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.

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.)

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.

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.

A sign of the times at the corner of Church Street and Warren Street in Tribeca, Manhattan.

“Would you like a large Slurpee, Mr. DeNiro?”

A report from the field, otherwise known as “my work neighborhood.”

This large commercial space has been empty since before Sept. 11, 2001. For a while, it housed a closeouts store and a temporary Chirstmas decorations store. Otherwise, this juicy piece of property right above a major subway station laid dormant for over eight years, in one of the hottest, trendiest, most popular neighborhoods in all of NYC.

During those intervening years, in addition to ever-increasing numbers of tourists, the neighborhood has experienced tremendous residential growth (mostly via the conversion of office buildings into luxury rentals), including a massive baby-boom enough to make the sole elementary school in the nabe dangerously overcrowded.

Now that Robert DeNiro’s brainchild, the Tribeca Film Festival, is “Tribeca” in name only, and the WTC site (sorry, “Ground Zero”) is considered “boring” by tourists because it is just a construction site, perhaps the “riff raff” felt they could finally move in. There goes the neighborhood!

If you go at 11 AM on a gorgeous, sunny Saturday morning, you’ll have the place all to yourselves!

I

Back in high school, a friend of mine observed that, in NYC, the price of a plain slice of pizza is usually the same price as one subway fare. Interestingly, this has held true for over two decades. Has this equilibrium been thrown out of whack by the new subway fares!?

Barely. It’s holding steady, but it’s not looking good for pizza lovers. At the Queens Central Labs, I conducted an incredibly in-depth, scientific phone survey of pizza places in Kew Gardens, Rego Park and Forest Hills and found that a plain slice is still being sold at most establishments for $2.00. Out of 11 pizza joints surveyed, six still offer the “subway rate”, while five have broken the conventionally accepted price barrier, up to 50 cents more!

“Taste of Forest Hills 2008”

Sponsored by:
The Wine Room of Forest Hills & The Shops at Atlas Park

Saturday, April 26, 2008 1:00 - 4:00 pm

The Community House

15 Borage Place, Forest Hills Gardens, NY 11375

Tel. 718.268.7710 -  Fax: 718.268.8771

Amish Market, La Tavernetta, CPK, Q-Thai Bistro, La Vigna, Garcia’s, Dee’s Brick Oven Pizza, Pasticcio, The Family Restaurant, Metro Café, Da Silvana, London Lennie’s, db Wine Bar & Restaurant, Morrison’s Bar & Restaurant, My Kitchen & La Dolce Italia are just a few of the fine participating businesses who will be here to savor your appetites!

General Admission

$30 per person CH Members

$40.00 per person non CH Members VIP Admission $50 per person includes VIP gift bag, special raffle drawing &complimentary glass of wine.

If anyone goes, let me know how it is. Thanks! -MT

P.S. “savor your appetites!” ?

Looks like somethin’s cookin’!!