Dec. 30, 2024 By Shane O’Brien A new arts initiative in Queens has appointed a prominent leader from the borough’s cultural scene as its first executive director. Susan Agin, formerly the executive and artistic director of the Queensborough Performing Arts Center in Bayside, has been named the executive director of the Queens Culture &…
Dec. 30, 2024 By Bill Parry The victim in a Queens cold case homicide has finally been identified more than three decades after her body was discovered in a grassy area along the Cross Island Expressway near Cambria Heights in August 1991, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Monday. Advanced DNA testing revealed the…
Dec. 30, 2024 By Athena Dawson A local toy drive brought holiday cheer to thousands of children in need in Northeast Queens and beyond. Assembly Member Edward Braunstein’s (D-26) annual holiday toy drive collected thousands of toys for children, teens, and young adults who were hospitalized or in need. Braunstein announced on Dec. 20…
Dec. 30, 2024 By Bill Parry A beloved Southeast Queens community leader was struck and killed by the driver of a yellow cab in a chain-reaction crash in South Ozone Park during the early morning hours of Saturday, Dec. 28. Vidya Dookran-Franco, 51, of Merrick, was picking up food to bring home to her…
Dec. 30, 2024 By Shane O’Brien Queens Council Member Sandra Ung partnered with a local nonprofit organization to provide relief to elderly victims of a benefits scam that left them without essential resources ahead of the holiday season. Ung partnered with the Met Council, a Jewish nonprofit organization dedicated to combating poverty, to deliver…
Dec. 27, 2024 By Ethan Marshall The real estate listing site StreetEasy presented a series of predictions that 2025 may have in store for the market in New York City in a report by StreetEasy Senior Economist Kenny Lee. Lee came up with five big predictions following a year in which housing costs reached…
Dec. 27, 2024 By Bill Parry A 21-year-old man was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Laurelton on Christmas Day. Police from the newly-opened 116th Precinct in Rosedale responded to a 911 call for a vehicle collision at Laurelton Parkway and Merrick Boulevard at 12:45 p.m. on Dec. 25. EMS responded to the location…
Dec. 27, 2024 By Shane O’Brien Eviction rates at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) properties under the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program decreased slightly in Queens in 2024, bucking a citywide trend that saw eviction rates spike significantly elsewhere in New York. A recent audit by NYC Comptroller Brad Lander found that…
Dec. 27, 2024 By Colum Motherway Council Member Robert Holden has commended ICE for their arrest of a child sex offender in New York City but also expressed his disappointment with sanctuary city policies. On Dec. 17, Raymond Rojas Basilio, a previously removed citizen of Mexico convicted of forcibly touching a child, was arrested…
Dec. 27, 2024 QNS News Team The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is making sustainability more accessible for city residents with new initiatives, including year-round Christmas tree collection and expanded special waste and textile recycling services in Queens. With the recent expansion of curbside composting, New Yorkers no longer need to adhere…