April 1, 2021 By Ryan Songalia Undocumented immigrants and formerly incarcerated inmates in New York state could soon receive unemployment benefits that they had been ineligible for under earlier federal aid packages. State Sen. Jessica Ramos, who represents a portion of western Queens, has been an outspoken advocated for the proposal known as the Excluded… Read more »
April 1, 2021 By Christina Santucci The future of the Neptune Diner is in doubt as a developer wants to bulldoze the site and construct an 11-story building. Community Board 1 held a meeting via Zoom last week to hear an informational presentation about the plan that involves rezoning three sites along 31st Street between… Read more »
April 1, 2021 By Allie Griffin The NYPD has launched a homicide investigation in relation to the death of a man whose body was found wrapped in a trash bag floating in the East River off Astoria in January. Police identified the victim as 48-year-old Sergio Alvarez of the Bronx and said that the Medical… Read more »
April 1, 2021 By Allie Griffin The New York City Sanitation Department (DSNY) is bringing back Sunday basket collection using federal COVID-19 relief money to restore the service. The city will deploy more than 100 additional Sanitation trucks per week dedicated to litter basket collection– in addition to Sunday service. The city made significant cuts… Read more »
March 31, 2021 By Allie Griffin Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents the 12th Congressional District, announced Wednesday that she plans to run for re-election next year. Maloney, 75, whose district includes western Queens as well as sections of Manhattan and north Brooklyn, said her record of delivering real results to constituents shows she deserves to… Read more »
March 31, 2021 By Ryan Songalia New York has become state number 15 to legalize recreational pot with Gov. Andrew Cuomo signing the “Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act” into law this morning. The bill cleared both the New York State Senate and Assembly yesterday, and Cuomo pledged last night that he would make it law…. Read more »
March 31, 2021 By Allie Griffin The police are looking for two teenagers who beat and pepper-sprayed a 26-year-old man while making a sale on a street corner in Astoria Sunday. The two teenage boys and the 26-year-old had met up at around 5:40 p.m. on the corner of 29th Street and Newtown Avenue to… Read more »
March 31, 2021 By Christian Murray Lidl, the European discount grocery chain, is coming to Queens. The company will be opening a store in Astoria on April 7, which will offer a combination of American products as well as European specialty items ranging from hard-to-find cheeses to authentic specialty sauces, cured meats and more. The… Read more »
March 31, 2021 By Allie Griffin Council Member Costa Constantinides announced today that he will be leaving office next month, about 8 months before his term in office was to officially end. Constantinides will resign on Friday, April 9 to take a job in the nonprofit sector as the Chief Executive Officer of the Variety… Read more »
March 30, 2021 By Allie Griffin New York City’s long-delayed plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street is a step closer to becoming a reality. The Biden administration notified city and state officials Tuesday that they can move forward in conducting an environmental review of the congestion pricing plan– which is required before… Read more »