Queens couple plead guilty to keeping children as slaves

Sook Yeong Park and Jeong Taek Lee held two Korean kids as slaves in their home for several years.



This week in New York, a Flushing couple admitted to holding two Korean children as slaves in their home for several years, forcing them to work long hours and withholding contact with their parents.

Couple Who Kept Korean Teens as 'Slaves' at Flushing Home Plead Guilty

50-year-old Sook Yeong Park pleaded guilty to two counts of labor trafficking. Park was sentenced to six months in prison followed by five years probation, after taking a plea deal. The 60-count indictment against her included grand larceny, forcible touching and assault for her treatment of the two children. Her husband, 54-year-old Jeong Taek Lee, was sentenced to five years probation.

The two victims, a 9-year-old brother and 11-year-old sister from Korea, were brought to stay with the couple in January 2010. Shortly afterwards, Park confiscated their passports and effectively enslaved them.

68-year-old man on life support after road rage incident

Chun Tse was assaulted after getting into a minor traffic accident in Queens.



In New York, a 68-year-old man is hospitalized and on life support after being assaulted in an alleged road rage confrontation following a minor traffic accident. The incident was caught on dash cam video.

68-Year-Old Man On Life Support After Alleged Road Rage Incident In Queens

Chun Tse was involved in a fender bender last week in Queens. Dash cam video shows him walk to the front of the car to check the damage, then exchange words with the other driver, 44-year-old Cleaman Anderson. Moments later, Anderson punched Tse, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head.

Police seek help identifying man found beaten(?) in Queens

Mystery patient wound bruised, bloody and semi-conscious at a Flushing bus stop.



In New York, police are asking for the public's help identifying a man who was found beaten at a Queens bus stop. The man was hospitalized with injuries so severe, he can't speak or tell doctors his name.

Help needed to ID mystery patient found semi-conscious at Queens bus stop

On Monday morning, a passerby found the man lying at a bus stop near 46th Avenue and Auburndale Lane in Flushing. He was semi-conscious with cuts and signs of trauma all over his face, and was taken to the hospital, where he's been all week -- with no name. Police say the man is unable to speak.

The man is described as an Asian male in his 50s, 5-feet-10 inches tall and about 150 pounds. He was wearing a white t-shirt and a light gray Old Navy hooded sweatshirt with a wolf and the number 9 on the back.

Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Queens woman kept Korean kids as slaves for six years

42-year-old Sook Yeong Park is accused of abusing and enslaving two children in her house since 2010.



This is horrific. In Queens, a woman is accused of keeping two Korean children in her house as slaves for more than five years, forcing them to do housework and give her massages, manicures and pedicures, beating them and making them sleep on the floor, while cutting off all communication with their parents.

Queens Woman Allegedly Kept Two Korean Children As Slaves

42-year-old Sook Yeong Park is charged with labor trafficking, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. According to the district attorney, Park brought a 10-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother to the United States in 2010, confiscated their passports and effectively enslaved them.

New York State Assemblyman thwarts purse-snatcher

Queens assemblyman Ron Kim chased down and tackled a street robber in Flushing.



People, what has your local elected official done for you today? This one catches street robbers! In Flushing, a would-be purse-snatcher was thwarted and caught -- tackled, no less -- by a New York state assemblyman.

State assemblyman stops would-be purse snatcher in Queens

Ron Kim, a two-term State Assemblyman from Queens, was walking on the sidewalk in Flushing on Thursday when he saw a woman being robbed. A former high school and college football player, he jumped into action, chasing down the robber and tackling him -- all while on the phone with 911.

Racist graffiti found etched on sidewalk in Flushing

Sometimes, you can encounter hate while just going for walk. Just look down.



Sometimes, you can encounter hate while just going for walk. You don't even to see or talk to anyone. Just look down at the ground and there it is. Like this week in New York, where anti-Asian graffiti was found scratched into sidewalk cement outside a Queens apartment building.

The message read, "ALL YOU CHINK GO BACK TO CHINA!!!"

