Queens News - Local News

New York City Mayor Eric Adams swears in Jessica Tisch as the next commissioner of the New York City Police Department at One Police Plaza on Monday, November 25, 2024. -Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office By Mayor Eric Adams Community OpEd Queens Voice November 26, 2024   NEW YORK - From day one, we have put New Yorkers first, working to make this city safer, more affordable, and more livable.  Thanks to our strong fiscal management — including saving nearly $900 million in taxpayer dollars over just two fiscal years, last week, we were able to deliver the November 2024 Financial Plan Update that invests in public safety, the programs and benefits that New Yorkers rely on, and improves quality of life for our city’s 8.3 million residents. Because we made smart and tough budget decisions early on, we are able to continue investing in working-class New Yorkers and their families. And we are stepping up to fund critical programs that h...

  Here’s a guide to the policies that together define a “sanctuary city” — and what that could mean during a potential mass deportation effort. This article originally appeared in The City. By  Gwynne Hogan ,  Rachel Holliday Smith , and  Rachel Kahn NEW YORK - Throughout the election, Donald Trump promised to enact an unprecedented campaign of mass deportations , saying he wants to remove “as many as 20 million” people from the United States during his second administration. A trio of early personnel choices — Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Tom Homan as “border czar” — indicate that the incoming president is very serious about following through with his pledge. In New York, advocates have called for Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to institute policies that protect immigrants within New York’s borders before T...

  The only subway line out of the peninsula is scheduled for a 17-week shutdown for post-Sandy rehab — and riders are extremely vexed about it. This article originally appeared in The City. By  Haidee Chu QUEENS - Cheryl Motley, 62, rises at around 5 a.m. every weekday to make her two-hour commute from Far Rockaway, Queens to her office in Brooklyn on the A then R train. Come the new year, though, she will have to wake up even earlier as an upcoming service outage to the A train is set to shake up her routine. Starting in mid-January, service for the A train will end at Howard Beach for 17 weeks until May — disconnecting over 9,000 daily commuters on Broad Channel and the entire Rockaway peninsula from the only subway service that carries them to the mainland.  “Oh my god, it’s devastating,” Motley, a 30-year Rockaway resident, told THE CITY while riding the Rockaway-bound A train home from work during rush hour Thursday. She recalled when Superstorm Sandy cut off trai...

New Video of Suspected Gunman The NYPD is searching for this man in connection with a shooting outside Queens Family Court. -Photo by NYPD By Dan Gesslein  Queens Voice  November 13, 2024  QUEENS - Cops are looking for a gunman who opened fire near Queens Family Court last week. One person was injured.  At around 3:30 pm on November 7, an 18-year-old male was standing in the vicinity of Archer Avenue and 153 Street in Jamaica. Cops said an unknown male pulled out a handgun and opened fire. One bullet struck the victim in the left shoulder. It is unknown at this time who was the intended target.  EMS transported the victim to Jamaica Hospital.  Investigators have found street surveillance video of the suspected gunman. He is described as a male with a dark complexion and short hair and is between the ages of 18 and 25. He was last seen wearing a gray windbreaker with a blue hood.  Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call ...

  The aims of the bills, which include curbing illegal evictions and keeping tenants safe during heatwaves, were broadly supported by those testifying — but implementation challenges lingered. This article originally appeared in The City. By  Rachel Kahn NEW YORK - The City Council took one step closer to expanding protections for tenants against illegal evictions and mandating that all tenant-occupied buildings have access to cooling during the summer. In a committee hearing, council members heard testimony on a slate of bills addressing the issues. Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who is the primary sponsor of the air conditioning bill, acknowledged that the bills were “bold” but maintained that they were necessary — especially because extreme temperatures are the “number one climate killer.” “It’s not wildfire, or hurricanes, or tornadoes,” he said. “It’s heat.” Though currently city landlords are required to provide heat in residential buildings during “heat season...

DOT Announces Completion of Boulevard Redesign   Queens Voice  November 12, 2024 NEW YORK  – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the completion of the sixth and final phase of the city’s transformative, Vision Zero redesign of Queens Boulevard, once known as the “Boulevard of Death.”  The project, which began in 2015, has already resulted in a dramatic decline in traffic deaths and injuries. The final section, between Skillman and Roosevelt Avenues, includes parking-protected curbside bike lanes to enhance cyclist safety; pedestrian islands to shorten crossing distances while encouraging slower, safer turns; and additional adjustments to traffic signal timing to allow more time for pedestrian crossings before lights turn green.    The redesign has brought safety enhancements along the entire length of Queens Boulevard, transforming this Vision Zero Priority Corridor into a multi-modal boulevard f...