🌱 Concerns Over Proposed Redistricting + Cabán Unveils Housing Agenda

Good morning, Queens!☀️

• South Asian community leaders are concerned that their electoral power in Southeast Queens could be diluted.
• Councilmember Tiffany Cabán unveils her housing agenda with a huge development in Queens.
• This month, after a years-long hiatus, free sickle cell testing returns to Queens!
• NYPD Special Ops had a whale of a good time while patroling Rockaway Beach recently.

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☀️ Mostly sunny and, I think you'll be happy to hear this, less humid. High: 80 Low: 65.

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Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. South Asian community leaders in Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park have expressed concern over a draft map released by the NYC Districting Commission that dilutes their electoral power across multiple districts. Under the proposed map,"the South Asian Indo-Caribbean community gets left out to dry," said Jerry Vatamala, director of the Democracy Program at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Under existing council maps, the population at issue is spread across three districts, (28, 32 and part of 29). The new proposal would divide the same population across five districts. The revised, and potentially final map, is scheduled to be released on Sept. 22, following a series of public hearings held throughout the city.

Gothamist

2. Councilmember Tiffany Cabán announced on Tuesday that she will vote in support of Astoria's three-tower Halletts North rezoning and proposed 1,340-apartment development project. Cabán's approval was not easily won, and comes after the socialist lawmaker expressed "significant concerns" earlier this summer about the waterfront development's affordability levels. After some negotiation, the developers ultimately won Cabán over by offering greater discounts on project's roughly 335 below-market-rate apartments, and by setting aside space for public waterfront access and local nonprofits. Also on Tuesday, Cabán unveiled her own 10-part framework for "a more affordable NYC."

Patch; Gotham Gazette

3. NYPD Special Ops officers had a ride-along they won't soon forgot while patrolling the waters off Rockaway Beach recently. Harbor members were treated to quite the spectacle when a whale swam up alongside their patrol boat, and majestically flipped its tail for the camera as one of the NYPD members aboard took photos, seen here in a tweet. As a result of ongoing conservations efforts, NYC whale sightings have become more frequent in recent years. Last month, Gotham Whales, a research group, spotting nine in just one day.

NBC New York

4. Following her son's death from sickle cell disease, Merlene Smith-Sotillo has made it her life mission to raise awareness about the disorder, which most commonly affects Black people. "He had four major organ failures," Smith-Sotillo said. "While he was on his deathbed he said there should be more testing for the disease." In 2007, Smith-Sotillo co-founded Jamaica's Sickle Cell Awareness Foundation, a not-for-profit organization promotes free testing for the disorder, and hosts community events. Among them is a Back-to-School Grab-and-Go event at Queens Baptist Church, 93-23 217 St. this Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Patch

5. NY State Senator Micheal Gianaris and NY State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, Brad Hoylman have led the call to consider a more diverse field of candidates to replace NY State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Janet DeFiore. After receiving the initial shortlist, the two State Senators from Queens joined 18 of their colleagues in urging the Judicial Commission to look beyond the ranks of career prosecutors and corporate lawyers and consider candidates with a "commitment to ensuring equity and justice for the most vulnerable New Yorkers".

QNS

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🗞 Hungry for more news? 🍴Snack on these headlines:

• Tornado warning jolts New Yorkers (The New York Times)
• 'Accessible luxury': New vintage art and fashion showroom opens in Astoria (Queens Courier)
• Queens councilwoman wants overdose drug at bars, restaurants, night clubs (New York Daily News)
• LaundryCares Offers Free Laundry and Literacy Day Events in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx (News Wise)
• Dutch Kills, Queens: Low-Key and Low-Slung, but Not for Much Longer (The New York Times)

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To Do Today in Queens:

• Antique Car Show (8 a.m.)
• Volunteer at 9 Million Reasons / Evangel Food Pantry (8:45 a.m.)
• Pomonok Community Farmer's Market (9 a.m.)
• YWCA Food Pantry (10 a.m.)
• Puppet Time Variety Show (2 p.m.)
• Introduction to QuickBooks Online: Queens Business Outreach Center (2 p.m.)
• Queens Botanical Garden Free Admission Wednesdays (3 p.m.)
• Shut Up and Write (6:15 p.m.)
• Comedy as Second Language (7 p.m.)
• Outdoor Fitness Class with Clann Health (7 p.m.)
• Bi-Weekly Hybrid Meditation Gathering (7:30 p.m.)

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🗣 Queens Chatter:

• 🚨REDISTRICTING TOWN HALL: "TOMORROW: Join our virtual Redistricting Town Hall at 6pm, where experts will talk about what the City Council redistricting process means, how it impacts you and how to make your voice heard throughout the process. RSVP at queensbp.org/..." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
• The art of the playground: I think of playgrounds as a primer of shapes and functions; simple, mysterious, and evocative; thus educational." – Isamu Noguchi
  This week Dakin Hart, senior curator of The Noguchi Museum, joined "City Lights" host Lois Reitzes (@wabecitylights) to discuss Piedmont Park, Isamu Noguchi's only realized playground in the United States. Recalling previously created models for his own variations on more traditional play equipment, this commission from the High Museum allowed Noguchi to harness his interest in applying playfulness to sculpture. "[Noguchi] said, 'Sculpture can be a vital part of our everyday lives if pushed into communal usefulness,' and he couldn't think of a better way to push into communal usefulness than to make something that kids could interact with." – Dakin Hart Learn more about Piedmont Park and Noguchi's playscapes in the audio piece on WABE Atlanta / NPR: https://www.wabe.org/in-piedmont-park-noguchis.../ __ Quote: Isamu Noguchi, 'Playscapes Pamphlet,' c. 1977. The Noguchi Museum Archives, MS_PROJ_046_040. Images: Isamu Noguchi, Playscapes, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Georgia, 1975–76. ©INFGM / ARS #piedmontpark #noguchiplayscapes #playscapes #isamunoguchi #playgrounds #noguchiplayground #wabecitylights #wabe #atlanta" (The Noguchi Museum via Facebook)
• 🇲🇽 🥳 Celebrate Mexican Independence at MoMI!: Join us for a Mexican Independence Day Celebration this Thursday, Sep 15, featuring music and dance performances, ceremonies, screenings, and tours. General admission is FREE (tours are $5). In the evening stay for a screening of Alonso Ruizpalacios's MUSEO, a museum-heist drama starring Gael Garciía Bernal (tickets are $12)! Learn more at movingimage.us/event/mexicanidad/ (Museum of the Moving Image via Facebook)
• Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the Queens Public Library!: #HispanicHeritageMonth starts on September 15. Join QPL for a richly diverse showcase of Latin American music and performance, as we recognize and honor the contributions of Hispanic communities and individuals to the life of our nation and our culture. https://queenslibrary.org/calendar?searchField=hispanic%20heritage&category=calendar&fromlink=after_cal&searchFilter=?utm_source=social&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=hispanicheritagemonthpromo2022(Queens Public Library via Facebook)

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More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• "A Common Goal" Film Screening (September 14)
• Paint it Forward - Paint and Sip Event in Support of Cheetah Conservation Fund (September 15)
• Its time to turn your passion into a paycheck (September 17)
• Walk for WORC Force (September 18)
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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Wednesday! I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow morning with a new update.

— Emma Radu Fighera

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