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🌱 Rikers Staff Falsified Intake Data + Man Commits Arson Over Biryani

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Good morning, Queens! 🎃

  • 🥸 The Legal Aid society released documents Monday suggesting Rikers Island workers falsified intake data to cover up instances when new detainees were held in intake cells for longer than the 24-hour limit.
  • 🔥Now that's one dissatisfied customer! A Queens man set fire to a Jackson Heights restaurant after he claimed they got his order wrong.
  • 🍬 Maharaja Sweets, located in Jackson Heights, is one of many South Asian sweet shops gearing up for Diwali.

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Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. The Legal Aid Society released documents on Monday suggesting Rikers Island workers falsified intake data to hide the fact that new detainees were held for far too long in cramped intake cells without bathrooms, beds or access to food. As of 2021, a federal judge issued an order requiring the city's jails to process and house people within 24 hours of them coming into custody. However, the recently released records show at least 17 incidents over a two day period in June when a new detainee's intake stay exceded the 24-hour limit, in violation of city law. "This seriously diminishes the credibility of the City's public assertions that they have solved their long-standing problem of holding people for days in these uninhabitable areas," said Legal Aid staff attorney Kayla Simpson. "The public deserves answers."

Patch ; Queens Daily Eagle

2. South Asian sweet shops across the U.S. are gearing up for Diwali, a festival that commemorates the triumph of light over darkness, and will be celebrated on Oct. 24 this year. Colorful sweet treats — mithai — are an important component of the Diwali celebration, and while mass-produced mithai are available online, some independent shops make their sweet snacks by hand. One such shop, Maharaja Sweets, is located in Jackson Heights, and has been preparing regional treats since it opened in 2000. The store sells about 80 different kinds of sweets, and its employees often travel to India to bring pack ideas for new items to add to the menu. The owner of Maharaja, Sukhdev Bawa, estimates that Diwali business accounts for 20 percent of his annual sales.

The New York Times

3. A band of car thieves stole 20 used vehicles from a Queens dealership over the course of about 20 hours this past weekend. The heist occurred at a car lot owned by a Mitsubishi dealership in Jamaica, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig. The robbers broke into a box where the car keys were locked up, and were then able to drive the cars, none of which lad license plates, right off the lot. Police now worry the unlicensed cars will be used in robberies and burglaries around the city.

New York Daily News

4. Now that's one dissatisfied customer! A Queens man set a Bangladeshi restaurant in Jackson Heights on fire after he claimed the restaurant gave him the wrong order. Choephel Norbu, 49, ordered chicken biriyani from Ittadi Garden and Grill on the evening of Oct. 1 only to throw the food in the face of the workers behind the counter. The next morning around 6 a.m. Norbu returned to the restaurant with a bucket of gasoline and was caught on surveillance video lighting the establishment, and his shoes, on fire. "I was very drunk. I bought chicken biryani. They didn't give me chicken biryani. I was mad, and I threw it out," Norbu told police. He was arrested on Oct. 14 for felony arson and criminal mischief.

New York Post

5. Meet "Kevin Carpet," a Queens resident with the rather unusual hobby of rolling himself up in a carpet, laying on the floor of night clubs, and letting people stand on him. Mr. Carpet, a middle-aged, self-described "trust-fund baby," considers this pastime a sort of long-durational piece of performance art. "After the second hour, I start zoning out. It's a Zen-type state. I'm feeling the people, hearing what they're talking about," Carpet said. "I'm looking down at everyone hanging out, and I just phase out of being a person."

The Cut ; Gothamist

🗞 Hungry for more news? 🍴Snack on these headlines:

  • New York City Police Department's graduation ceremony in Queens (New York Daily News)
  • Two Queens Men Indicted After Shooting Off-Duty Correction Officer (Patch)
  • Migrants in New York Are Grateful for Help. But They Want to Work. (The New York Times)
  • Astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim visits Francis Lewis High School in Queens (CBS New York)
  • Man fatally struck by train in Queens during fight; suspect in custody (AM New York Metro)

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  • Tuesday Trivia & Happy Bull Pizza (7 p.m.)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Tuesday! I'll see you soon.

— Emma Radu Fighera

About me: Emma Radu Fighera is a reporter born and raised in Queens, New York. She studied Literature and Studio Art at Hamilton College, where she helped run the only daily publication on campus, The Daily Bull newsletter. This past spring she earned her M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Queens Daily? Contact me at queens@patch.com

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