Community Corner

🏙 Innovation QNS Passes Key Vote + Innocent Man Freed After 8 Years

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

Emma Radu Fighera's profile picture
Emma Radu Fighera, Patch Contributing WriterVerified Patch Staff BadgeVerified User Badge
(Patch Media)

Good morning, Queens! 💡

  • 🏙 Astoria's $2 billion Innovation QNS development project passed a key City Council zoning subcommittee vote on Thursday after its number of affordable housing units had been increased.
  • 🆓 Shamel Capers was wrongly imprisoned when he was just 16-years-old for a murder he did not commit. He has been exonerated after eight years in prison.
  • 🛻 Three former NYPD officers have pleaded guilty to taking part in a tow truck bribery scheme gone horribly wrong.

🍃 Windy with ☁️ clouds and ☀️ sun. High: 45 Low: 32.

Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. Astoria's $2 billion Innovation QNS mixed-use development proposal unanimously passed a key City Council zoning subcommittee vote on Thursday after its number of affordable housing units had been increased to 1,436 — hundreds more units than the previous total of 1,100, and double the initial proposal of 711. The Council's Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee voted 7-0 in favor of the proposal, which would bring a dozen new buildings, and nearly 3,200 housing units to a low-rise, five-block stretch of southeastern Astoria. The project's number of affordable housing units has been a matter of continuous contention in recent weeks, however Thursday's vote represents important progress in the city's public review process of the development.

Queens Courier ; Patch

2. Shamel Capers, 24, was exonerated in a Queens courtroom on Thursday after wrongly serving eight years in prison for a murder he always insisted he did not commit. Mr. Capers was arrested at age 16 and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on a charge of killing a 14-year-old honors student, D'aja Robinson, a year earlier when he was only 15. The conviction, which hinged largely on the testimony of a gang member who said he saw Mr. Capers fire bullets at the bus, was set to be vacated Thursday after the discovery of exonerating evidence. Mr. Capers hugged his mother after walking out of the courtroom a free man, and also said he wanted to bring attention to and help the many wrongfully convicted people still in prison. "There's a lot of guys — the list goes on forever," Mr. Capers said.

The New York Times

3. Three former NYPD officers, who all worked in the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows, Queens, have pleaded guilty to taking part in a bribery scheme that directed vehicles damaged in car accidents to a favored tow truck company. "These three officers abused the public's trust and disgraced their NYPD badges by lining their pockets with bribes," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Thursday. Two of the officers, James Davneiro, 43, and Giancarlo Osma, 40, steered damaged vehicles to a Queens tow truck company belonging to their retired brother in blue, Michael Perri, 33, instead of using the NYPD's Directed Accident Response Program, as is standard. Between May 2020 and May 2021, Davneiro and Osma accepted thousands of dollars in bribe payments from Perri in exchange for directing damaged cars his way. All three officers face up to five years in federal prison, said the U.S. Attorney's office in New York.

Patch ; New York Daily News

4. Thursday was supposed to be Starbuck's annual Red Cup Day, a popular promotion in which the mega-chain gives away limited-edition promotional cups; instead, it was what the Starbucks Workers United union calls a "Red Cup Rebellion." Employees at more than 100 stores nationwide — and at seven New York City locations — walked off the job Thursday as part of a nationwide strike among newly unionized stores. One Starbucks in Astoria was closed on what is usually a very busy day as a result of the strike, and so was a store in Times Square. "Starbucks is withholding the bargaining from all Starbucks across the country and not letting them go to contract and withholding our union rights, and today we fight back," said Aaron Cirillo, a worker at the Times Square Starbucks. More than 250 locations have voted to unionize since last December, according to Starbucks Workers United, which now represents more than 7,000 employees.

Gothamist ; CBS News

5. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted final environmental approval on Thursday for the construction of a new $4.2 billion, 1.2 million-square foot, 10-gate terminal at Queens' John F. Kennedy International Airport. Governor Kathy Hochul said construction of the new Terminal 6 will begin early next year, and will be conducted in two phases, with the first new gates opening in 2026. The U.S. is currently in the middle of a massive revamp of many airport terminals — President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure law in 2021 which includes $15 billion for airport project grants.

Fox Business

🗞 Hankering for more headlines? 👀 Look no further:

  • Struggling New Yorkers weigh in on city's changes to housing (Spectrum News NY1)
  • Queens congressman awards $2.5 million to York College in Jamaica (Queens Courier)
  • Officials demand answers after 3-year-old found dead in Queens shelter (ABC7 New York)
  • Network of drug dealers operating in Far Rockaway taken down following long-term investigation (Queens Courier)
  • Circus Vazquez comes to Queens celebrating 20 years in NYC (Western Queens Gazette)
  • Turkey giveaways ahead of Thanksgiving in New York City (ABC7 New York)

🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

  • Love & Hiking Date For Couples (Self-Guided) (7 a.m.)
  • Queens Farm Farmstand (11 a.m.)
  • Safer Space Training (2 p.m.)
  • New York Hall of Science Free Hours (2 p.m.)
  • Bad Cholesterol Bakery Pop-up (3 p.m.)
  • Karaoke at True Colors (5 p.m.)
  • Let's socialize again, good vibes, good music (6 p.m.)
  • ROASTED! A hilarious and brutal roast battle (8 p.m.)

🗣 Queens Chatter:

  • 🚨 Free food alert: "Please join us and Food Bank For New York City for a mobile pantry food distribution of fresh produce, protein, and shelf-stable items at Rochdale Village Library (169-09 137 Avenue) on Saturday, November 19 from 12-2PM. https://www.queenslibrary.org/.../mobile.../011193-0622..." (Queens Public Library via Facebook)
  • 💡 At the intersection of innovation and beauty, behold, Tiffany lamps: "Innovation meets beauty in "Tiffany's Lamps: Lighting Luxury." In this collection from The Neustadt, Tiffany's leaded-glass lamps featured intricate designs and colors that turned functional household objects into works of art. At the Museum, visitors can view a curated selection of lamps from the collection, and explore the process to create these timeless pieces. Check out "Tiffany's Lamps: Lighting Luxury" on our next visit"(Queens Museum via Facebook)
  • 🐌 Special snail-related family program this Saturday at The Noguchi Museum: "This Saturday, November 19, 10:30 am–12 pm, author and illustrator Emily Hughes (@plaidemily) joins us for this special family program to read from her new children's book 'The Snail' (Chronicle Books, 2022). The deeply moving story revolves around Isamu Noguchi's lifelong struggle for belonging between two different cultures in the United States and Japan, and how art has the potential to transform emotional hardships. After the reading, we'll discuss Noguchi's Akari light sculptures, and Noguchi educators will lead a paper art-making activity inspired by Akari." (The Noguchi Museum via Facebook)
  • 🏫➡️🚜 School-to-farm: "School to Farm Winter programs such as Farm Fibers, Quilting Lab, and 18th Century Cooking give students hands-on experience with historic homesteading as they build practical skills on the largest tract of undisturbed farmland in NYC! https://queensfarm.org/winter-program/ @UFT @NYCSchools" (The Queens County Farm Museum via Twitter).
  • 🏙 The next generation of party leadership should come from NYC: "@SpeakerPelosi is a titan of American politics with an unmatched legacy of leadership. It was an honor to have her in #Queens last month, just as it's been an honor to watch her lead with grace for decades. The next generation of party leadership should and must come from NYC." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Twitter)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

Housing:

Other classifieds:

You're officially in the loop for today! I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow with your next 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

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

More from Queens