Don Peppe

Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack located within New York City limits. Its racing meets are usually from late October/early November through April. The racetrack is located adjacent to a casino called Resorts World New York City. The track itself has three courses. The main track (dirt) has a circumference of 1+1⁄8 miles (1.8 km). Inside of the main track are two courses: the 1 mile (1.6 km) Main Turf Course, and the Inner Turf Course measuring 7.065 furlongs (1.421 km). The track has seating capacity of 17,000 and total capacity of 40,000. The facility houses the headquarters of the New York Racing Association (NYRA). In December 2022 the New York Racing Association formally announced its intention to upgrade the facilities at nearby Belmont Park to make it suitable to host year-round thoroughbred racing and training, which would ultimately lead to the closure of Aqueduct Racetrack. The plans are contingent on NYRA receiving state-backed bonds to fund the construction projects at Belmont.

Robert's Lounge was a saloon located at 114-45 Lefferts Boulevard, in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York City. The saloon was used as a hangout by Paul Vario. The basement was a graveyard for mob victims. A human leg bone and a portion of a human shoulder bone were excavated from the basement on June 6, 1980. The bones were thought to have been those of two of Burke's associates, Thomas DeSimone and Martin Krugman, who went missing a short time after the Lufthansa heist.

The Count Fleet Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Aqueduct Racetrack, located in Jamaica, New York, at the beginning of January each year. It is the first stakes race of the year run in New York City for three-year-olds. Named after Count Fleet, the 1943 Triple Crown winner, the race is open to three-year-olds willing to race one mile and seventy yards on the inner dirt track. Offering a purse of $65,000 added, the race is a prep to the Whirlaway Stakes, the Gotham Stakes, the Bay Shore Stakes and the Wood Memorial Stakes. Inaugurated in 1975 as the Count Fleet Handicap at Belmont Park, it was run that year at a distance of one mile. In 1976 it was raced at seven furlongs then from 1977 through 1983 at a mile and a sixteenth. It has been contested at a mile and seventy yards since 1984.There was no race run in 1982.

Bergen Basin is a tributary inlet to Jamaica Bay in Queens, New York at the northern extremity of Grassy Bay and runs along the western boundary of JFK International Airport. The airport was built on the marshes of Jamaica Bay surrounding Bergen Basin in 1942. Bergen Basin was previously known as Bergen's Landing Aqueduct or Bergen Creek. Originally Bergen Basin had been fed by a stream that emerged from the ground near 131th Street at Conduit Avenue. Bergen Basin is about 300 to 350 feet wide along its entire length and under 20 feet deep at mean low water. The Jamaica Water Pollution Control Facility discharges into Bergen Basin. The Interstate Sanitation Comission (ISC) reports that it discharges an average of 82.8 million gallons per day of secondary treated wastewater. It is classified as an estuarine subtidal open waters permanently flooded by tidal water. The entrance is marked by bouys. Conspicuous are a yellow brick circular tank about 40' high on the SW side of the entrance, and the numerous oil storage tanks at the head of the basin on the east shore. Coastal tankers and sand-and-gravel barge tows account for most of the commerce in the basin."In 1963, when alterations were being made to the sewage works, all the plant effluent was discharged to the basin for 2 weeks; at this time the influent sewage was septic, having been stored in the intercepting sewers for some months while the alterations were in progress, and this caused severe pollution to the basin with very strong evolution of hydrogen sulphide. In an attempt to improve conditions, bulk sodium nitrate was dded to the basin to create aerobic conditions in the bottom deposits and sodium hypochlorite solution was also added to oxidize the hydrogen sulphide in the water." In 1964, a rank smell came from Bergen Basin and was smelled by residents of Howard Beach and South Ozone Park. The Department of Public Works said the smell was caused by a two-foot deposit of sediment at the bottom of the basin. The basin was dredged to remedy the situation.In January 1988, a sunken wreck was reported in the eastern arm of the basin.

South Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is just north of John F. Kennedy International Airport, between Aqueduct Racetrack to the west and the Van Wyck Expressway to the east. Adjacent neighborhoods include Ozone Park to the west; Richmond Hill to the north; Jamaica, South Jamaica, and Springfield Gardens to the east; and Howard Beach and Old Howard Beach to the southwest.Rockaway Boulevard is South Ozone Park's main business strip. There is also a high concentration of small businesses along Liberty Avenue, which is also one of South Ozone Park's main source of revenue. South Ozone Park is located in Queens Community District 10 and its ZIP Code is 11420. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 106th Precinct. Politically, South Ozone Park is represented by the New York City Council's 28th and 32nd Districts.

