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 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 »
Sept. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City launches a special multi-agency team to address COVID-19 cases at city schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. De Blasio unveiled the “DOE COVID Response Situation Room” that brings together the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Test & Trace Corps to create… Read more »
Sept. 11, 2020 By Christian Murray The Ridgewood YMCA will be offering parents free childcare on days their kids have to do remote learning. The program, which will be open for 500 students in Queens, is being funded by a $500,000 donation by AT&T and WarnerMedia to the YMCA of Greater New York. The Ridgewood… Read more »
Sep. 10, 2020 By Michael Dorgan Dozens of small business owners in Queens have come together to call on the government to help them get through the economic crisis before they are forced to permanently close. The business owners appealed to city, state and federal officials for financial relief and other forms of assistance at… Read more »
Sept. 10, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City straphangers who refuse to wear a mask or face covering will soon face fines of $50, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday. NYPD and MTA officers can begin issuing fines to commuters who refuse to cover their mouth or nose onboard city subways, buses, Long Island Rail… Read more »
Sept. 10, 2020 By Allie Griffin The cost to rent an apartment in Queens has dropped by more than 5 percent from a year ago, according to a new report. The average amount paid to rent a studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartment was down across the board, compared to the same time last year, according… Read more »