Community Corner

🏞$35mil QueensWay Project Announced + New Supportive Housing Building

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Queens.

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Good morning, Queens! ☀️

It's time to wake up, rub the crust out of your eyes, and get this Saturday started! Here are today's headlines:

  • 🌳 Queens is getting QueensWay -- its own version of Manhattan's High Line Park.
  • 🏠💪 A beautiful, new eight-story supportive housing building opened up in Jamaica. It's so nice, maybe the city should open more buildings just like it.......
  • 🤢👎 A former Queens deacon pleaded guilty to "enticing" teen boys. He gets 10 years in prison at a minimum.

📣 Our readers love to celebrate good news! You can now shout out your big announcement at the top of the Queens Daily newsletter. Whether it's a grand opening, new product for sale, birthday, anniversary, engagement, wedding or new baby, let everyone celebrate alongside you! Submit your announcement here.

🌞 Sun and areas of high clouds 🌁 High: 76 Low: 67.

Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. Mayor Adams announced yesterday that phase 1 of the QueensWay Metropolitan Hub project, a Queens version of Manhattan's High Line Park, would cost $35 million and transform five acres of city-owned land in Forest Hills into a greenway. The "Met Hub" phase of the project transforms a section of an abandoned Long Island Rail Road line in Forest Hills into much-needed open space that also serves as a safe path to walk or bike. Once complete, QueensWay will include a 47-acre park and seven miles of greenway from a converted unused railroad line. The project will cover the Queens neighborhoods of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Glendale, Forest Park, Woodhaven, and Ozone Park. Some residents, however, were hoping instead to get more transit options, as the the abandoned line — called the Rockaway branch — runs 3.5 miles between Howard Beach and Rego Park through one of the city's largest transit deserts.

New York Daily News ; Office of the Mayor


2. City and state officials helped cut the ribbon on Thursday at The Mieles, a new eight-story supportive housing building in the heart of Jamaica. The Transitional Services New York, Inc. (TSINY) will operate the new facility, which features 70 "deeply affordable" apartment units — 42 will go to New Yorkers struggling with homelessness, while the other 27 units will go to seniors who need a place to live. The building was named in honor of the generosity of the Miele family of Queens, who will provide tenants with a range of programs and services designed to support recovery and develop daily living skills. "When I first started working in mental health there was nothing like this, there were no homes like this," NYS Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan said. "The mentally ill who were discharged from the state hospitals were living in substandard housing and shelters all across the state. We've made tremendous steps to change that and this is one of the beautiful ones."

Queens Courier


3. A former Woodside Catholic church deacon pleaded guilty on Friday to three counts of enticing a child to engage in sexual conduct. From 2015 to 2021, Rogelio Vega, 52, used Kik, a messaging app marketed to teens, and Grindr, a dating app marketed to the LGBTQ people, to try to coerce and entice three male victims, ages 14 to 16, into meeting him for sex acts. Vega, of Maspeth, was arrested in Jan. 2021 in a sting operation in which he arranged a meeting with someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy but was actually an undercover detective. Vega will be sentenced in January, and faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.

New York Daily News


4. A Whitestone man was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on Thursday for his role in scheme to defraud members of Queens' Korean American community. Between October 2010 and December 2013, John Won, 53, and his co-defendant Tae Hung Kang, 57, induced victims into investing in foreign exchange trading accounts and in their company, called ForexNPower. According to prosecutors, ForexNPower had no successful trading method and their customer accounts suffered substantial losses. In addition to jail time, in 2021, Won was also ordered to pay $842,000 in restitution on counts including securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and substantive securities fraud. Kang, of Bayside, pleaded guilty to securities fraud conspiracy and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2021.

Queens Courier


5. The family of a comatose Queens man is desperately trying to get him home from the Dominican Republic after he suffered a medical emergency while on vacation. Melson Garcia, 29, has been in the hospital since Tuesday after being found gasping for air in his hotel room. He is now in a coma. Armando Ortiz, Garcia's brother, said the hospitals in the Dominican Republic do not accept Garcia's American health insurance, and that for a one-night hospital stay it is $7,000 out of pocket. The family has set up a GoFund Me to help pay his medical bills, and to raise money to fly Garcia back to the states, which may cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000, depending on his condition.

PIX11 News

🗞 Hankering for more headlines? 👀 Look no further:

  • 🚨🙏 Missing Queens boy 12-year-old Luis Osorio found, borough president says (CBS New York News)
  • Moped smashes into NYPD vehicle, bursts into flames in Queens pursuit (New York Post )
  • Teens nabbed subway surfing on Queens train: NYPD (New York Daily News)
  • Queens lawmaker introduces legislation to improve accessibility, expand employment opportunities for disability community across city agencies (Politics NY)
  • Cardi B pleads guilty to Queens strip club assault charges (Paper Magazine)

🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

  • Estuary Day Celebration (10 a.m.)
  • GrowNYC Stop 'N' Swap Community Reuse Event (12 p.m.)
  • Queens Public Library Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff Party (12 p.m.)
  • Hands on History: Furry Farm Friends! (1 p.m.)
  • Free Roller Skating In The Park (3 p.m.)
  • Queensboro Dance Festival Pop-up Performance (6 p.m.)
  • Rockaway Film Festival 2022 (6 p.m.)
  • Loud and Live Presents: Servando y Florentino (8 p.m.)
  • Chutzpah Caravan Ensemble Concert for the New Year (8:45 p.m.)


🗣 Queens Chatter:

  • Celebrate Hispanic Heritage + Mexican Independence at Queens Botanical Garden: "This Saturday, 9/17 at 12pm! Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day with a performance by Calpulli Mexican Dance Company @calpullimexicandance at the Garden! Join us for complementing activities: marigold planting to take home from 11am-1pm and a bilingual Garden Tour (English and Spanish) from 1 to 2pm. Included in admission (only $0-6, FREE for Members).
    Register: https://qbgcalpulli.eventbrite.com/?aff=socialmedia Anne Tan-Detchkov #MexicanIndependenceDay #MexicanCulture #MexicanDance #HispanicHeritageMonth #HispanicHeritage #PeoplePlantsCultures #QueensBotanicalGarden" (Queens Botanical Garden via Facebook)
  • QueensWay project brings greenspace to queens: "Phase 1 of QueensWay will bring much needed green space to Queens and is a great step forward for our borough. Of course, more needs to be done to improve transportation here. As part of that, the State needs to get the train moving on the QueensLink Environmental Impact Study.
    Big thanks to Lynn Schulman 舒曼琳 for her leadership in getting this project done, and thank you to the Trust for Public Land for its advocacy. Of course, thank you to Mayor Eric Adams for investing $35 million in this transformative addition of open space." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
  • Let's improve efficiency and productivity, shall we: "We are excited to be a part of this groundbreaking commission and look forward to contributing to future conversations with the various stakeholders taking part to ultimately increase efficiency and productivity at the Department of Buildings," - Tom Grech, president and CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce
    Read more about the steps Mayor Eric Adams is taking to improve customer service at the Department of Buildings with New York City Building Commissioner, Eric Ulrich" (Queens Chamber of Commerce via Facebook)
  • AmeriCorps at Queens Night Market: "This Saturday, stop by the AmeriCorps booth for a place to relax between bites. Plus, you can get some juice for your phone, and even earn some exclusive merch prizes during a trivia battle.
    Learn how national service makes a big difference for New Yorkers! Stop by to recharge and learn how AmeriCorps members #DoGood" (Queens Night Market via Facebook)


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You're officially in the loop for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Emma Radu Fighera

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Queens Daily? Contact me at queens@patch.com

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