The Howard Beach–JFK Airport station is a subway/people mover station complex located at Coleman Square between 159th Avenue and 103rd Street in Howard Beach, Queens. The New York City Subway portion of the station is on the IND Rockaway Line and is served by the Rockaway branch of the A train at all times and the Rockaway Park Shuttle on summer weekends, and the AirTrain JFK portion of the station complex is served by the AirTrain's Howard Beach branch at all times. The station was originally a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station along the Rockaway Beach Branch. The LIRR station opened in 1913 to replace the nearby Ramblersville station. The LIRR ceased operations at this station in 1950, and the New York City Transit Authority bought the section of the Rockaway Beach Branch that included this station in 1952. The subway station opened on June 28, 1956. Between 2000 and 2003, the subway station was completely reconstructed and the AirTrain JFK station was built. The rebuilt complex was completed on December 17, 2003, providing easier access to JFK Airport for large parts of the city.

The Aqueduct–North Conduit Avenue station (also announced as Aqueduct station on trains) is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at North Conduit Avenue near the intersection of Cohancy Street in Ozone Park, Queens, it is served at all times by the A train.

The Aqueduct Racetrack station is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. Located on the west side of Aqueduct Racetrack near Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, it is served by northbound A trains at all times. The station contains four tracks, of which the outer two are in passenger service; the two center express tracks have been disconnected from the line and permanently removed. There is a single side platform next to the northbound local track. The station was built in 1959 to serve the racetrack and on racing days the station would be open with "Aqueduct Special" trains running nonstop from 42nd Street. The specials were replaced by JFK Express service, before service at the station was altogether discontinued in 1990. The station reopened in 1997 and was typically open only on racing days, although some trains stopped at the station regardless of the time of day. From 2011 to 2013, it was closed and rebuilt to provide better access to the Resorts World Casino, and an elevator was installed to make the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Since then, the Aqueduct Racetrack station has operated 24 hours a day. Aqueduct Racetrack is one of the least-used stations in the system. It was ranked 400th out of 424 by ridership as of 2019, with 601,436 passengers.

Walter J. Wetzel Triangle is small park bound by Cohancy Street, 156th Avenue, 99th Street, and 157th Avenue, in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Walter 'Jo' Wetzel was born on September 16, 1944 and grew up in Howard Beach. An avid athlete, he attended the local grammar school (Our Lady of Grace) where he starred in both baseball and basketball. He also attended St. John's Preparatory School and Far Rockaway High School where he played varsity basketball. After graduating from Far Rockaway High School, he worked briefly with the city's Parks Department. Wetzel was drafted into the Army in October 1965 and completed his training at Fort Dix, New Jersey before being deployed to Vietnam. He was the oldest of seven children, two of whom he never met. PFC Wetzel started his tour of Vietnam on May 8, 1966 and was killed in action 21 days later during the battle of LZ 10 Alpha. His remains were buried in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn. This .223-acre traffic triangle was named for Wetzel by Local Law 17 of 1977.Triangular intersections that were too small to be developed were designated as public plazas, including this one. The park contains small hedges, trees, and a memorial flagpole honoring Wetzel and other local veterans.

The Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard station is an elevated terminal station on the IND Fulton Street Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Lefferts Boulevard and Liberty Avenue in Queens. It serves as the terminus of the A route's Lefferts Boulevard branch. Despite its name, the station is not actually located in Ozone Park, but rather in the adjacent neighborhood of South Richmond Hill.

Hamilton Beach was a former Long Island Rail Road station on the Rockaway Beach Branch in Queens, New York City. It was located between two streets in Hamilton Beach, Queens, one of which no longer exists and is part of land owned by JFK Airport.

John Adams High School (H.S. 480; often referred to locally as John Adams) is a public high school in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Planning for the school began in 1927 and classes commenced in September 1930. At around the same time the city built several other high schools from the same plans, including Samuel J. Tilden High School, Far Rockaway High School, Abraham Lincoln High School, Bayside High School, and Grover Cleveland High School. As of the 2014–15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,622 students and 169.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.5:1. There were 2,061 students (78.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 251 (9.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.