Community Corner

🚦Innovation QNS Megaproject Gets Green Light + Rikers Violence Report

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

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(Patch Media)

Good morning, Queens! 😌

  • 🏙 Following years of intense negotiations, a new neighborhood will be built in Astoria after the City Council on Tuesday approved the Innovation QNS rezoning proposal.
  • 📂 A U.S. District Court Judge ordered Monday that city's Department of Corrections submit a report next year disclosing data related to violence on Rikers Island and said the information would remain confidential.
  • 💜 Mayor Eric Adams signed a bill Tuesday for legislation aimed at supporting survivors of domestic violence.

☀️☀️ Plenty of sunshine. High: 54 Low: 38.

Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. Following years of negotiations, a new neighborhood will be built in Astoria after the City Council on Tuesday approved the Innovation QNS rezoning proposal, allowing for the five-block development to be built. The megaproject will include 3,190 apartments, plus a movie theater, grocery store, shops, arts space, and more all spread across a dozen new buildings in the low-rise, industrial area between 37th Street and Northern Boulevard, north of 36th Avenue. The addition of 300 affordable homes — for a total of 1,436 affordable units, about 45% of the apartments — was secured during last-minute negotiations by Council Member Julie Won, who had fiercely opposed the development until now. "We will no longer, in my district, allow luxury development to outpace the development of affordable units," Won said Tuesday, before the vote. Construction on the project is expected to last about 10 years, according to the developers, who have yet to specify when work will begin.

The New York Times ; The Real Deal ; Patch

2. U.S. District Court Judge Laura Swain ruled Monday that city's Department of Corrections submit a report next year disclosing data related to violence on Rikers Island and said the information would remain confidential. Swain's ruling comes after a group of public defenders demanded the city make public incidents of violence in the jail complex. However, the facility's court-appointed monitor, Steve J. Martin, requested the document remain private to "avoid misinterpretation or the dissemination of incomplete or confusing information." The report is scheduled to be completed by Feb. 13, and will include the number of officers who are on sick leave and data on violent incidents against staff members and incarcerated people.

Patch

3. Mayor Eric Adams signed a bill Tuesday for legislation aimed at supporting survivors of domestic violence, but would not immediately commit to the amount of funding that Queens City Council Member Tiffany Cabán is seeking for a new program. The program would work to offers micro-grants to survivors of domestic violence that can be put towards paying for housing, medical and legal expenses. "This first in the nation piece of legislation, put forth by a city," Cabán said. "This grant program, this low-barrier, life-saving and urgently accessible grant program will directly address one of the most significant barriers survivors face in leaving dangerous situations." Cabán estimated that the city would have to provide a minimum in $3 million in funding for the program to be successful, however Adams said there will be negotiations between his office and the City Council over how much funding the program will receive.

AM New York Metro

4. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards released a statement Tuesday expressing his excitement for the positive impacts he expects from this week's approval of six conditional cannabis dispensary licenses for Queens organizations. "Societal shifts don't come quickly or easily, but this week's milestone approval of six conditional cannabis dispensary licenses for Queens organizations is nothing short of transformational," Richards said. "What was once a tool used to target communities of color is now a crucial and legal piece of our economic puzzle that will create jobs, create wealth and create opportunity in those same communities." This statement comes after the New York State Cannabis Control Board voted on Monday to approve 36 Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary licenses, marking the state's latest step towards legalizing recreational marijuana.

Queens Courier ; The New York Times

5. The race for Assembly District 23, the last race in Queens, isn't expected to end anytime soon as there are just three votes out of 32,245 cast currently separating Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato and her Republican challenger Thomas Sullivan. A Queens judge on Tuesday heard arguments in a court case brought by Pheffer Amato against Sullivan in the race to represent a portion of southern Queens and the Rockaway peninsula. Pheffer Amato's suit requests that 92 ballots that were disqualified for not being properly placed in an envelope be reviewed and counted. "Generally, we just want to make sure that every properly cast ballot is counted at the end of the day, because the stakes are so important, particularly this election when extremism and people who are threatening democracy or have been resoundingly rejected," Campaign Spokesperson Matthew Rey told the Eagle. "That is our core goal."

