May 29, 2020 By Allie Griffin Council Speaker Corey Johnson introduced legislation Thursday that would require the city to open up sidewalks and street space for outdoor dining, with the aim of helping restaurants get through the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation — sponsored by several council members including Donovan Richards and Antonio Reynoso — calls… Read more »
May 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York businesses will soon be able to turn away customers who aren’t wearing a mask. Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would be signing an executive order today giving businesses the right to boot out any customer who refuses to wear a mask. The new directive, referred to as… Read more »
May 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin A wholesale grocery distributor sold more than 46,000 cans of Lysol disinfectant spray to New York grocery and discount stores at excessive prices, including several in Queens — and is now paying the price with a lawsuit from the state. New York Attorney General Letitia James slapped a lawsuit… Read more »
May 27, 2020 By Allie Griffin The city has hired more than 1,700 contact tracers and secured 1,200 hotel rooms to reduce the spread of the coronavirus as it prepares to reopen. The contact tracers will be tasked with finding family, friends and other people who have come in close contact to a person who… Read more »
May 27, 2020 By Michael Dorgan The mayor has signed several new bills into law to support small businesses during the COVID-19 shutdown. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the legislation Tuesday after the City Council passed the relief measures earlier this month. The legislation slaps price caps on third-party food delivery services and extends the suspension of… Read more »
May 27, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City faces a whopping $9 billion deficit due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. The budget hole was originally estimated to be around $7.4 billion through to June 30, 2021 — but has widened by another $1.6 billion, the mayor… Read more »
May 27, 2020 By Allie Griffin Alternate side parking is suspended once again during the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that alternate side parking rules will be suspended through June 7. “It brings out a lot of feeling and a lot of emotion in New Yorkers — that is any time that… Read more »
May 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin New Yorkers are still being hospitalized with COVID-19 in large numbers, with a significant number of them living in three hard-hit areas of Queens. Governor Andrew Cuomo released a list today of the top 10 neighborhoods/zipcodes where the newly-admitted COVID-19 patients live. Among the top 10 zip codes for… Read more »
May 26, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Queens Council Member Eric Ulrich has called for an investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ulrich, who represents a district in southern Queens, says Cuomo’s ill-judged nursing home mandates contributed to the alarmingly high number of deaths at those facilities. The councilman penned… Read more »
May 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin More than 10 new COVID-19 testing centers will open in Queens over the next month — including three facilities in the hard-hit Far Rockaway neighborhood, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning. The city opened two of the new sites today and plans to open the rest throughout the… Read more »