June 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien Astoria‘s Tootles & French will host a variety of events over the next week to celebrate Pride month, including drag brunches, drag bingo and happy hour. The popular restaurant and wine bar, located at 36-15 Ditmars Blvd., will also host Pride-inspired Musical Theater Open Mic nights hosted by popular… Read more »
June 19, 2025 By Shane O’Brien Community Boards 1 and 2 have both voted to support the city’s OneLIC Neighborhood Plan—with conditions— and described the vote as a “hard-fought endorsement of a more equitable Long Island City.” Community Board 2 passed a non-binding resolution on Wednesday night with a 37-7 vote in favor of the… Read more »
June 18, 2025 By Shane O’Brien Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams joined community leaders in Astoria this week to reaffirm the City Council’s support for the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens (VBGCQ), as the organization prepares to break ground on a new state-of-the-art clubhouse this December. Adams stood alongside VBGCQ CEO… Read more »
June 17, 2025 By Shane O’Brien City officials and community leaders gathered Tuesday morning to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Baseline, a long-anticipated public open space located beneath the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City’s Court Square. Council Member Julie Won, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Adolfo Carrión Jr., Queens Borough Commissioner… Read more »
June 17, 2025 By Shane O’Brien A group of Queens and Brooklyn lawmakers is calling on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to temporarily suspend operations at Green Asphalt, an asphalt plant in Blissville, until the company addresses alleged air pollution affecting nearby neighborhoods. Green Asphalt, located at 37-98 Railroad Ave., uses… Read more »
June 16, 2025 By Shane O’Brien Hundreds of people visited Culture Lab LIC Saturday for the fourth-annual Queens Irish Heritage Festival, celebrating Irish music and culture as well as the importance of diversity in Long Island City. The event, co-presented by the New York Irish Center and the McManus Irish Dance, featured five hours of… Read more »
June 13, 2025 By Shane O’Brien State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas and Council Member Tiffany Cabán issued a joint statement voicing strong support for the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) proposed redesign of 31st Street in Astoria, which includes the installation of eight-foot-wide protected bike lanes beneath the elevated N/W subway tracks. In… Read more »
June 13, 2025 By Shane O’Brien The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop Parcel E at Hunters Point South on the Long Island City waterfront, including plans for hundreds of mixed-income units, community space and at least one 100% affordable housing development. Parcel E,… Read more »
June 11, 2025 By Shane O’Brien Tenants in a Sunnyside apartment building say they’re being harassed, intimidated, and even threatened with deportation simply for requesting basic repairs—sparking a rally on Saturday led by Assembly Member Claire Valdez, Woodside on the Move (WOTM), and the Met Council on Housing to demand accountability and tenant protections. The… Read more »
June 10, 2025 By Shane O’Brien Several elected officials and community members have condemned a text blast circulated ahead of last month’s OneLIC neighborhood plan hearing, calling it antisemitic for describing the proposal as “Zionist capital at work.” The text blast, which was distributed in advance of a joint Community Board 1 and 2 hearing… Read more »