Racist Remark Found Etched In Sidewalk Outside Flushing Apartment Building

The vandalism, which was carved into wet cement on the sidewalk outside of the Cherry Manor Condos in Flushing, made local news when it was brought to the attention of City Councilman Peter Koo via social media.

The councilman's office contacted the building owner and the city's Department of Transportation, which dispatched a crew to buff out the sidewalk on Tuesday morning, removing the vandalism

Low-income students banned from school carnival

Kids who didn't pay a $10 fee were forced to sit out on the end-of-the-year festivities.



This heartbreaking news out of a Queens public school has New Yorkers in an uproar... PS 120 in Flushing recently held a carnival for its students, but kids whose parents didn't pay a $10 fee were forced sit out on the fun. Most of the students who were excluded from the carnival are from poor Chinese immigrant families.

No pay, no play! Poor kids banned from school carnival

Nearly 900 kids, from pre-K to fifth grade, took turns participating in the end-of-the-year carnival, enjoying inflatable slides, a bouncing room, a teacup ride and sweet treats. Meanwhile, more than a hundred of their classmates, unable to pay the ten bucks, were forced to sit in the school auditorium and watch a Disney movie.

According to the New York Post, Principal Joan Monroe insisted on getting accurate tallies of who paid and who didn't, and refused to bend her policy because it wouldn't be "fair" to those who paid the fee. Try explaining that to the poor kids who were left out.

Korean restaurant ordered to pay $2.67 million in back wages

Kum Gang San failed to pay minimum wage and overtime and stole tips from workers.



In New York, a federal magistrate judge has awarded $2.67 million in damages to eleven workers claiming wage theft against Kum Gang San, a Korean restaurant with branches in Manhattan and Flushing.

Judge Tells Korean-Restaurant Owner in Queens to Pay $2.7 Million in Back Wages

Last Thursday, the court ruled that Kum Gang San, owner Ji Sung Yoo and two restaurant managers owed $2,672,657 in damages to the workers, who are Korean and Latino. The defendants failed to pay minimum wages and overtime pay and stole tips from the workers, in violation of federal and state labor laws.

The plaintiffs say the restaurant required them to work 10-12 hours a day without overtime pay, or even minimum pay, and routinely stole tips that were owed to wait staff. But the last straw was making the employees pick vegetables at the owner's farm outside the city. Oh hell no.

Video shows McDonald's employee attacking customer

Korean American community groups are calling for a boycott of the restaurant.



In New York, several Korean American community organizations are calling for a boycott of a McDonald's restaurant in Queens after an employee was caught on video hitting a Korean patron with a broomstick, and allegedly refusing service and shouting, "We don't serve coffee to people like you!"

Korean-Americans Seek Boycott After an Attack in a McDonald's in Queens

The incident occurred last February at the McDonald's location on Main Street in Flushing. The customer, 62-year-old James Jin Kim claimed that the employee, Rooshi Sajjad, attacked him after he complained about the slow pace of service. In response, the employee yelled at Mr. Kim, and told him "Get out of my restaurant!" When Mr. Kim began recording video on his phone, Sajjad attacked him with a broom handle.

The restaurant's security cameras caught the incident on video:

Community demands justice for 64-year-old assault victim

Petition calls on district attorney to drop charges against Qingyou Li



In New York, concerned community members are calling for justice in the matter Qingyou Li, a 64-year-old man who faces assault charges after an altercation with a couple on the street in Flushing last month.

Petition: Drop all charges against Qingyou Li

The incident seems to have been set off by a minor accident and exacerbated by miscommunication. Mr. Li, who does not speak English and is mostly blind in one eye, was walking on the sidewalk and passed a couple walking a dog, when he accidentally tripped over the leash, causing the dog to bark. Mr. Li attempted to apologize, but the dog's owner began cursing at him and altercation ensued. That's when things turned violent.

Who will answer for Allison Liao's death?

Driver was issued two tickets in the accident that killed a 3-year-old. The judge dismissed them in 47 seconds.



How does this happen? Who will answer for Allison Liao's death? You might have heard the outrageous news that the New York driver who killed a young girl in an accident last year got his traffic tickets dismissed. You'll be further outraged to learn that the judge took all of 47 seconds to toss out the case.