Queens Daily Eagle


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

  • Queens School Choir To Perform On NBC Christmas Special (Patch)
  • 6 treated for carbon monoxide poisoning at Queens restaurant (1010 WINS)
  • Driver shot in back before crashing onto Queens sidewalk, flipping his BMW, and dying (New York Daily News)
  • TSA Lets Cat Out Of The Bag — After JFK Traveler Packed It In Suitcase (Patch)

From our sponsor:

Today's Queens Patch newsletter is sponsored in part by Emblem Health. Who is at risk for diabetes? Take a quiz to learn more.

🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

  • New & Used Children's Book Drive in Kew Gardens (8 a.m.)
  • Queens Botanical Garden Free Admission Wednesdays (8 a.m.)
  • YWCA Queens Food Pantry (10 a.m.)
  • Indoor Cycling (10 a.m.)
  • Let's Play!: Music, Dance and Storytelling (9 a.m.)
  • Art Workshop: Intro to Collagraph Printmaking (11:30 a.m.)
  • Queens Turkey Trot (12 p.m.)
  • Creatine Crashing Comedy Open Mic (5:30 p.m.)

🗣 Queens Chatter:

  • 🍁 Thanksgiving cheer for our elders: "This week and every week, we should be giving thanks to our elders — the people who paved the way for each of us in countless ways. Great to drop by the Robert Couche Senior Center this morning to pay homage and help spread some Thanksgiving cheer." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
  • 🍃 Changing times for our community: "These NYS Office of Cannabis Management approvals are nothing short of transformational. What was once a tool used to target communities of color is now a crucial and legal piece of our economic puzzle that will create jobs, wealth and opportunity in those same communities. Congratulations to all six #Queens licensees for making history. My office, along with members of our #Cannabis Task Force, looks forward to working with each entity to ensure this emerging sector of our borough's economy is one rooted in equity and empowerment." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
  • 🏙 A hard won battle: "Thank you to Pat Kiernan and the Spectrum News NY1 team for having me on #MorningsOn1 to talk about what we achieved with Innovation QNS. As a community, we have set a new standard for building affordable housing on private land, and I could not have done it without my community and all of my fellow elected officials who stood with us." (Council Member Julie Won via Facebook)
  • 🤑 Can't forget some feel-good holiday shopping: "🛍 Feel-good holiday shopping! The QBG Holiday Sale starts this Friday, 11/25 and runs through 12/7 at the #QBGStore! QBG Members enjoy 20% OFF and visitors 10% OFF all items, excluding drinks and snacks.
    Learn more about our colorful selection of accessories, toys, home goods, and other exceptional gifts for all ages! Link in bio or https://queensbotanical.org/store" (Queens Botanical Garden via Facebook)
  • 🎥 Queens Museum film festival: "Join us on 12/1 for Day With(out) Art 2022 by presenting Being & Belonging, a program of seven short videos highlighting under-told stories of HIV and AIDS from the perspective of artists living with HIV across the world.
    In partnership with Visual AIDS, the program features newly commissioned work by Camila Arce (Argentina), Davina "Dee" Conner and Karin Hayes (USA), Jaewon Kim (South Korea), Clifford Prince King (USA), Santiago Lemus and Camilo Acosta Huntertexas (Colombia), Mikiki (Canada), and Jhoel Zempoalteca and La Jerry (México). The seven videos are a call for belonging from those that have been stigmatized within their communities or left out of mainstream HIV/AIDS narratives. The films will be presented on a continuous loop from 12-4pm." (Queens Museum via Facebook)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Wednesday off right. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Emma Radu Fighera

About me: Emma Radu Fighera is a reporter born and raised in Queens, New York. She studied Literature and Studio Art at Hamilton College, where she helped run the only daily publication on campus, The Daily Bull newsletter. This past spring she earned her M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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

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