Didn’t They Teach You When You Were A Kid . . .

. . . that embezzling money from a public school never works out like you want it to? Some just never learn:

A custodial secretary used her Queens high school as a personal piggy bank, stealing more than $60,000 in school funds, investigators charge.

Karen Nowaski, 37, allegedly forged and cashed phony payroll checks, increased her own hourly wage and claimed to have worked when she didn’t, according to a report by special schools investigator Richard Condon.

The secretary at Grover Cleveland High School also allegedly extorted $9,000 from another employee in exchange for not revealing his role in the scheme.

Nothing Can Stand In The Way Of The Mighty Airport Village

Losing an alcohol license didn’t kill Club Kalua, but eminent domain might:

The strip club Sean Bell visited the night he was killed in Jamaica could be demolished as part of a larger redevelopment plan for that area of Queens.

The Greater Jamaica Development Corp. is moving forward with plans to turn Jamaica into a transit-oriented development center and is assembling sites on which to build new hotel, “affordable” housing to lure some of the 35,000 employees who work at nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport, and additional parking.

The development corporation has already targeted a number of nightclubs for demolition, and sources with knowledge of the plans have suggested Club Kalua could be next on the chopping block.

The president of the development corporation, Carlisle Towery, said the area’s positioning as a nexus of the Long Island Rail Road, the AirTrain to JFK airport, three subway lines, and dozens of bus lines makes Jamaica an ideal place to build an airport village.

“It is highly accessible. A lot can get to it and a lot goes through it and we are tying to make it a destination, not just a transfer point,” he said.

Mr. Towery said there are no fixed plans to condemn Club Kalua, but he made his feelings about the establishment clear.

“It’s been a social blight for years,” he said. “What its future is, I don’t know. But it certainly doesn’t belong here.”

And Mayor Bloomberg kills two birds with one stone, eliminating the source of Sean Bell and solidifying his legacy in one fell swoop. Funny how that works out sometimes.

Which Is To Say, For All Intents And Purposes, The Mets’ Season Is Over

A reminder that it’s generally considered bad form to start stealing seats before the end of May:

A Mets fan struck out in his attempt to take a piece of Shea Stadium home with him, cops said Tuesday.

Patrick Oriani, 18, of Jersey City, was caught stealing the bottom half of a red upper-deck seat after the Mets’ 10-4 loss to the Washington Nationals on Monday night, police said. He had the souvenir wrapped in a blanket.

Oriani was charged with possession of stolen property, criminal mischief and petty larceny, police said.

Location Scout: Shea Stadium.

Up Myrtle Avenue In A Dress

The letter writer apparently doesn’t get into the city much:

Charles Ober — an openly gay candidate running for the City Council seat formerly held by Dennis Gallagher — said Wednesday he has been smeared by a nasty anti-gay screed.

But Ober, a Democrat, was not alone in denouncing the hateful anonymous missive.

He was joined at a news conference by a potential rival from the opposite side of the political spectrum: Republican hopeful Thomas Ognibene.

The letter — a typed page full of vile hate speech, with frequent spelling and grammatical errors — was sent to an unknown number of households in Ridgewood, Middle Village and Glendale, they said.

“You need to know that one of the candidates that is trying to get Dennis’ seat is a f—-t,” the letter began.

“If you do not want your kids to be exposed to this garbage, you need to make sure you vote — and not for Charlie . . . Ober,” the diatribe continues. “Our kids will be exposed to f—-ts holding hands, kissing and running up Myrtle Ave. in a dress.”

Fortunately, there is still a healthy level of cynicism in Middle Queens:

Multiple Democratic insiders inferred that Ober and Ognibene — who have been spurned by their respective political parties in the nonpartisan special election — may have concocted the hate mail scheme to boost their candidacies.

“It looks like they manufactured an issue and tried to get press on it,” said Michael Reich, executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party.

Others blamed Ober for going along with the conservative Ognibene in a plan to divide the Democratic vote.

When Thousands Of New Jerseyites Start Flooding Into Queens On Weekend Evenings We Can Talk . . .

. . . but until then, please just give these people a stupid beer/wine license already:

Long Island City activists are opposing a popular restaurant’s application for a beer and wine license, fearing alcohol will only add to the troubles they say the eatery has brought to the neighborhood.

Residents said Blend LIC has been a bad neighbor, and accused its management of repeatedly lying to the community about its intentions.

Blend’s management “don’t want a restaurant that co-exists peacefully with the neighborhood,” said resident Tim Lee, a 48-year-old photographer.

“There’s a big difference between a restaurant that serves liquor and a place that’s positioning itself as a bar stop.”

Blend, which bills itself as a Latin fusion restaurant, had its initial application for a liquor license rejected by the State Liquor Authority in November 2006.

Now the restaurant’s owner, Cullen Partners, is preparing to ask Queens Community Board 2 for a beer and wine license.

“The opening of their rear garden would surround our building with noise,” said Tim Doocey, 38, another concerned neighbor.

. . .

“There’s a saturation of bars and restaurants” in Long Island City, said Community Board 2 Chairman Joe Conley. “People are saying enough is enough.”

In a 2006 letter to Cullen Partners, Conley wrote: “Please be advised we have already spoken in a loud and unambiguous voice on this issue and are unlikely to reconsider the decision” in regard to a new license.

Charles Linn, attorney for Cullen Partners, declined to comment and added that no one at Blend would be available for further comment.

The original disapproval states the “application information was misrepresented by the applicant” and that the applicant “submitted an application with misleading information.”

Doocey, a communications consultant, added, “We’re not anti-business. We’re not even anti-bar. But the next thing you know, Vernon Blvd. will become a mess like the lower East Side.”