After 47-Second Hearing, Driver Who Ran Over 3-Year-Old Is Found 'Not Guilty'

On October 6, 2013, 3-year-old Allison Liao was crossing Main Street in Flushing with her grandmother when she was struck and killed by a SUV making a left turn. The Queens District Attorney declined to prosecute the driver, Ahmed Abu-Zayedeh, because he wasn't impaired or intoxicated. But he was issued two traffic tickets: failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care.

The tickets, however, were dismissed in traffic court last July. As WNYC reports, the entire hearing took less than a minute. Here's the official recording of the proceedings:

Family of three killed in Flushing murder-suicide

Man fatally stabs wife and son before setting home on fire



Some tragic news out of New York, where a man fatally stabbed his wife and teenage son before setting their Flushing apartment on fire and slashing his own throat in a grisly murder-suicide.

In Queens, a Triple Killing Shows Signs of Financial Strife

Firefighters discovered the bodies of Lee Joon, his wife Lee Sung and their 15-year-old son Brian Lee in the living room of their sixth-floor apartment early Tuesday morning. Mr. Lee was found with a suicide note in his pocket, hand-written in Korean, complaining of "too many problems."

Those who knew Mr. Lee, who worked as a tractor-trailer driver, were aware that his family had been dealing with serious financial setbacks.

Peace brokered between McDonald's and Elderly Koreans

Flushing restaurant reaches agreement limiting number of hours customers can sit



It seems a little silly that a congresswoman and state legislators had to get involved to settle the much-publicized dispute between a McDonald's location in Queens and a group of elderly Korean patrons who refused to leave in a timely fashion. But that's what it took. They've apparently made peace.

Elderly Patrons End Dispute With a McDonald's in Queens

The Flushing fast food restaurant has become a regular gathering place for local Korean seniors who take up seats and stay for hours, much to the management's dismay. The situation has escalated in recent months, and police have actually been called in to remove customers. And now the community has gotten involved.

But it seems they've reached an agreement. Management has agreed to ease the 20-minute seating limit during off-peak hours and post signs stating the policy in Korean and Mandarin. In turn, the seniors will give up their seats during the busy hours if other diners are looking for a place to sit. Boycott averted.

McDonald's versus the Elderly Sitting Koreans

Flushing McDonald's is the happening hot spot for Korean seniors, much to restaurant's dismay



A McDonald's in Queens has become the unlikely site of a cranky conflict between the fast food restaurant and a group of elderly Korean patrons. The McDonald's, located in Flushing, says the group drives away business by sitting for hours. Seems like a silly thing to quarrel about, but the New York Times has taken notice:

Fighting a McDonald’s in Queens for the Right to Sit. And Sit. And Sit.

Whether the restaurant likes it or not, that McDonald's location has become a regular gathering place for local Korean seniors -- and a growing problem for the restaurant, which says the patrons who colonize the seats on a daily basis are quashing business, taking up tables for hours. The group, however, says they are paying customers who are entitled to take their time.

The situation has reportedly escalated in recent months. Harsh words exchanged, coffee spilled, and cops called to the scene. Doesn't this McDonald's know that you don't mess with elderly Koreans?

Pregnant woman killed by falling tree

This is incredibly tragic. In New York, a pregnant woman was killed when she was struck in the head by a falling tree: Pregnant woman Yingyi Li-Dikov dies after falling tree crashes onto her in Kissena park.

30-year-old Yingyi Li-Dikov, who was six months pregnant, was sitting on a bench at Kissena Park in Flushing when an uprooted oak tree fell and crushed her head and body. She was declared dead at the hospital:

The Saddest Sex(?) Ad Ever

This pathetic excuse for a flyer was supposedly found on a sidewalk in Downtown Flushing.

I don't know who made this sign, or what kind of goods or services it purports to offer (I have an idea), or if it's even real (doubt it). But I laugh just imagining that some enterprising person couldn't or wouldn't bother with a computer -- this was going to be a decidedly hand-drawn effort. I don't even what to know what happens if you call this number.

UPDATE: As suspected, this is some kind of joke. A joke on somebody's momma.