Sept 22, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Bronx man was indicted on murder charges in Queens Supreme Court Monday for a hit-and-run box truck crash that killed a new father in Middle Village this summer. Ramon Pena, 37, was indicted by a Queens grand jury on a slew of charges stemming from the July 30… Read more »
Sept. 18, 2020 By Allie Griffin Community compost and food scraps drop-off sites are back up and running in Queens after the sites were shuttered for months due to pandemic-related budget cuts. The sites were reopened after the city’s executive budget restored $2.8 million to community composting for Fiscal Year 2021 last minute, the Department… Read more »
Sept. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Bronx man was indicted for attempted murder by a Queens jury Thursday after nearly beating his girlfriend to death on a Jamaica street in May. James Fitzgerald, 53, allegedly beat his girlfriend with a nail-studded plank as she lay defenseless on the sidewalk in front of a fish… Read more »
Sept. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin The City Council passed a bill Wednesday that will require the city to explore the use of drones for building facade inspections. The bill, co-sponsored by Northeast Queens Council Member Paul Vallone, will require the Department of Buildings (DOB) to study the safety and feasibility of using drones to… Read more »
Sept. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin The start of in-person classes at the city’s public schools has been delayed yet again for the majority of students. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the reopening of most school buildings will be pushed back further — on a rolling basis — just four days before they were… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin Staffers at 10 Queens public schools have tested positive for COVID-19 since teachers and administrators returned to schools across the city on Sept. 8. The 10 schools are among 56 citywide, where positive coronavirus cases have been confirmed, according to a list the Department of Education provided from Sept…. Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin The city will ramp up its sanitation efforts to keep streets trash-free after having cut the Department of Sanitation’s budget by $106 million. Residents have been complaining of overflowing trash bins since the Sanitation budget took a hit and the department’s commissioner Kathryn Garcia even resigned over the cuts…. Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Queens civic group traveled to a developer’s Jamaica Estates home Sunday to protest a 17-story luxury tower he is building in Ridgewood. Members the Ridgewood Tenants Union, a local anti-gentrification and tenants right group, protested outside the upscale home of Meir Babaev, president of AB Capstone, at around… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Northeast Queens council member is pushing for accountability from Con Edison after the company took a week to restore power to several Queens neighborhoods in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias last month. Council Member Paul Vallone introduced two resolutions at a City Council hearing on the company’s… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City launches a special multi-agency team to address COVID-19 cases at city schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. De Blasio unveiled the “DOE COVID Response Situation Room” that brings together the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Test & Trace Corps to create… Read more »