July 1, 2020 By Allie Griffin The City Council passed the mayor’s executive budget that included deep cuts to the NYPD last night, as protesters cried to “defund the NYPD” outside City Hall. The council passed the $88.1 billion budget with a 32-to-17 vote around midnight, just before the July 1, 2021 fiscal year began…. Read more »
June 30, 2020 By Allie Griffin Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a municipal budget deal that would cut NYPD funding by $1 billion and redistribute much of it to support youth services and public housing residents. The City Council will vote on the new $88.1 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2021 — which begins July… Read more »
June 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin More Queens streets will be shuttered to traffic as the city introduces another wave of the Open Streets initiative first announced in April. Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled an additional 23 miles today that will be open to pedestrians and cyclists through the course of the pandemic. The shuttered… Read more »
June 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin Travelers from states with a high rate of COVID-19 infection must quarantine for 14 days upon entering New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today. Cuomo made the announcement with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut via video in a joint press conference Wednesday. “We are announcing today a… Read more »
June 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin Council Member Donovan Richards has clinched an early lead in the race to be the next Queens Borough President — though the official winner won’t be announced for at least a week. Richards, the Queens Democratic party pick, had nearly 38 percent of the votes in the Democratic primary… Read more »
June 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin Alternate side parking rules will be cut to once per week across the entire city for a one-week pilot beginning Monday — in what could well become a permanent change. The city will cut street cleaning and alternate side parking rules to once a week on streets where they… Read more »
June 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Monday that her office has formed a violent crimes bureau to prosecute street gangs, drug traffickers and firearms dealers. The newly-created Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau combines the former Narcotics Investigations and Gang Violence bureaus. The unit focuses on identifying organized criminal activity in… Read more »
June 22, 2020 By Allie Griffin Playgrounds opened for New York City children today, but Big Apple pups will have to wait longer to play inside public dog runs. Playgrounds reopened today as the city entered Phase Two of the reopening plan, while other defined spaces inside city parks remain closed — including dog runs… Read more »
June 19, 2020 By Allie Griffin A Bayside resident was assaulted by an alleged bigot at a local 7-Eleven last week and the whole incident was caught on tape. Sungmin Kwon, a South Korean student at Queens College, was picking up snacks at the convenience store, located at 218-01 Northern Blvd., on June 13 when… Read more »
June 19, 2020 By Allie Griffin A street safety advocacy group is calling on the mayor to redistribute a portion of the NYPD budget to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and shift traffic enforcement away from police officers. Transportation Alternatives released a report Friday in which its members argue that police enforcement of traffic laws… Read more »