Sept. 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin A man was struck and killed in a hit-and-run collision early Monday morning as he walked along the Long Island Expressway near Lefrak City. The man, who has yet to be identified, was walking within the westbound lanes of the busy expressway near the Queens Boulevard/Woodhaven Boulevard exit (Exit… Read more »
Sept. 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin Coronavirus cases are continuing to surge at an alarming rate in Kew Gardens and have now begun to spread into adjacent neighborhoods such as Rego Park and Kew Garden Hills, new data shows. City health officials identified Kew Gardens, Far Rockaway as well as six Brooklyn neighborhoods as COVID-19… Read more »
Sept. 25, 2020 By Allie Griffin The public has another month to respond to the 2020 Census, thanks to a federal court ruling Thursday. Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction in a California court yesterday that prevents President Donald Trump from ending the count on Sept. 30, a month before the scheduled end date… Read more »
Sept. 25, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City’s popular outdoor dining initiative will now be year-round and permanent, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. The “Open Restaurants” program, where restaurants can set up outdoor dining on sidewalks and streets, will continue into the fall and winter months, de Blasio said. The “Open Streets: Restaurants”… Read more »
Sept. 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Flushing-based food pantry has suddenly lost its funding at a time when more New Yorkers are going hungry amid the pandemic and subsequent shutdown. La Jornada, which has distributed food to Queens residents for 12 years, recently lost its federal grant from a coronavirus food assistance program, U.S…. Read more »
Sept. 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin Queens State Sen. Jessica Ramos and City Comptroller Scott Stringer are calling on the city to make its Open Streets program a year-round initiative. The officials penned a letter to the mayor Thursday asking him to extend the program that turns specific streets over to pedestrians and restaurants beyond… Read more »
Sept. 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin Astoria Council Member Costa Constantinides introduced a number of bills Wednesday that he says will make New York a greener, storm-resilient city. The first bill would require the city to create a set of resilience design guidelines for its capital projects, so that city buildings and infrastructure would be… Read more »
Sept. 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin The Queens Memory Project, an ongoing community archiving program supported by the Queens Public Library and Queens College Library, will celebrate its 10-year anniversary next week with a Facebook Live event. The project, in which volunteers record interviews with Queens residents, has collected more than 600 oral histories of… Read more »
Sept. 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin More than 9,000 city employees will be furloughed as the city faces a major budget deficit spurred by the coronavirus shutdown, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. Thousands of managerial and non-union city employees must take five days of furlough between October and March, which will save the city… Read more »
Sept. 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin A motorcyclist is dead after blowing a red light and hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk at a Middle Village intersection on Saturday. Daniel Fernandez Torres, 27, of Maspeth, ran through a red light on his motorcycle and struck a 43-year-old woman who was crossing the street at the… Read more »