April 22, 2021 Op-Ed By Aleda Gagarin I worry now more than ever about my children growing up on an uninhabitable planet. The science is loud and clear that we need to act urgently. If I were in City Council now, during these final months of budget negotiations, I would fight to restore and expand… Read more »
April 14, 2021 Op-Ed By: Evie Hantzopoulos One year ago today, I grabbed a used surgical mask, latex gloves, a precious bottle of hand sanitizer, and my beat up Mazda to make my way to a local Astoria bakery that had been converted to an emergency food distribution site to support people who were ineligible… Read more »
April 14, 2021 By Ryan Songalia Congressman Tom Suozzi, who represents northeast Queens and parts of Long Island, says that he will not back President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan unless it contains a provision that would restore the full deductibility of state and local taxes—known as SALT. The cap, which was instituted as part of… Read more »
April 14, 2021 By Ryan Songalia For many Americans, the COVID-19 pandemic created a financial strain that is still being felt more than a year later. That sting has been felt more so by those who haven’t qualified for federal unemployment assistance or other pandemic benefits—primarily undocumented immigrants. That’s where Sunnyside Community Services has tried… Read more »
March 11, 2021 Op-Ed By: Julia Forman It’s no secret that in parts of Long Island City, our neighbors can’t flush their toilet during heavy rainfall. That’s because of a sewage system that was designed for the smaller population living here more than half a century’s worth of development ago. Why are we trying to… Read more »
Feb. 25, 2021 Op-Ed By: Leonardo Bullaro There has been a lot of recent news about reopening schools and returning to in-person instruction. We know that children learn best when they are engaged with their teachers and peers in a live setting. Even with “only” 30 percent of the city’s 1.1 million students able to… Read more »
Feb. 17, 2021 Op-Ed By: Heajin-Hailie Kim It was April, and our food pantry was stationed beneath the 46th street stop on the 7 line. A woman walked up to us, dressed in many layers against the chill, and asked for a jar of peanut butter. “Someone stole mine,” she said. Her voice had a… Read more »
Feb. 11, 2021 Op-Ed By Julie Won When COVID-19 hit and lockdown began, the lives of many New Yorkers moved online. Living rooms were turned into offices, meetings were held via teleconferencing, and children began attending classes on Zoom. For the 1 million New Yorkers without high-speed internet, however, things haven’t been so simple. With… Read more »
Feb. 6, 2021 By Tiffany Cabán New York City is facing an unconscionable health crisis. Twenty hospitals have closed over the last decade, most of them safety net institutions here in Queens that serve the un- or underinsured. Meanwhile, the City spends $12 billion more on incarceration and policing, than it does on care and… Read more »
Feb. 1, 2021 By Judy Zangwill, Executive Director, Sunnyside Community Services It has been almost a year since the pandemic first hit, changing our City in innumerable ways. Through it all, the one thing that has remained constant has been the community’s support. As the demand for our services increased, Sunnyside Community Services faced budget… Read more »