March 10, 2022 By Allie Griffin The Department of Education is pushing ahead with its controversial new admissions process for the city’s top high schools — angering some Queens officials as a result. Schools Chancellor David Banks announced Wednesday that he has decided against any last-minute changes to the admissions process after suggesting last week… Read more »
March 8, 2022 By Allie Griffin A new music festival aimed at uplifting Black, Brown, Indigenous and Asian American Pacific Islander artists is coming to Queens this summer with ticket sales going live tomorrow. LetsGetFr.ee — a project of Afropunk festival founder Matthew Morgan — will enliven Flushing Meadows Corona Park with the music of… Read more »
March 8, 2022 By Allie Griffin Queens residents can donate supplies to Ukrainians under the daily threat of Russian violence without leaving the borough. Several Queens officials are collecting donations of medical supplies, food, clothes, toiletries and other necessities to send overseas to Ukrainian families as they face Russian forces or flee their homeland. Queens… Read more »
Feb, 24, 2022 By Allie Griffin A popular Manhattan barbeque restaurant will open its first Queens location in Forest Hills Friday. Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque will open at 108-22 Queens Blvd. tomorrow offering a full menu of slow-cooked meats, along with local beer tastings to celebrate its grand opening. The restaurant will focus on fast-casual barbeque… Read more »
Feb. 24, 2022 By Allie Griffin An affordable housing lottery has opened for 26 units in a new Glendale building — with rent starting below $1,000 a month. The apartments are located in a newly constructed five-story building located at 80-97 Cypress Ave. near Highland Park. The 26 units, a mix of studios, one-bedroom and… Read more »
Feb. 22, 2022 By Allie Griffin A Briarwood man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally stabbing his son-in-law in January 2019. Marco Ortiz, 48, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first-degree Tuesday morning as a Queens jury was in the process of deliberations. “As jurors decided his fate, the defendant opted to plead guilty… Read more »
Feb. 22, 2022 by Allie Griffin A Little Neck man and Marine Corps reservist — who was charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot — allegedly peddled hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to unvaccinated New Yorkers, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Jia Liu, 26, along with Long Island nurse Steven Rodriguez, 27, allegedly ran… Read more »
Feb. 22, 2022 By Allie Griffin Three protected bike lanes in Queens will be getting safety upgrades as part of an effort to better protect cyclists from cars throughout the city, the Department of Transportation announced Friday. Bike lanes in Long Island City, Astoria and Forest Hills will be among the first lanes in the… Read more »
Feb. 18, 2022 By Allie Griffin State Sen. John Liu and local Asian American groups are calling for increased state funding to support Asian New Yorkers who have increasingly been the target of violent—and even deadly—hate crimes. Liu wants the state to allocate $64.5 million to support community-based organizations that provide services for Asian New… Read more »
Feb 17, 2022 By Allie Griffin A pair of masked men on a moped allegedly swiped a woman’s Prada purse—as well as cash—in Rego Park shortly after midnight Saturday morning. The moped-driving duo sped up to the 31-year-old woman as she walked down Queens Boulevard near 63rd Avenue at around 12:05 a.m. They allegedly grabbed… Read more »