Author: Allie Griffin

DOE Moving Foward With Its New High School Admissions Process, Angering Some Queens Pols

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 »

New Music Festival Celebrating Artists of Color Coming to Queens With Missy Elliott, Wizkid, Anderson .Paak

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 »

Queens Officials Collecting Donations to Send to Ukraine

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 »

Briarwood Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter for Fatal Stabbing of Son-In-Law

Feb. 22, 2022 By Allie Griffin A Briarwood man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally stabbing his son-in-law in January 2019. Marco Ortiz, 48, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first-degree Tuesday morning as a Queens jury was in the process of deliberations. “As jurors decided his fate, the defendant opted to plead guilty… Read more »

State Sen. John Liu Calls for Additional Funds to Fight Hate Crimes Targeting Asian New Yorkers

Feb. 18, 2022 By Allie Griffin State Sen. John Liu and local Asian American groups are calling for increased state funding to support Asian New Yorkers who have increasingly been the target of violent—and even deadly—hate crimes. Liu wants the state to allocate $64.5 million to support community-based organizations that provide services for Asian New… Read more »

Council Members Williams and Lee Elected Co-Chairs of Queens Council Delegation

Feb. 8, 2022 By Allie Griffin Council Members Nantasha Williams and Linda Lee will be leading the Queens Council Delegation. Williams and Lee were elected co-chairs of the delegation by their Queens council colleagues Friday. As co-chairs, Williams and Lee will advocate for funding for Queens during the council’s discretionary budget negotiations. They will serve… Read more »