Dec. 30, 2020 By Christian Murray The mayor announced Tuesday that the city is extending a pilot program that allows storefront owners to sell goods on the sidewalk. The initiative, dubbed the Open Storefronts program, was launched at the end of October and will now be in operation until Sept. 30, 2021. The program is… Read more »
Dec. 29, 2020 By Christian Murray The Department of Transportation constructed 28.6 miles of protected bicycle lanes across the city in 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. The mayor said 2020 was a record year in terms of mileage, outdoing 2017 when 24.9 miles of protected bicycle lanes were built. The borough of Queens… Read more »
Dec. 28, 2020 By Christian Murray The New York State legislature is set to pass a bill Monday that would block the eviction of struggling New Yorkers until May 1. Elected officials are convening a special session to pass the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act that aims to help residents remain in their… Read more »
Dec. 23, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Mad For Chicken, the Korean-style chicken chain, is opening a restaurant in Forest Hills next month. The new restaurant, which will be located at 71-37 Austin St., will be the company’s fifth venue, with three currently in Queens and another in Brooklyn. Given COVID-19 restrictions, the new eatery will… Read more »
Dec. 22, 2020 By Allie Griffin Members of the Whitestone Republican Club ditched masks and social distancing rules at an indoor holiday party earlier this month, video shows. Party-goers — including Northeast Queens City Council candidate Vickie Palladino — flouted COVID-19 rules when they formed a 15-person conga line at the holiday party on Dec…. Read more »
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters Dec 18, 2020, Christina Veiga, Chalkbeat New York The coronavirus pandemic will force major changes in the ways students are admitted to New York City’s competitive middle and high schools this year, the education department announced… Read more »
Dec. 14, 2020 By Christian Murray An ICU nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center Queens became the first American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine Monday. Sandra Lindsay, a critical case nurse, received the shot just after 9 a.m., one day after Pfizer’s vaccine began being shipped across the country. The shot, the first in… Read more »
By Rachel Holiday Smith and Reuven Blau, THE CITY This story was originally published on 8/12/20 by THE CITY The city’s latest funding plan strips more than $500 million from construction of four new jails — with a building timeline that could extend two years past Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pledge to shut Rikers Island… Read more »
Dec. 10, 2020 By Christian Murray Approximately 10 candidates have announced plans to run in the Democratic primary next June for the 29th District Council seat that is currently held by Karen Koslowitz. Late last month, we spoke to Doug Shapiro, one of the candidates vying for the seat that covers Richmond Hill, Kew Gardens,… Read more »
Dec. 9, 2020 By Christian Murray The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in New York City by next week and Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that a total of 72,000 doses are coming to the five boroughs. Cuomo announced that the doses “could arrive as early as this weekend”—with nursing… Read more »