Queens News - Local News

  A heated campaign had urged attending physicians to reject the pending contract with the city Health + Hospitals system, citing staffing and pay.  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Claudia Irizarry Aponte Additional reporting by Jonathan Custodio NEW YORK - Attending physicians in ten of the city’s public hospitals system facilities voted to approve a new contract with Health + Hospitals and its affiliates, their union, Doctors Council SEIU, announced Monday, ending their protracted negotiations that culminated with the threat of a strike at several public hospitals earlier this month. But a majority of physicians at three other H+H facilities — Jacobi Medical Center, North Central Bronx Hospital and Harlem Hospital Center — rejected the deal and will go back into bargaining with the city and the private employers who provide the staffing.  The votes followed an organized systemwide opposition cam...

Mayor Eric Adams announces that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has removed more than 20,000 illegal firearms from New York City streets since the beginning of the administration. -Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. By Mayor Eric Adams  Community OpEd  January 27, 2025   NEW YORK - From the moment I was sworn in as your mayor three years ago, our primary mission has been to create safer streets, safer subways, and a safer city for New York families. That means tackling the issue of gun violence head-on and working to get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals before they can cause more harm.   The numbers are in, and I am proud to say that our administration made significant progress in getting guns off our streets and out of our communities. As of last week, we have confiscated more than 20,000 illegal firearms since we first took office. That is 20,000 weapons that no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhood...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivers his fourth State of the City address at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on January 9, 2025. -Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office By Mayor Eric Adams Community OpEd Queens Voice January 14, 2025   NEW YORK - Last week in Harlem, the neighborhood where generations of Black families have flourished, I reported to New Yorkers on the state of our city and outlined an ambitious agenda to make New York City the best place to raise a family.   When we came into office three years ago, COVID, crime, and chaos­­­­­­­ had thrown New York into uncertainty and pushed too many families away. I told you then that we would not just bring our city back; we’d make it better than ever.   That started with keeping families safe. We put thousands of new officers onto our streets, took nearly 20,000 illegal guns off them, and launched a $485 million action plan to prevent gun violence. These efforts have paid off, with...

As legitimate dollar van operators get priced out by high insurance rates, off-the-books competitors are taking their place.   This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez QUEENS - Even as licensed “dollar vans” all but vanish from city streets, unregulated commuter carriers remain obstacles to MTA buses in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The number of Taxi and Limousine Commission–affiliated commuter vans in service has shrunk by 93% since 2015, TLC data shows, with just 39 such vehicles still licensed to operate as of this week — down from 215 a decade ago. But MTA officials and union representatives for the agency’s bus operators say the official dollar van downturn has given way to a boom in unlicensed commuter vans that clog bus stops and bus lanes, further slowing buses that poke along at an average citywide speed of 8.1 mph. “You have to stop short of the bus stop or in the middle of the street, because the dollar vans are ever...

Mayor Eric Adams holds an in-person media availability. City Hall. Monday, December 9, 2024. -Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. By Mayor Eric Adams Queens Voice December 10, 2024   NEW YORK - Since day one, this administration has been committed to making New York City a safer, more affordable city. And we have fought to ensure that New Yorkers can pursue their dreams by improving quality of life.   New Yorkers have raised their concerns about public safety across the five boroughs — they asked for more cops on our streets and for us to address the issues that affect their livability. We listened and went to work. We have prioritized the safety issues that communities have raised with us and taken decisive action. We have hired 4,000 new cops this year alone and are taking on issues like illegal vending, retail theft, public substance use, the mental health crisis, scaffolding, and unlicensed cannabis shops. This week, we released our public ...