Jan. 3, 2022 By Allie Griffin Applications to serve on one of Queens’ 14 community boards are now open, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced Monday. Residents interested in becoming community board members must submit their applications online by Feb. 16. This is the second year that the borough president’s office has offered the application… Read more »
Dec. 30, 2021 By Allie Griffin More than a dozen Queens residents died of COVID-19 Tuesday — the highest number of fatalities among the 62 counties in New York State. Altogether, 97 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 Tuesday including 13 Queens residents as the number of cases reached the highest level on record amid a… Read more »
Dec. 29, 2021 By Allie Griffin Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a Queens legislator’s bill into law Tuesday that requires the MTA to prioritize bicycle access on MTA bridges and in commuter train stations. The legislation sponsored by Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas requires the MTA to develop a strategic plan to promote both bike and pedestrian access… Read more »
Dec. 28, 2021 Staff Report The Hunters Point Parks Conservancy is making an end-of-year push to raise money to help aid its mission to keep Long Island City’s parks clean, vibrant and engaging. HPPC hopes to raise funds in order to continue its park conservancy efforts into the new year. The nonprofit is now halfway… Read more »
Dec. 27, 2021 By Allie Griffin Governor Kathy Hochul signed two bills into law last week that were sponsored by state Senator Michael Gianaris that aim to improve the voting system. One bill requires absentee ballots to be counted by election night, while the other requires the state to increase the number of early voting… Read more »
Dec. 23, 2021 By Allie Griffin The federal government has opened three COVID-19 testing sites in Queens as officials from all levels of government rush to raise testing capacity amid a surge of cases. The first site run by the CDC opened in Travers Park in Jackson Heights Wednesday. Two more mobile test sites —… Read more »
Dec. 17, 2021 By Allie Griffin Southeast Queens Council Member Adrienne Adams has — once again — declared victory in the council speaker race. Adams announced Friday that she expects to have a majority of votes when the new council casts its ballots for speaker early next month. She has secured at least 33 members’… Read more »
Dec. 17, 2021 By Allie Griffin The city will distribute 500,000 at-home rapid tests and one million masks to residents across the five boroughs as COVID-19 cases climb rapidly, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday. The announcement came at the same time that health officials released data showing that the seven-day average for new cases… Read more »
Dec. 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin A number of so-called “moderate” City Council members have officially created their own caucus just weeks before a new set of members are to be sworn in. The City Council officially recognized the formation of the “Common Sense” caucus, which consists of a number of moderate Democrats and Republican… Read more »
Dec. 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin The MTA is redesigning the entire bus network in Queens and will release its latest plan early next year, agency officials said Wednesday. The new plan will replace an initial bus redesign plan that the MTA put out two years ago. The agency has scrapped that original, pre-pandemic plan… Read more »