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New Council bill would delay Local Law 97 penalties on thousands of condos and co-ops for a decade

Sep. 29, 2023 By Ben Brachfeld A new bill introduced in the City Council Thursday would relieve thousands of condo and co-op owners of penalties associated with Local Law 97, the landmark building emissions statute, for an additional decade if it becomes law. The legislation, Intro 1197, sponsored by Queens Democratic Council Members Linda Lee…

After losing primary race, George Grasso back on campaign trail in third-party bid for Queens district attorney

district attorney

Sep. 29, 2023 By Bill Parry The Breezy Point Republican who nearly shocked the Queens Democratic establishment in 2022, threw his support behind a third-party candidate for Queens District Attorney. Thomas Sullivan, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, who came within 15 votes of upsetting incumbent Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, eschewed the GOP candidate Michael Mossa of Howard Beach and endorsed retired Judge George Grasso in his bid to unseat Queens DA Melinda Katz in the Nov. 7 general election. “Our public safety crisis has now become a public health crisis. Our current politicians are responsible for a man-made…
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Glendale Kiwanis Club celebrates 70 years of community service

Glendale Kiwanis Club

Sep. 29, 2023 By Anthony Medina The Kiwanis Club of Glendale ventured a little ways beyond its usual stomping grounds for a momentous occasion on Sunday, Sept. 17. The Glendale Kiwanis Club traveled to the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury to celebrate President Bruce Kramer and its 70-year anniversary of serving hundreds of children…
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Queens council member voices outrage over inconvenient DOT road work

Road work

Sep. 28, 2023 By Anthony Medina The New York City Department of Transportation’s planned road work being conducted during the peak hours of the day is quickly becoming a nuisance to residents in the neighborhoods of Glendale,  Middle Village and Rego Park. According to a letter sent by Council Member Robert Holden on Tuesday, Sept. 26, the milling, repaving and pedestrian ramp construction during peak traffic hours in his district are causing more problems for early morning commuters. The DOT began the milling and paving process for multiple streets in the council member’s district earlier this month and posted the…
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Nominations open for FLAG Awards honoring top NYC teachers

Flag

Sep. 28, 2023 By Rachel Butler Nominations are now open for public school teachers in Queens for the FLAG Awards, which recognize teaching excellence in the borough and across New York City. The annual program, which is in its fifth year, is adding the new category of Top Elementary School Teacher in New York City,…
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Upstate man sentenced for killing girlfriend, stuffing body in car left in Springfield Gardens: DA

kill

Sep. 28, 2023 By Bill Parry An upstate man who admitted to killing the 26-year-old mother of his two children in 2020 before stuffing her body in a car he left abandoned in Springfield Gardens, was sentenced Thursday in Queens Supreme Court to 22 years in prison. Kareem Flake, 31, of Troy, N.Y., pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree in July for killing 26-year-old Destini Smothers in November 2020. Her remains were discovered four months later in the trunk of an abandoned car that belonged to Flake. According to the charges, Destini Smothers, 26, was last seen in…
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NYC Parks reopens Jamaica Playground to the community following $4.6 million reconstruction project

DSC_1596_092723 Jamaica

Sep. 28, 2023 By Bill Parry Speaker Adrienne Adams welcomed young students from P.S. 40 Samuel Huntington Elementary School to the reopening of Jamaica Playground after a $4.6 million reconstruction project and turned a ribbon-cutting ceremony into a teachable moment for the youngsters on Sept. 27. “For far too long, neighborhoods like ours have been…
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Queens Botanical Garden gets more than $1.4M in City Council funding

Queens

Sep. 28, 2023 By Rachel Butler Queens Council Member Sandra Ung and Speaker Adrienne Adams announced on Sept. 22 an allocation of over $1.4 million by the City Council to fund a new Welcome Gardens and a Sustainability Education Quad at Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing. The total funding allocation of $1.425 million will be…
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Police searching for pair of suspects in attempted burglary of Ridgewood home

Police

Sep. 28, 2023 By Anthony Medina Police are searching for two suspects in connection with the attempted burglary of a Ridgewood residence on Wednesday. Police from the 104th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a residential burglary in the vicinity of Gates Avenue and Cypress Avenue in Ridgewood at approximately 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27. The suspects forced their way into the residential building through the basement window and attempted to steal tools belonging to a 31-year-old man, police said. A female accomplice was seen waiting outside the building and acting as a lookout. Both suspects fled the…
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