June 22, 2020 Staff Report New York City entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan today. Restaurants, barbershops, retail stores and offices are all able to reopen, although subject to restrictions. Up to 300,000 more people are expected to return to work starting today. This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands who were… Read more »
June 18, 2020 By Christian Murray Two resolutions were introduced before the city council Thursday calling for the governor to remove Mayor Bill de Blasio from office. Council Member Eric Ulrich, a Queens Republican, introduced a resolution seeking the mayor’s ouster for allegedly not keeping the city safe during recent protests. Meanwhile, Carlos Menchaca, a… Read more »
June 18, 2020 By Christian Murray New York State faces a $14 billion deficit and more than 100 state legislators—including 18 from Queens—have pledged that they will not approve spending cuts unless taxes are raised on the wealthy. The legislators are upset that Governor Andrew Cuomo does not want to raise taxes on the wealthy… Read more »
June 18, 2020 By Christian Murray Dao Yin, a Bayside businessman and community activist, is running to be the next Queens Borough President. We spoke to Yin earlier this week. The focus of our discussion dealt with police reform, Rikers Island, COVID-19, community boards and jobs. Yin is one of several candidates in the race…. Read more »
June 18, 2020 By Christian Murray The New York City Rent Guidelines Board voted last night for a rent freeze on the nearly one million rent stabilized apartments. The 6-3 vote will see a rent freeze on one-year leases that go into effect after Sept. 30. The board ruled that on two-year leases, the rent… Read more »
June 17, 2020 By Christian Murray A man was found dead inside a parked vehicle by the Horace Harding Expressway in Flushing this morning. Police received a 911 call at around 7:30 a.m. that there was an unconscious man inside a parked car in the vicinity of the west bound Horace Harding Expressway service road… Read more »
June 14, 2020 By Christian Murray Former Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who represented the 30th district in western Queens from 2009-2017, is running to be the next Queens Borough President. We spoke to Crowley last week. The focus of the discussion dealt with police reform, COVID-19, community boards and jobs. Crowley is one of several… Read more »
June 9, 2020 By Christian Murray A street in Queens is going to be co-named and painted to commemorate the Black Lives Matter movement, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. The mayor said that a street in each borough will be co-named after the movement and the city will work with community activists to paint… Read more »
June 8, 2020 By Christian Murray Burglars have not been quarantining in many parts of northern Queens in recent months. The number of burglaries in many precincts in Queens North has undergone a significant spike this year, according to NYPD data. Reported burglaries from Jan. 1 through May 31 have jumped 46 percent compared to… Read more »
June 3, 2020 By Christian Murray Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has established a new bureau tasked with investigating and prosecuting predatory lenders, housing scammers and contractors who fail to pay their employees prevailing wage. The new unit, called the Housing and Worker Protection Bureau, will work with other agencies to prosecute con artists and… Read more »