Nov. 2, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Brooklyn man will serve prison time after he drove drunk and crashed into another car — seriously injuring the driver and killing a passenger and two dogs in that vehicle— along the Van Wyck Expressway in 2018, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday. Alex Elicier, 31, was… Read more »
Oct. 30, 2020 By Allie Griffin State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who represents western Queens, introduced legislation today to almost double the number of early voting sites in the state. The bill comes after an analysis of early voting sites in New York City found the number of registered voters assigned to an early voting site… Read more »
Oct. 30, 2020 By Allie Griffin The owner of the historic Neir’s Tavern signed a five-year lease Thursday, securing its place for years to come after the 191-year-old bar nearly shuttered in January. Owner Loycent Gordon signed the five-year lease agreement for the establishment at 87-48 78th St. with landlords Ken and Henry Shi. The… Read more »
Oct. 29, 2020 By Allie Griffin The New York City Parks Department and the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced an initiative Thursday to study and create new connections to existing parks through bicycle and pedestrian corridors known as “greenways.” The two agencies plan to improve existing greenways and create new ones to better establish a… Read more »
Oct. 29, 2020 By Allie Griffin The New York City Police Department appointed its first female Chief of Patrol Thursday — Juanita Holmes, who has a long history of policing in Queens. Holmes, the highest-ranking African American woman in NYPD history, has more than 30 years of experience with the department, including several stints in… Read more »
Oct. 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin Small business owners will soon be able to expand their storefront onto the sidewalk as part of a new Open Storefronts initiative the City will launch on Friday. Retail shops will be able to sell their wares on sidewalks in front of their storefronts from Oct. 30 through Dec…. Read more »
Oct. 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City public school families will have just one chance to opt into in-person classes for the rest of the school year — beginning next week. Families who had opted into fully-remote classes, but now want to switch back to the city’s blended learning model — in which… Read more »
Oct. 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin Dozens of schools in Queens reopened today after they were shuttered for more than two weeks due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the areas where they are located. Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered schools in red and orange COVID-19 zones to close earlier this month, but on Wednesday… Read more »
Oct. 21, 2020 By Allie Griffin Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that COVID-19 restrictions in two Queens coronavirus hotspots will be eased as infection rates have come down. The Central Queens and Far Rockaway red and orange zones have been downgraded to yellow zones — in which nonessential businesses and schools are permitted to reopen…. Read more »
Oct. 21, 2020 By Allie Griffin Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the statewide moratorium on commercial evictions and foreclosures from Oct. 20 through to the end of the year. He signed an executive order extending it Tuesday — the same day the emergency moratorium was set to expire. Cuomo first announced a state moratorium on… Read more »