Community Corner

📚LIC School Transformed By Asylum-Seekers+ Willets Point Redevelopment

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! 🤑

  • 🏫 VOICE charter school in Long Island City, Queens has welcomed 70 asylum-seeking families!
  • 🌳 Once known as the "Iron Triangle" or the "Valley of Ashes," the Willets Point community in Queens now offers the city a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a vibrant, thriving neighborhood from scratch.
  • 💰 During a federal trial on Monday, former Rikers Island correction officer, Patrick Legerme, admitted to smuggling marijuana and K2, and to accepting more than $10,000 in bribes from detainees

☀️ Sunny to ⛅️ partly cloudy. High: 46 Low: 40.

Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. An estimated 7,200 students living in homeless shelters have enrolled in public schools across the city since July, many of them asylum-seekers. Schools in Queens have taken on more student asylum-seekers than any other borough, and VOICE charter school in Long Island City, Queens has welcomed 70 migrant families, said VOICE principal Franklin Headley. Though VOICE did not have dedicated dual language programs, and got no advance notice of the new arrivals, staffers have worked hard to profoundly reshape programming on short notice — they acknowledge it's still a work in progress. "I'm really proud of my teachers," said Headley. "It's hard when they see so many children in the class and not quite knowing what to do." The school is now focused on integrating the new students into social and extracurricular activities, and has been working out d what kinds of services it could help link the families to through community partners.

Chalkbeat New York ; The City

2. Once known as the "Iron Triangle" or the "Valley of Ashes," the Willets Point community in Queens now offers the city a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a vibrant, thriving neighborhood from scratch. Recently, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled his administration's vision for the transformation of Willets Point - the cornerstone of the plan will be 2,500 new homes that are 100% affordable, the largest 100% affordable housing project in New York City since the 1970s. Adams also plans to build a 650-seat K-8 school, retail space that serves local residents, 40,000 square feet of open space, as well as a hotel and a Major League Soccer stadium. The proposed redevelopment of the Willets Point neighborhood will create 14,200 construction jobs, and 1,550 permanent jobs from the stadium, hotel, retail and housing.

AM New York Metro

3. During a federal trial on Monday, former Rikers Island correction officer, Patrick Legerme, admitted to smuggling marijuana and K2, a synthetic cannabinoid, into the jail complex, and to accepting more than $10,000 in bribes from detainees. Legerme, a 32-year-old Queens resident, detailed his role in bringing contraband into the jail beginning in 2019 as part of a "large-scale" drug operation led by James Albert while he was incarcerated on Rikers Island. A spokesperson for the Department of Correction, Shayla Mulzac, said in a statement that the agency has "zero tolerance for anyone who brings contraband into our jails, whether you are staff, a contracted provider who provides previously incarcerated individuals employment opportunities, or a volunteer."

Gothamist

4. According to a recent report released by the city's comptroller, Queens District 30, one of the most overcrowded school districts in the city, is also home to some of the highest numbers of student asylum-seekers. At nearly 2,000 new students, Queens has welcomed more migrant children into its school system than any other borough. Now, the District 30 school comminity and local officials say the city's delayed funding, red tape, and inability to hire additional staff has hampered their efforts to meet the many needs of the new students. The district — which covers Queensbridge, Dutch Kills, Sunnyside, Woodside, Ravenswood, Long Island City, Astoria, Ditmars, Steinway, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst — is already strapped for resouces, and advocates say that funding resources to support students is lagging. "We need resources from the city," said Whitney Toussaint, a parent of two who serves as the president of Community Education Council 30. "If y'all can't get it to us, reach out to someone from the state, the federal government. A lot of the families in our district are low income. They are already giving from the little they have to provide for families that have even less."

Queens Daily Eagle

5. Just three votes out of the 32,245 cast separate incumbent Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato from her challenger, Republican Tom Sullivan, who has led in the race for District 23 in south Queens. Recently, Pheffer Amato, who has represented District 23 since 2017, filed a lawsuit over concerns that 92 absentee ballots were invalidated due to ministerial errors made by the Board of Elections clerical staff. "As the narrow margin will lead to a manual recount mandated by law regardless of the final outcome of this case, we are confident that the will of the voters can only be upheld once these valid ballots are opened and counted," the Amato campaign spokesman said in a statement to QNS. The Queens Supreme Court case hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1.

Queens Courier

🗞 Hankering for more headlines? 👀 Look no further:

  • 9 Warming Bowls of Chicken Noodle Soup in NYC (5 of them are in Queens!) (Eater NY)
  • Queens Building To Be Lit Orange For Gender-Biased Violence Awareness (Patch)
  • Queens councilman's Thanksgiving food distribution events helps feed more than 3,500 families (Queens Courier)
  • Kwame Onwuachi's new restaurant pays tribute to New York and survival (The Washington Post)

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🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

  • Friends of Maple Grove – November Art Exhibit with Gail Meyers (8:30 a.m.)
  • Volunteer at 9 Million Reasons / Evangel Food Pantry (8:45 a.m.)
  • Adult Open Badminton (12 p.m.)
  • Amaze Light Festival (4 p.m.)
  • Laughing Buddha Open Mic Spectacular (4 p.m.)
  • Gallery Conversation with Frank H. Wu & Herb Tam – Understatements: Lost & Found in Asian America (6 p.m.)
  • Authentic Indian Pakora Curry - In Person Cooking Class (@DidYouKhado) (6:30 p.m.)
  • Long Island University Sharks at St. Johns Red Storm Mens Basketball (6:30 p.m.)
  • Parent Child Relationship Seminars (7 p.m.)

🗣 Queens Chatter:

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

You're all caught up for today. I'll see you around!

— 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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