March 23, 2022 By Allie Griffin The Department of Transportation plans to install more than 50 Citi Bike stations in Maspeth and Middle Village beginning this summer. The DOT released a draft plan map last month that provides the location of the bike stations that it anticipates installing throughout the two neighborhoods. The map —… Read more »
March 17, 2022 By Allie Griffin Nearly a dozen council members, including three from Queens, along with scores of community-based groups are pushing back against cuts proposed by the mayor in the preliminary budget he introduced last month. The elected officials and groups said Mayor Eric Adams’ $98.5 billion budget cuts funding to important services… Read more »
March 17, 2022 By Allie Griffin A large energy company that had its plans to build a power plant in Astoria rejected by the state in October has challenged the decision and in doing so has drawn the ire of local officials and activists. NRG Energy is seeking the state’s approval to replace its 50-year-old peaker… Read more »
March 15, 2022 By Allie Griffin The twice-convicted politician Hiram Monserrate has launched another run for State Assembly. Monserrate announced earlier this month on Facebook that he is running again for State Assembly District 35 — covering Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and Corona. “I’m on a mission to make sure our voices are heard,” he shared… Read more »
March 15, 2022 By Allie Griffin A Chinese man whose mother died last month after she was brutally assaulted on a North Corona street has secured a visa to the U.S. that will allow him to attend his mom’s funeral. Congress Members Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both worked on the behalf of Yang Gao,… Read more »
March 15, 2022 By Allie Griffin Council Member Sandra Ung is calling on the Department of Transportation to improve signage along a busway in Flushing where she says motorists are unknowingly driving in the bus-only lanes and getting smacked with fines. Ung sent a letter to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez last week urging the department… Read more »
March 10, 2022 By Allie Griffin Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has secured millions for several Queens and Bronx community-based projects in a new government spending bill, she announced Thursday. The lawmaker secured nearly $7 million in funding for 10 projects — eight of which are in Queens — as part of an omnibus bill the House… Read more »
March 10, 2022 By Allie Griffin The Department of Education is pushing ahead with its controversial new admissions process for the city’s top high schools — angering some Queens officials as a result. Schools Chancellor David Banks announced Wednesday that he has decided against any last-minute changes to the admissions process after suggesting last week… Read more »
March 8, 2022 By Allie Griffin A new music festival aimed at uplifting Black, Brown, Indigenous and Asian American Pacific Islander artists is coming to Queens this summer with ticket sales going live tomorrow. LetsGetFr.ee — a project of Afropunk festival founder Matthew Morgan — will enliven Flushing Meadows Corona Park with the music of… Read more »
March 8, 2022 By Allie Griffin Queens residents can donate supplies to Ukrainians under the daily threat of Russian violence without leaving the borough. Several Queens officials are collecting donations of medical supplies, food, clothes, toiletries and other necessities to send overseas to Ukrainian families as they face Russian forces or flee their homeland. Queens… Read more »