than the always-fun Forest Hills Festival of the Artsкомпютри? I was on the scene, and despite being the World’s Worst Photographer™, I took loads of photos. Did you see me awkwardly fumbling around with my hand-me-down Elph?

The FHFotA is one of the events that makes me proud to live ’round these parts. It seems classier than your average New York street fair, with its discount socks and stand after stand after stand after stand selling mozzarepas. (I only counted two at ours!) What I liked most about this year’s FHFotA was its distinct local character, with many local businesses and organizations represented–more, I’d venture a guess, than in previous years. After the jump, a sweaty photo journey down Austin on a humid-as-all-get-out 96-degree day.

I’m not writing this because the California Supreme Court ruled that the state must grant legal marriage to same-sex couples.

I’m not writing this because Governor David Paterson made public his directive to state agencies to grant comity and parity to same-sex couples legally married outside the State of New York.

I’m not writing this because, by the time you read this, we’ll be at the Queens Gay Pride celebration in Jackson Heights.

And, lastly, I’m not writing this because of the heated debates on the quality of steakhouses and restaurants on this forum.

I’m writing this because my parents took me and my wife out to Buenos Aires Tango for our 3rd wedding anniversary on Friday, we had a great time and we thought it was delicious!

My parents, who still live in the same place where I grew up in Rego Park, continue to amaze me with their support and enthusiasm for us as a couple. It wasn’t an easy road, so I’m still not used to it. When they called last week and insisted they had to treat us and give us a proper anniversary dinner, I almost cried.

My dad loves this place, and always jumps at the chance to go for any celebratory occasion. On Friday and Saturday nights, they have tango dancing, and a duo who sing Latin American songs. When my folks told us they wanted to take us there, honestly it wasn’t our first choice. I thought, “Oy, how cheezy! How tacky! How Queens! I’m writing for a blog! I’m supposed to go to places that are cool and show disdain for those that are deemed uncool !” But, as I said to my parents, “Since it’s our anniversary, we’ll do whatever makes you two happy.”

We were nearly the only non-Latino people in the place, so we took that as a good sign. Since my dad and I are pretty proficient in Spanish, we practiced with the waitstaff, and I think both sides enjoyed that. The service was very good, almost fawning. The dancing was lovely and the singers were also good. The red sangria was fruity, potent and yummy. And the steak…Oh, the steak…the steak….mmmmm. ¡Que sabor!

We were both very impressed with the quality, taste and price point of the beef at Tango. It was great! My wife is nearly 100% carnivore, and she loved it! Sure, we’ve been to some of the “legendary” steak places in NYC, pero oye, m’ijo: just say no to steak status snobbery!

The DW and I shared a shell steak with mushroom sauce and a strip steak, both cooked to precisely medium rare. Both were very tasty, but the shell steak was exceptionally tender. Wow, that’s a piece of meat! The red potatoes and scallions, and the cubed potatoes with sauteed spinach that accompanied them were also fine. (I regret not taking photos! Sorry, I was too hungry! )

The kicker was the bilingual “felicidades” (celebratory announcements) by Sylvia. In addition to announcing two confirmations and two birthdays, we got a rousing “Happy Anniversary” announcement, a song, a round of applause, and a “Whisky ice cream sundae” with a candle on top!

Look, I know that NYC is one of the easiest places to live - if not the easiest - for a gay person. I know that everyone here has seen it all, neighbors don’t care what you do, as long as you’re quiet and don’t smell, and that New Yorkers raise being blasé to an art form.

However, despite amazing advances and improvements for LGBT people all over which I never thought I’d live to see, you can’t take things for granted in this world. Queens has its reputation of parochialism, provincialism and small-town NIMBY attitudes, and the Latino community is not known for rolling out the red carpet for “queers”. Most notably, Queens has been the home of:

• The murders of Julio Rivera (1990) and Edgar Garzon (2001)
• Mary Cummins and District 24’s battle against the Children of the Rainbow Curriculum (1992)
• The recent homophobic letters against City Council candidate Charles Ober.

Not to mention that, when we were making our will, our attorney told us that Queens courts had the worst track record in NYC for probate and legal challenges against same-sex couples.

That’s why I appreciate experiences like the one at Buenos Aires Tango. These are not small or insignificant gestures in my view, and I do not take them for granted.

Our dinner at Buenos Aires Tango warmed our hearts and stomachs, and we would recommend it to anyone.