Oct. 7, 2021 By Allie Griffin More than 15,500 New Yorkers have received a total of $107 million to help bury their loved ones who died of COVID-19. The recipients were able to tap into the funds from the federal COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program, which recently expanded eligibility after facing pressure from two local legislators…. Read more »
Oct. 5, 2021 By Allie Griffin The Queens County Farm Museum is offering a variety of fun fall activities for Queens families this month ahead of Halloween. Families visiting the farm can pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch; munch on apple pies, donuts, cider and the fruit itself; take a hayride around the… Read more »
Oct. 5, 2021 By Allie Griffin Several Queens lawmakers want Gov. Kathy Hochul to kill the controversial LaGuardia AirTrain project altogether after she announced Monday that she has directed the Port Authority to review other options. The lawmakers want Hochul to officially slam the lid on the $2 billion plan to build a 1.5-mile rail… Read more »
Oct. 5, 2021 By Allie Griffin The city’s three public library systems—Queens, Brooklyn and New York—are eliminating late fees and scraping all users’ existing balances. The libraries have suspended late fees since March 2020 due to the pandemic and announced Tuesday that they will permanently end late charges — which have been in place since… Read more »
Oct. 4, 2021 By Allie Griffin Dozens of Queens residents rallied for reproductive rights outside Queens Borough Hall Saturday as part of a nationwide day of action for abortion justice. The rally — and more than 600 similar protests across the country — was organized in response to the recent Texas law that effectively bans… Read more »
Oct. 4, 2021 By Allie Griffin A Queens college student and organizer is fighting for New York state to make Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha public holidays. Tanbir Chowdhury, a 20-year-old Jamaica resident and John Jay College student, is calling on state legislators to sign onto to a bill to make the Muslim holidays —… Read more »
Oct. 4, 2021 By Allie Griffin Police officers found the body of a man floating in the East River off Astoria Park Saturday. Officers were called to the waterfront just after 3 p.m. when a 911-caller spotted the body floating in the water near Ditmars Boulevard and Shore Boulevard by the Hell Gate Bridge, according… Read more »
Sept. 29, 2021 By Allie Griffin Former Council Member Costa Constantinides was sworn into the city’s Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors Tuesday. Constantinides, who is now the CEO of Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens, was nominated to represent Queens by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. The NYCEDC’s role—as a quasi-private, city-affiliated corporation–is… Read more »
Sept. 28, 2021 By Allie Griffin New York City public school teachers and staff must get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. De Blasio moved the deadline to 5 p.m. Friday after a federal appeals court lifted an injunction that had temporarily… Read more »
Sept. 28, 2021 By Allie Griffin (Updated Sept. 30) Queens has outpaced the rest of the boroughs in the city’s vaccine effort. Nearly 90 percent of adults who live in Queens have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Queens has both the highest percentage of its adult population vaccinated at 89 percent… Read more »