Sept. 16, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Restaurants will soon be able to add a 10 percent service charge to the tab. The City Council voted Wednesday to approve legislation that would temporarily permit restaurants to add a “COVID-19 Recovery Charge” to customer checks. The legislation is expected to be signed by the mayor – which… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin The city will ramp up its sanitation efforts to keep streets trash-free after having cut the Department of Sanitation’s budget by $106 million. Residents have been complaining of overflowing trash bins since the Sanitation budget took a hit and the department’s commissioner Kathryn Garcia even resigned over the cuts…. Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Mayor Bill de Blasio and his entire office staff will take one week of unpaid leave in order to help tackle the city’s fiscal crisis amid the coronavirus shutdown. The mayor said that the mandatory furloughs – which will affect nearly 500 employees – will save the city nearly… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Queens civic group traveled to a developer’s Jamaica Estates home Sunday to protest a 17-story luxury tower he is building in Ridgewood. Members the Ridgewood Tenants Union, a local anti-gentrification and tenants right group, protested outside the upscale home of Meir Babaev, president of AB Capstone, at around… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Michael Dorgan The city will be spraying pesticides to keep the number of mosquitoes at bay in parts of western and central Queens on Thursday. The spraying will begin at around 8:30 p.m. and will continue until 6 a.m. Friday, according to the NYC Department of Health. The spraying will occur… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Christian Murray A Queens legislator will be introducing a bill before the city council Wednesday that calls for the decriminalization of jaywalking. Council Member Costa Constantinides, who is sponsoring the bill, said that black and Latinx New Yorkers are the ones most ticketed for jaywalking and the bill aims to end… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City launches a special multi-agency team to address COVID-19 cases at city schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. De Blasio unveiled the “DOE COVID Response Situation Room” that brings together the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Test & Trace Corps to create… Read more »
Sept. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Queens resident launched a petition Sunday to protect a Rego Park synagogue, a diner and a group of small businesses from the wrecking ball. A developer who owns the triangular lot at 98-81 Queens Blvd. that includes Ohr Natan Synagogue, the Tower Diner and several small businesses wants… Read more »
Sept. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin The public review process of the contentious Flushing waterfront rezoning project will resume Wednesday after it was postponed several months due to the pandemic. The City Planning Commission will host a virtual meeting on the Special Flushing Waterfront District project (SFWD) on Wednesday at 10 a.m. A consortium of… Read more »
Sept. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Forest Hills chocolate shop celebrated its 90th anniversary Sunday, which was made even sweeter after surviving the economic fallout of the pandemic. Aigner Chocolates, at 103-02 Metropolitan Ave., celebrated nine decades in business with local elected officials and neighbors Sunday afternoon. The shop opened in 1930 as Krauses… Read more »