Sep. 25, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan The corner of 149th Street and 14th Avenue in Whitestone was ceremoniously co-named in honor of former police officer, and 9/11 hero, Thomas Gerald Brophy this past weekend. Brophy’s family was joined by local residents, Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, more than a dozen members of the Police Benevolent Association and…
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Sep. 25, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan With COVID-19 cases ticking back up in Queens and across the country, you can now order up to four more at-home rapid tests to be delivered to your door for free. The initiative builds upon the Biden administration’s four previous rounds of free tests distributions. So far the Administration…
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Sep. 25, 2023 By Rachel Butler The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) will be repaving Powells Cove Boulevard between 162nd Street and Totten Street in Whitestone later this month, according to state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky. The paving will begin in late September and run into October, according to Stavisky. Powells Cove Boulevard was previously…
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Sep. 25, 2023 By Bill Parry A Flushing-based pulmonologist will have to pay $1.3 million in restitution as part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Department after he over-billed nursing home residents for years, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced last week. The deal addresses allegations that Dr. Arun Arora violated the federal False Claims Act by billing Medicare for critical care services to residents of nursing homes in Queens when he provided only routine care, such as regular medical checkups. Critical care services involve imminent life-threatening deterioration of a patient’s condition and Medicare reimburses health care providers at…
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Sep. 25, 2023 By Bill Parry A Bland Houses resident was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly stabbing another Flushing man in the head during a bar fight on the night of Sunday, Sept. 24. Police from the 109th Precinct responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress in front of Kelly’s Bar at 136-11 41st St. in downtown Flushing just before 10 p.m., when they found 45-year-old Elliot Ortiz unconscious and unresponsive with a stab wound to his head lying in front of the saloon. EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed Ortiz to NewYork-Presbyterian…
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Sep. 22, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan Queens’ first ever Climate Expo, sponsored by Borough President Donovan Richards, launched on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at Queens Borough Hall as one of the many events scheduled for Climate Week NYC. Over a dozen environmental organizations set up tables across the Helen Marshall Cultural Center’s atrium in Kew Gardens to share resources, spread environmental surveys and promote climate-related job opportunities – all with the goal of taking action to address the effects of climate change. The expo was centered around an expert-led panel on Local Law 97, a law passed in 2019 with the…
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Sep. 22, 2023 By Rachel Butler A winning lottery ticket worth more than $35,000 was sold at a discount store in Flushing. The New York Lottery confirmed that the top-prize winning ticket was sold for the Take 5 Evening draw which took place on September 21. The ticket was sold at Union 99 Cent & Up Inc., located at 28-12 Union St. in Flushing. The prize-winning ticket is worth $35,175. Take 5 numbers are drawn from a field of one through 39. The drawing is televised twice daily at 2:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The winner of this prize amount has…
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Sep. 21, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan The United States Department of Education featured six schools across Queens in their annual Blue Ribbon Schools Program designation report that was released on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Across the nation, 353 schools were recognized as a Blue Ribbon school this year based on academic metrics such as performance and progress made to close achievement gaps on assessments. In New York, 22 schools were selected. Bayside’s P.S. 205 Alexander Graham Bell and two schools in Flushing – P.S. 242 LP Stavisky Early Childhood School and P.S. 244 The Active Learning Elementary School (TALES) – were…
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Sep. 20, 2023 By Ethan Marshall New York Junior Tennis and Learning (NYJTL) is bringing its ACES afterschool program to eight schools across Queens during the Fall 2023-24 school year. The program provides students with the opportunity to play tennis for free, as well as academic, enrichment and mental health services. The eight schools in…
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Sep. 19, 2023 By Ethan Marshall The NYPD’s crime stats for northern and southern Queens precincts spanning Sept. 11 to Sept. 17 reveal that the number of burglaries throughout the borough has dropped, while felony assault cases increased. One thing that remained completely the same compared to last year was the fact that there wasn’t a single murder case across any of the precincts in northern and southern Queens. There wasn’t much of a drastic change in rape cases. Northern Queens saw the cases shrink from seven last year to four this year. After reporting just one case across each…
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