Sept. 18, 2020 By Allie Griffin Community compost and food scraps drop-off sites are back up and running in Queens after the sites were shuttered for months due to pandemic-related budget cuts. The sites were reopened after the city’s executive budget restored $2.8 million to community composting for Fiscal Year 2021 last minute, the Department… Read more »
Sept. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin The City Council passed a bill Wednesday that will require the city to explore the use of drones for building facade inspections. The bill, co-sponsored by Northeast Queens Council Member Paul Vallone, will require the Department of Buildings (DOB) to study the safety and feasibility of using drones to… Read more »
Sept. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin The start of in-person classes at the city’s public schools has been delayed yet again for the majority of students. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the reopening of most school buildings will be pushed back further — on a rolling basis — just four days before they were… 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 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 »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Michael Dorgan A 25-year-old man who fired at police officers responding to a domestic violence call in College Point Sunday has been charged with attempted murder, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office. Rodolfo Montero, who faces life in prison if convicted, allegedly attacked the mother of his child and then… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Northeast Queens council member is pushing for accountability from Con Edison after the company took a week to restore power to several Queens neighborhoods in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias last month. Council Member Paul Vallone introduced two resolutions at a City Council hearing on the company’s… Read more »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Christian Murray A Queens legislator will be introducing a bill before the city council Wednesday that calls for the decriminalization of jaywalking. Council Member Costa Constantinides, who is sponsoring the bill, said that black and Latinx New Yorkers are the ones most ticketed for jaywalking and the bill aims to end… Read more »