Feb. 24: Pre-Spring Cleaning

Good morning, Little Neck! We've hit that point, halfway through a Mid-Winter Recess, closer to the end of this long winter of our (sometimes) discontent made glorious by...

O.K., let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still have a bit of cold ahead of us, surely. However, it's still a good time to take stock and to revisit this past couple of weeks. So in that vein, here are the 5 Things You Need(ed) to Know This Winter:

1. Water. Not the frozen kind, but the stuff coming out of our taps. According to our numbers, received the most requests for us to follow up on - and no wonder. , many homeowners complained heatedly to the city Department of Environmental Protection's representative about what they felt was another revenue-generating initiative on the backs of Queens' middle class.

2. Walmart. The question of whether or not the retail giant should make its grand entrance into the New York City market was another issue on which everyone it seemed had an opinion - and . 

3. Snow removal. When it came to last December's blizzard, it seemed the city could do no right. Whether it was talk of a Department of Sanitation or the accumulation of trash, snow and recycling in our own , things definitely got a bit messy. Though in subsequent snowstorms, the city mostly scored passing grades. 

4. Mold at M.S. 67. Testing done at this Little Neck school's basement classrooms - the site of a longstanding water leak - came back positive for last December. Meanwhile, parents decried a from school administrators and the city in regards to the problems.

5. Property tax assessments. Speaking of the rising costs of living in this city, co-op and condo building managers received a whallop of sticker shock due to a in their assessments for the coming tax year of as much as 300 percent.