Sept. 17, 2020 By Christian Murray The School Construction Authority, which stopped work on building new schools when COVID-19 took hold in March, will be restarting work on P.S. 384Q in Long Island City, with a completion date of September 2021 still in tact. The SCA had put the construction of new schools across the… Read more »
Sept. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Northeast Queens Senator is leading a call to demand the city postpone schools reopening in-person classes on Monday. State Sen. John Liu, Chair of the Education Committee, penned a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio to defer in-person learning and instead focus on ensuring remote learning is fully… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin Council Member Robert Holden has secured funding to keep the commercial corridors of Ridgewood clean and litter-free. Holden has allocated discretionary funds toward a non-profit organization that is now in charge of keeping the sidewalks on select streets clean seven days a week. The non-profit employs homeless New Yorkers… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Christian Murray At the end of next year, 11 council members in Queens will be forced to step down due to term limits. Dozens of candidates have already come forward looking to replace them, and will be competing in next June’s Democratic primaries for those spots. In Queens, only four council… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Forest Hills block will close to traffic daily so restaurants in the area can expand their outdoor seating onto the roadway each day of the week. A stretch of 70th Road, between Austin Street and Queens Boulevard will be turned over to diners seven days a week —… Read more »
Sept. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin Staffers at 10 Queens public schools have tested positive for COVID-19 since teachers and administrators returned to schools across the city on Sept. 8. The 10 schools are among 56 citywide, where positive coronavirus cases have been confirmed, according to a list the Department of Education provided from Sept…. Read more »
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 A 59-year-old man is dead after he lost control of his electric scooter and crashed near the Astoria Houses NYCHA complex Tuesday. Angelo Gonzalez, an Astoria resident, was found unconscious by police–who were responding to a 911 call–on the roadway at Astoria Boulevard and 8th Street at around 4:45… 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 »