April 5, 2022 By Allie Griffin Queens native LL Cool J has announced that he is launching a new hip-hop music festival in his home borough this summer. The Grammy award winner who grew up in St. Albans will be one of several big-name performers at the inaugural “Rock The Bells Festival” at Forest Hills… Read more »
March 31, 2022 By Allie Griffin The city cleared more than 200 homeless encampments across the five boroughs in the past two weeks, sparking criticism from some Queens officials and homeless advocates. From March 18 through March 30, multi-agency teams removed 239 encampments throughout the city in an effort to connect people living on the… Read more »
March 31, 2022 By Allie Griffin Local nonprofit Sunnyside Community Services has won a national award for its Alzheimer’s program. The organization was awarded the “Innovations in Alzheimer’s Caregiving Award” by The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Inc., and Family Caregiver Alliance last week. The organization’s “Care NYC” program was one of three programs across… Read more »
March 29, 2022 By Allie Griffin The Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled a revised draft bus plan Tuesday that would overhaul the existing bus network in Queens. The 515-page updated plan replaces an original 2019 draft plan that the MTA decided to scrap because it was highly unpopular among borough residents and officials. MTA officials, Queens… Read more »
March 25, 2022 By Allie Griffin About three-quarters of Asian seniors in New York City are afraid to leave their homes due to the recent spike in anti-Asian violence, according to a report released Thursday. The Asian American Federation (AAF) surveyed 153 Asian seniors as well as 15 community-based organizations across the city and found… Read more »
March 23, 2022 By Allie Griffin The Department of Transportation plans to install more than 50 Citi Bike stations in Maspeth and Middle Village beginning this summer. The DOT released a draft plan map last month that provides the location of the bike stations that it anticipates installing throughout the two neighborhoods. The map —… Read more »
March 17, 2022 By Allie Griffin Nearly a dozen council members, including three from Queens, along with scores of community-based groups are pushing back against cuts proposed by the mayor in the preliminary budget he introduced last month. The elected officials and groups said Mayor Eric Adams’ $98.5 billion budget cuts funding to important services… Read more »
March 15, 2022 By Allie Griffin A Chinese man whose mother died last month after she was brutally assaulted on a North Corona street has secured a visa to the U.S. that will allow him to attend his mom’s funeral. Congress Members Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both worked on the behalf of Yang Gao,… Read more »
March 15, 2022 By Allie Griffin Council Member Sandra Ung is calling on the Department of Transportation to improve signage along a busway in Flushing where she says motorists are unknowingly driving in the bus-only lanes and getting smacked with fines. Ung sent a letter to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez last week urging the department… Read more »
March 15, 2022 By Allie Griffin Congress Member Grace Meng has secured nearly $10 million in federal funding for local projects throughout Queens, she announced last week. Meng earmarked a total of $9,579,000 for 10 borough projects through a new government spending package the House passed Wednesday night. The legislation is expected to pass the… Read more »