Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Tests Positive for COVID-19

Aug. 29, 2025 By Jessica Militello

On a quiet street in Sunnyside, Bistro Punta Sal has its French doors wide open, letting the late August breeze emanate throughout the space, which is ornate with flowers, paintings and an array of tables and chairs for intimate dinners with friends or a romantic date night. The cozy restaurant, located at 45-51 46th St., is a hidden gem in the neighborhood that is just waiting to be discovered, as the sights and aromas of the restaurant invite guests in. 

Aug. 29, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

With the onset of fall, attention in Sunnyside turns to the annual Taste of Sunnyside restaurant and bar crawl, which returns for a 15th year in October.

Aug. 29, 2025 By Jessica Militello

September is ripe for Astoria’s inaugural Fig Festival, starting with a week of fun events and happenings at local restaurants to celebrate the occasion.

Nine firefighters were injured, two of them seriously, and two civilians sustained minor injuries during a two-alarm house fire in South Richmond Hill on Friday morning, but it could have been worse if not for the actions of an off-duty veteran EMT.

Paramedic Craig Biscuiti was driving to work when he noticed a column of thick black smoke and heavy flames coming from the first floor of a two-story home at 95-36 111th St. just before 7:10 a.m.

Aug. 29, 2025 By Ethan Marshall

Builders have filed permits to expand a 2-story Astoria building in order to accommodate 10 housing units.

An Astoria doctor was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Thursday in Queens Supreme Court for raping unconscious acquaintances and sexually abusing hospital patients.

Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng, 35, of Broadway, pleaded guilty on June 30 to four counts of rape in the first degree and three counts of sexual abuse in the first degree in satisfaction of the consolidated indictments against him. He additionally entered an Alford plea to one count of sexual abuse. The defendant — a former gastroenterologist at New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital — recorded the abuse of his unconscious victims with his cell phone in both his Astoria apartment and at the hospital.

Aug. 29, 2025 By Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

Last fall, Lamis Fawaz was riding the subway when she looked up and saw an eye-catching ad for CUNY. “I thought, ‘I’m going there!’”

Aug. 29, 2025 By Athena Dawson

Hundreds of Queens families gathered at Cunningham Park in Fresh Meadows for a celebration to close out the summer. 

A Brooklyn man was charged with animal cruelty, menacing, and other related crimes after he allegedly wrapped duct tape around the mouth, eye and legs of a pit bull at Gwen Ifill Park in Locust Manor, as well as keeping that dog and four others in unsanitary conditions in the back of a van.

Kristopher Fyffe, 38, of East 83rd Street in Canarsie, was arraigned on Monday night in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging him with overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals/failure to provide sustenance; two counts of menacing in the second degree; five counts of failure to provide proper food and drink to impounded animal; two counts of harassment in the second degree; and registration of motor vehicles/fees/renewals.

Aug. 28, 2025 By Athena Dawson

The Health Department will spray pesticides in parts of western and southern Queens to reduce the risk of the mosquito-carried West Nile Virus.