Oct. 19, 2021 By Max Parrott More than a year after communities of color in Queens bore some of the most deadly impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City Board of Health has passed a resolution that declares racism a public health crisis. The resolution begins by recognizing the history “of structural racism… Read more »
Oct. 18, 2021 By Allie Griffin LaGuardia Community College has launched a fundraising campaign with a $15 million goal to help pay for student grants and scholarships. The “Tomorrow Campaign” aims to help current and future students at the two-year college in Long Island City get the education and training they need to advance their… Read more »
Oct. 18, 2021 By Allie Griffin The city has awarded $2.7 million to the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens for a new community center in Jackson Heights, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. “We’re providing $2.7 million for a new community center because it’s so important for our young people to have a… Read more »
Oct. 18, 2021 By Ta’Leah Van Sistine Resident association leaders are “upset” and “disappointed” that a proposal to convert Ravenswood Generating Station into a renewable energy hub was not approved last month by state officials. “We deserve to have clean air. We deserve to have clean energy,” said Stephanie Chauncey, the PSA 9 police council… Read more »
Oct. 15, 2021 By Allie Griffin A new state law will soon make it illegal to threaten to report someone to ICE as a form of blackmail. The legislation, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law last week, classifies such threats as extortion or coercion under New York law and therefore a crime. “New York… Read more »
Oct. 15, 2021 By Michael Dorgan The owners of a Mexican fusion restaurant in Astoria are planning on opening a second venue in the neighborhood. Brian Martinez, who co-owns Fresco’s Cantina on 31st Avenue with his husband Adrian Suero, will open a sister restaurant at 28-50 31st Street next month. The business will occupy a… Read more »
Oct. 14, 2021 By Allie Griffin Residential sales prices across Queens grew at the highest rate among the five boroughs over the past year, according to a new report. The median sales price in Queens was $580,000 in the third quarter of 2021, a 17 percent increase from the third quarter of 2020 — representing… Read more »
Oct. 15, 2021 By Michael Dorgan A city clean-up initiative that launched in April has removed 600,000 bags of trash from New York streets, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday. The City Cleanup Corps, which consists of nearly 10,000 workers, has also hand-swept more than 50,000 city blocks, repainted 900 defaced properties and cleaned 25,000… Read more »
Oct. 14, 2021 By Max Parrott Several Queens legislators have called on a city panel tasked with overseeing public art and architecture to vote to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson in the City Council chambers as a form of reckoning with his legacy as a slaveholder. The 11-member city Public Design Commission will hold… Read more »
Oct. 14, 2021 By Allie Griffin Six million New York City residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday. “This is unbelievable,” de Blasio said during his morning press briefing. “Six million people who have gone and done the right thing for themselves and their families,… Read more »