May 7, 2020 By Allie Griffin The public will be able to head to Long Island City to be tested for coronavirus antibodies free of charge next week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. The neighborhood is one of five initial testing sites across the five boroughs that will launch next week. The city aims… Read more »
May 6, 2020 By Allie Griffin A stretch of 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights will close to traffic–starting tomorrow–as part of the city’s open streets initiative spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly half a mile of 34th Avenue from 69th Street to 77th Street will close to traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m…. Read more »
May 6, 2020 By Allie Griffin City workers convinced 139 homeless New Yorkers sleeping in subway cars and stations last night to take refuge at city shelters. NYPD and MTA officers, along with outreach workers, found 242 homeless people in the subways and stations when trains were closed early this morning from 1 a.m. to… Read more »
May 6, 2020 By Allie Griffin Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that his office is forming several advisory councils to aid New York City’s reopening when the coronavirus pandemic recedes. The City is rolling out six councils on specific sectors of city life today with four more on the way in the coming days,… Read more »
May 6, 2020 By Allie Griffin The Queens District Attorney’s office, which opened a unit to investigate potential wrongful convictions in January, announced yesterday that it has reopened 10 such cases. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz established the Conviction Integrity Unit when she took office on January 1 — making good on one of her… Read more »
May 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin An otherwise healthy 8-year-old from Richmond Hill suffered heart failure and was placed on a ventilator in an intensive care unit last week— with coronavirus believed to be the culprit, according to a news report. Jayden Hardowar, who is now recovering and is expected to survive, first came down… Read more »
May 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin State Sen. John Liu is hosting a virtual town hall next Tuesday for parents, students and teachers about the impact of COVID-19 on New York City schools. Liu, chairperson of the Senate’s NYC Education Committee, will host the town hall with other members of the committee on Zoom and… Read more »
May 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin Two Bangladeshi women are back on the ballot in an upcoming Queens primary after a judge ruled against the Board of Elections’ (BOE) decision to remove them for technicalities last week. On Monday, Queens Supreme Court Judge Leonard Livote ordered Mary Jobaida, who hopes to unseat Cathy Nolan in… Read more »
May 4, 2020 By Allie Griffin The future of the $2.7 billion streetcar connecting western Queens to northwest Brooklyn remains uncertain, as the city now grapples with a massive budget hole brought on by COVID-19. The city had just begun the environmental review process for the streetcar project, dubbed the BQX, in February and March… Read more »
May 4, 2020 By Allie Griffin The city is making progress in its fight against the coronavirus with a number of key measures moving in the right direction. The mayor announced today that the three key indicators that will be used to determine when the city can reopen showed positive results. The number of new… Read more »