Sept. 16, 2020 By Christian Murray At the end of next year, 11 council members in Queens will be forced to step down due to term limits. Dozens of candidates have already come forward looking to replace them, and will be competing in next June’s Democratic primaries for those spots. In Queens, only four council… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin Staffers at 10 Queens public schools have tested positive for COVID-19 since teachers and administrators returned to schools across the city on Sept. 8. The 10 schools are among 56 citywide, where positive coronavirus cases have been confirmed, according to a list the Department of Education provided from Sept…. Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Restaurants will soon be able to add a 10 percent service charge to the tab. The City Council voted Wednesday to approve legislation that would temporarily permit restaurants to add a “COVID-19 Recovery Charge” to customer checks. The legislation is expected to be signed by the mayor – which… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin The city will ramp up its sanitation efforts to keep streets trash-free after having cut the Department of Sanitation’s budget by $106 million. Residents have been complaining of overflowing trash bins since the Sanitation budget took a hit and the department’s commissioner Kathryn Garcia even resigned over the cuts…. Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Mayor Bill de Blasio and his entire office staff will take one week of unpaid leave in order to help tackle the city’s fiscal crisis amid the coronavirus shutdown. The mayor said that the mandatory furloughs – which will affect nearly 500 employees – will save the city nearly… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Michael Dorgan A white woman threw a glass bottle at a black jogger in Woodside last month and then shouted a racial slur at her, police said. The police released video footage of the incident today that shows a white woman hurling a bottle at a 37-year-old black woman while she… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Christian Murray The cost to rent an apartment in northwest Queens remains high–although a little bit less than a year ago, according to a new report. The report, released by Douglas Elliman Real Estate, found that the median rent in northwest Queens fell by 5.5 percent in August 2020–to $2,796–compared to… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Michael Dorgan The city will be spraying pesticides to keep the number of mosquitoes at bay in parts of western and central Queens on Thursday. The spraying will begin at around 8:30 p.m. and will continue until 6 a.m. Friday, according to the NYC Department of Health. The spraying will occur… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Christian Murray A Queens legislator will be introducing a bill before the city council Wednesday that calls for the decriminalization of jaywalking. Council Member Costa Constantinides, who is sponsoring the bill, said that black and Latinx New Yorkers are the ones most ticketed for jaywalking and the bill aims to end… Read more »
Sep. 15, 2020 By Michael Dorgan A number of city and state officials came together for a Zoom call Thursday to address the quality-of-life issues that have plagued the Hunters Point waterfront this summer. The meeting, which involved more than 20 participants, included representatives from the mayor’s office, NYC Parks, New York State Parks, NYC… Read more »