March 29, 2022 By Christian Murray New York’s hometown airline is adding thousands of new jobs. JetBlue, which is headquartered in Long Island City, announced yesterday that it is recruiting 5,000 additional employees this year in anticipation of a big increase in summer-time demand. The positions will primarily be based at its John F. Kennedy… Read more »
March 28, 2022 By Christian Murray A 32-year-old Corona man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the firing of an illegal gun that killed a mother of three children—via a stray bullet— inside her Jackson Heights apartment in 2020. Issam Elabbar, who pleaded guilty in December 2021 to manslaughter in the second… Read more »
March 24, 2022 By Christian Murray Council Member Shekar Krishnan, the chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, unveiled a five-point plan last week that aims to increase the city’s investment in parks, upgrade playgrounds and add trees across the city. Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, held a press conference at the Unisphere… Read more »
March 21, 2022 By Christian Murray A Long Island City-based organization that helps people who have been incarcerated get back on their feet has received a $10 million award care of philanthropist MacKenzie Scott—of Amazon fame. The Fortune Society, a non-profit organization based at 29-76 Northern Blvd., was given the funds by Scott in recognition… Read more »
March 21, 2022 By Czarinna Andres Thirty-six units in a luxury building by the Astoria waterfront are up for grabs as part of an affordable housing lottery. The lottery opened last week and applicants who want to live at the 11-37 31st Ave. development— known as Astoria West—have until May 19 to apply. The units… Read more »
March 18, 2022 By Christian Murray A Starbucks in Astoria has announced plans to unionize, the first location in Queens to do so. Workers at the 30-18 Astoria Blvd. store sent a letter to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announcing their intention to form a union and their legal right to do so. “Starbucks continues to… Read more »
This article was originally published by The CITY on March 16, 2022 at 10:05 p.m. By Greg David, THE CITY To the Citizens Budget Commission, the controversial property tax break called 421-a for developers of new rental buildings, including affordable apartments, is essential to increase the city’s too-small housing supply. “Allowing 421-a to lapse would… Read more »
March 16, 2022 By Christian Murray A dilapidated block of stores on Queens Plaza North are going to be demolished and plans are in place to replace them with a 26-story, residential apartment complex. The gritty block, located between 27th Street and Crescent Street, has been an eyesore for decades and a developer plans to… Read more »
March 14, 2022 By Christian Murray A 3-year-old girl required stitches to her forehead after a deranged man flipped over the little wagon she was in sitting in throwing her to the ground in Flushing Friday, according to police. Christopher Elder, a 31-year-old Flushing resident with a violent past, allegedly approached the girl’s grandmother, Maria… Read more »
March 11, 2022 By Christian Murray The two individuals wanted for a robbery and slashing that took place inside a Long Island City subway station on March 3 are also suspects in an armed robbery of a 13-year-old girl at a Corona playground that took place that same day. The suspects, a male and a… Read more »