Oct. 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City public school families will have just one chance to opt into in-person classes for the rest of the school year — beginning next week. Families who had opted into fully-remote classes, but now want to switch back to the city’s blended learning model — in which… Read more »
Oct. 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin [This story has been updated to reflect that the Open Streets program has no set end date at this time.] The city will keep the 34th Avenue Open Street going as the Department of Transportation (DOT) looks into a plan for its “long-term” transformation. Residents and local elected officials… Read more »
Oct. 21, 2020 By Allie Griffin A group of Sunnyside residents, a local nonprofit organization and a property owner have all come together to turn an empty lot into a composting site. The ad hoc group of residents— who go by the name of the 45th Street Composters — are collecting food scraps at an… Read more »
Oct. 21, 2020 By Allie Griffin Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that COVID-19 restrictions in two Queens coronavirus hotspots will be eased as infection rates have come down. The Central Queens and Far Rockaway red and orange zones have been downgraded to yellow zones — in which nonessential businesses and schools are permitted to reopen…. Read more »
Oct. 21, 2020 By Allie Griffin Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the statewide moratorium on commercial evictions and foreclosures from Oct. 20 through to the end of the year. He signed an executive order extending it Tuesday — the same day the emergency moratorium was set to expire. Cuomo first announced a state moratorium on… Read more »
Oct. 20, 2020 By Allie Griffin U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested 54 undocumented immigrants in the greater New York City area as part of a recent move to target sanctuary cities such as New York. The 54 immigrants are among hundreds of undocumented people ICE officers arrested in sanctuary cities across the… Read more »
Oct. 19, 2020 by Allie Griffin Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that he will reevaluate the five COVID-19 clusters across New York State and announce any changes — such as a rollback of restrictions — on Wednesday. The data for the Central Queens cluster continues to improve, with the infection rate in the red zone… Read more »
Oct. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin Less than half of public school students in New York City are enrolled in blended learning, in which they combine in-person and remote learning. More and more students and their parents are opting out of the blended model in favor of fully remote learning, according to data released by… Read more »
Oct. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin A decision on how long the COVID-19 shutdown zones will remain in force could come as soon as Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today. De Blasio said the COVID-19 positivity rates have improved in the cluster zones from what they were a week ago when nonessential businesses and… Read more »
Oct. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin The City Council passed a bill today to extend New York City’s outdoor dining program through next September — and at that point make a variation of it permanent. The legislation extends the current outdoor dining program called “Open Restaurants” until Sept. 30, 2021. The current program allows eateries… Read more »