It’s In Queens! (Feb. 26 to March 4)

The beer-and-chocolate tasting should attract all Queens residents, but there’s more this upcoming week. Tea, squash pudding, carrot puffs, and other edible delights join forces with live theater, chamber music, and dance to create a jam-packed schedule.   Feb. 26, Beer & Chocolate, 7 pm. Alewife Brewing and Milene Jardine Chocolatier host a virtual beer-and-chocolate tasting. The pairings include Pilsner […]

2021-02-24 E-Edition

United Against Hate

Standing united with elected officials, community leaders, faith leaders and law enforcement, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards hosted a press conference Monday on the steps of Queens Borough Hall to “categorically condemn the troubling rise in bias crimes, especially against our Asian American and Jewish communities, both in recent weeks and over the past year,” Richards said. Below are some […]

Special Election: City Council District 31


A special election was held on Tuesday, February 23 for the District 31 City Council seat formerly held by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. The top contenders are Selvena Brooks-Powers, with 38 percent of the vote, as of late Tuesday night. Pesach Osina is close behind with approximately 35 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the city’s […]

I On Politics

CUOMO ANNOUNCES RAPID TEST PROGRAM TO HELP BUSINESSES: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the launch of the New York Forward Rapid Test Program to help businesses safely reopen. This unique public-private partnership – first announced in the Governor’s 2021 State of the State – will make low-cost rapid testing available to the public to support enhanced economic activity as the […]

In Loving Memory Of John Toscano


John Toscano and I first met when I was the local NYC Council member representing Astoria- LIC-Jackson Heights and then elevated to Speaker in the 1980s; serving until 2002. He not only was one of the most honest and decent gentleman I ever met, but worked in the infamous “Room 9,” representing the New York Daily News, together with the […]

AOC Goes To Texas Food Bank To Help Out

This past weekend, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined her colleagues, Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Al Green to fill food boxes at the Houston Food Bank, which was working to get 30,000 meal boxes out in the next TWO days. They also helped deliver water and visited the homes of impacted Texans. Ocasio Cortez said, “We’re blown away. Today […]

114th Community Council’s Future Meetings


Last year, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in New York City on March 1 and, by March 20, with over 4,000 confirmed cases in the City, a statewide lockdown was ordered by Governor Cuomo that went into effect on March 22. The 114th Precinct Community Council meets the fourth Tuesday of the month, famously at Riccardo’s by the […]

City Crime Stats Show Improvement


One month into the New Year, crime has dropped 21 percent for January 2021 compared with January 2020 with reductions in every major index crime with the exception of grand larceny auto (GLA). Led by a 32 percent reduction in grand larceny, there were also fewer murders in January 2021 compared to the previous year (25 v. 27) although shooting […]

Gradually Thawing Out—And Going Out

We are heading into March, and even if it “comes in like a lion” we’ll take it! February is heading out fast, actually it has flown by, at least it seems that way to us. Yes, we know it is the shortest month, but only by two days, yet it seems to have only lasted two weeks. Another wonderful sign […]