April 12, 2021 By Christina Santucci While the majority of Queens state legislators recently approved the legalization of marijuana – four of their colleagues who represent southern parts of the borough voted against the plan State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. and Assemblymembers Stacey Pheffer Amato, Brian Barnwell and Jenifer Rajkumar all opposed the “Marijuana Regulation… Read more »
April 12, 2021 By Christina Santucci Several Queens elected officials have called on city and state officials to open a mass vaccination site for residents of Middle Village, Glendale, Maspeth and parts of Ridgewood and Woodhaven. U.S. Rep. Grace Meng – along with state Sens. Joseph Addabbo and Assemblymembers Catherine Nolan, Jenifer Rajkumar and Brian… Read more »
April 8, 2021 By Allie Griffin Mayor Bill de Blasio announced sweeping changes to the city’s COVID-19 closure policies for New York City public schools. The city has doubled the number of coronavirus cases that requires the Department of Education to close a school for 10 days. Beginning Monday, schools will close for in-person instruction… Read more »
April 6, 2021 By Allie Griffin Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced Tuesday his community board appointments as well as a number of new reforms that aim to raise board standards. Richards appointed 373 members across Queens’ 14 community boards out of a pool of more than 900 applicants — a record number of applications… Read more »
April 6, 2021 By Ryan Songalia New Yorkers as young as 16 years of age became eligible Tuesday to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, a week after the minimum age to receive the shot was dropped to 30. The move comes two weeks ahead of President Joe Biden’s April 19 date to make all adults eligible… Read more »
April 6, 2021 By Allie Griffin The city plans to employ 10,000 New Yorkers to remove graffiti and clean city parks, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. The city will hire 10,000 people by July and will post the first 1,000 job openings this month as part of its new “City Cleanup Corps” initiative. De… Read more »
April 6, 2021 By Ryan Songalia Two online job fairs will take place in April as the borough looks to rebound from the economic devastation– and job losses–brought on by the pandemic. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz will co-host a job fair on Friday, April 9 from 11 a.m. to 12:30… Read more »
April 6, 2021 By Michael Dorgan The police are searching for a man who robbed the Chase Bank branch in Ridgewood this morning. The suspect allegedly entered the 60-67 Myrtle Ave. bank at around 11:25 a.m. and stole $4,800 cash, according to police. It is unclear how the thief carried out the robbery although police… Read more »
April 6, 2021 By Ryan Songalia With New York’s state budget expected to be released shortly, a group of Queens legislators are hoping it includes a number of progressive measures aimed at raising taxes on wealthy residents and large corporations. A package of six bills known collectively as the Invest In Our New York Act… Read more »
April 5, 2021 By Christina Santucci A documentary series highlighting nonprofits in the borough – and how they have fared during the pandemic – debuted last week. The series, which was created by the Astoria Film Festival, showcases seven organizations and is being screened on Queens Public Television (QPTV), as well as on YouTube and… Read more »