This Sunday, May 19, the city is conducting walking tours of the newly opened Arverne East Nature Preserve in the Rockaways to showcase the 35-acre beachfront jewel developed on a formerly vacant illegal dumping ground on Beach 44th Street in Edgemere.
The tours, hosted by the Department of City Planning (DCP), NYC Parks, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), will allow participants to explore the preserve’s diverse ecosystem. The large preserve is a component of the upcoming Arverne East housing development, which, when completed, will be one of the most environmentally conscious developments in the United States, achieving net zero and eliminating the need for fossil fuels on-site.
A rally was held at the Queens Public Library at Forest Hills on May 16, during which Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott, union reps and library advocates called on Mayor Eric Adams to reverse the proposed $58.3 million budget cuts to the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), and the Queens Public Library (QBL) for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins on July 1, 2024.
Religious and independent schools throughout the city will soon receive additional funding for school safety equipment, thanks to Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi and State Senator Michael Gianaris, who, after extensive advocacy efforts, successfully secured $70 million from the New York State Budget for 2024-25 for Non-Public School Safety Equipment (NPSE) grants.
Queens lawmakers are calling on the MTA to expand express bus service in the borough after it was excluded from a recently announced pilot program focused on Brooklyn and Staten Island.
On the two-year anniversary of a racially motivated mass shooting that killed ten people in Buffalo, Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng reintroduced legislation to ban the body armor worn by the shooter.
A $2.7 million settlement was reached for prevailing wage violations involving 332 temporary office workers at hospitals and medical centers contracted by NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation and the staffing provider, Winston Support Services, LLC.
The Rockaway Bazaar has reopened for the season at Beach 97th, located at 97-01 Shore Front Pkwy. in Rockaway Beach, inviting families and food lovers to experience the best culinary delights the Rockaways have to offer.