July 19, 2021 By Allie Griffin New cases of COVID-19 are on the rise across Queens and citywide as the Delta variant spreads across the boroughs. The average daily number of cases in Queens more than doubled in the past two weeks — it was 122 on July 15, compared to just 57 on July… Read more »
July 19, 2021 By Allie Griffin Police have nabbed a man who attempted to kidnap a 5-year-old boy off a street in Richmond Hill last week. Police arrested 24-year-old James McGonagle of Pomonok a day after he brazenly grabbed the boy and threw him into his car. The NYPD released a video of the incident… Read more »
July 19, 2021 By Allie Griffin Two statues that have stood outside a Catholic Church in Forest Hills since it opened in the 1930s were toppled and smashed early Saturday in what police are investigating as a hate crime. A woman knocked down the statues that stood outside Our Lady of Mercy parish, located at… Read more »
July 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin Nearly 30 couples will say “I do” in a joint wedding celebration at a Corona parish Saturday. Twenty-eight love birds will be wed at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church during a special “United Weddings” ceremony at noon. The ceremony is meant to be a celebration of love… Read more »
July 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin Elizabeth Crowley conceded in the Queens borough president race Friday after finishing behind incumbent Borough President Donovan Richards by less than one percentage point. Crowley announced she was conceding after the Board of Elections (BOE) counted the final absentee and affidavit ballots Thursday. “With the BOE opening and counting… Read more »
July 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin Overdose deaths in Queens surged at an alarming rate during the pandemic, the Queens District Attorney revealed in a report Friday. Nearly 50 percent more Queens residents died of a fatal overdose in 2020 compared to 2019 — in a devastating shift that mirrors a nation-wide trend. “There is… Read more »
July 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin Mayor Bill de Blasio called on state officials Thursday to enact congestion pricing by next year. He urged the MTA to put its long-delayed plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street in place by July 2022. “It’s time for the state to get in gear, get congestion… Read more »
July 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin Advocates who are calling for a north-south subway line in central Queens say the proposal is more feasible than what the MTA estimates. A new report commissioned by supporters of the proposal, dubbed the QueensLink Corridor, found that the project would be billions of dollars less than what the… Read more »
July 14, 2021 By Allie Griffin More than 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to reopen a case in which a Black man was convicted for the murder of a woman in Howard Beach. The petition-signers believe that Chanel Lewis who was found guilty of the 2016 murder… Read more »
July 14, 2021 By Allie Griffin The number of council women of color representing Queens will more than quadruple next year as the New York City Council is on a path to be the most diverse class yet. Women of color will likely hold as many as nine out of the 15 Queens council seats… Read more »