🌱Plan Proposed To Eliminate MTA Bus Fares + Rat Complaints Vanquished

Good morning, Queens!🌷

• 🆓 Two Queens state lawmakers announced Wednesday their four-year plan to gradually eliminate fares on local MTA buses and Select Bus Services.
• 🐀 In Queens and Manhattan, the unthinkable has happened: complaints about rats are no longer the top issue New Yorkers call in about. Now, the top complaint is about noise!
• ⚖️ A state appellate court ruled Tuesday that the 94 Queens voters whose ballots were invalidated must get a chance to "cure" their votes in the Assembly race where Democratic incumbent Stacey Pheffer Amato leads challenger Tom Sullivan by just a single vote.

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☔️ Afternoon rain; 🌬breezy. High: 44 Low: 42.

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Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. Two Queens state lawmakers announced Wednesday their four-year plan to gradually eliminate fares on local MTA buses and Select Bus Services, proposing that yearly funding increase from $200 million in 2023 to $638 million in 2026. The road to free buses would begin in the Bronx in year one, followed by Brooklyn the next year, Queens in the third year and Manhattan and Staten Island in the fourth year. "The idea is to be bold, and make the point that this incrementalism that we've been using to support the MTA is not working," said Gianaris. "We need to go big enough to support the mass transit system because it affects every aspect of our lives. Housing is conditioned on having access to mass transit, education is conditioned by it, public safety is conditioned on it. It's the spine of the city, and we need it to be healthy." Mamdani and Gianaris have dubbed their bills the Formula Three Act — for the three F's of freezing fares, funding frequency and free buses.

Streetsblog NYC

2. In Queens and Manhattan, the unthinkable has happened: complaints about rats are no longer the top issue New Yorkers call in about, according to city 311 call center data compiled by Bloomberg. Instead, complaints about helicopter noise has taken the top spot — they are up exponentially, from 3,332 in 2019 to 25,916 last year. The surge in complaints about helicopters has a lot to do with the thousands of people who are now accustomed to working from home since the pandemic. Now, the City Council is considering a bill banning non-essential helicopter traffic from city-owned heliports in Manhattan. The current legislation has 23 co-sponsors, just three shy of the magic number to win passage in the 51-member governing body.

Bloomberg

3. A state appellate court ruled Tuesday that the 94 Queens voters whose ballots were invalidated must get a chance to "cure" their votes in the Assembly race where Democratic incumbent Stacey Pheffer Amato leads challenger Tom Sullivan by just a single vote. The three-page ruling by a four-judge panel in the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department based in Brooklyn states, "Each of the 94 absentee ballots was received by the Board with an unsealed ballot affirmation envelope inside a completely sealed outer mailing envelope. Therefore, the defects were curable under Election Law." Now, the New York City Board of Election must inform the voters they can file paperwork to get their ballots counted.

New York Post

4. A new study claims that the proposed project to build a new horse racing facility at Belmont Park (located along the border of Queens and Nassau County on Long Island) would generate $1 billion in economic activity, and lead to the hiring of 3,700 construction workers. The "study," which was commissioned by the advocacy group We Are NY Horse Racing (made up of stakeholders in the state's horse racing industry), claims the new facility would contribute $155 million annually for the economy, while creating 740 full-time jobs. Belmont Park first opened in 1905 and serves as host to the Belmont Stakes each year, a horse race that marks the final leg of the prestigious Triple Crown competition. This plan would be the first major upgrade to Belmont Park since the late 1960s.

AM New York Metro

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

• Mayor Adams Rolls out "Promise NYC" to Provide Childcare Assistance to Low-Income Families with Undocumented Children for First Time Ever (nyc.gov)
• Queens Man Indicted After DEA Seizes 13 Pounds Of Cocaine (Patch)
• City's Street Vendors Saw Twice as Many Tickets This Year Compared to Pre-Pandemic, With NYPD Leading Enforcement (City Limits)
• Lawmakers Request More Police In Northeastern Queens Amid Crime Spike (Patch)
• Amaze Light Festival brings dazzling display to Citi Field (Queens Courier)
• Plans for reimagined Brooklyn-Queens Expressway unveiled by Mayor Eric Adams (CBS News New York)

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🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

• The 11th NYC Honey Festival (11 a.m.)
• Gingerbread House Crafting Workshop (Kids Event) (4 p.m.)
• Amaze Light Festival (4 p.m.)
• The New York Winter Lantern Festival – Illuminate the Farm (5 p.m.)
• Muse's Tools, a Festival of New Works by Queens College Playwright (7 p.m.)
• One Night Stand Comedy Show with Joselito Da Puppet and Friends (7 p.m.)
• Destroy Lonely: No Stylist Tour (7 p.m.)
• Club Wonderland at Trans-Pecos (11 p.m.)

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🗣 Queens Chatter:

• 📚 Scholarships for high school seniors : "Our African American Heritage Scholarship Program is back for a third year in a row! Now through January 9, high school seniors are encouraged to apply for these scholarships, with the winners being announced during Black History Month. Read more about the program below. To apply, visit queensbp.org/AAHCScholarshipApp." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
• 🎨 An arts-filled day coming up at the Queens Museum: "Dive into imagination with this joyful celebration of art and creativity on Saturday 12/17, for an arts-filled day with author/illustrator Tim Miller as he reads his newest book, "Izzy Paints" at the Queens Museum. Free and fun for all ages, program includes book reading, illustration demo, art-making stations, and more! No registration is needed for this event, learn more: https://qnsmu.se/storytime" (Queens Museum via Facebook)
• 😔 Tragic 10-year anniversary of Sandy Hook: "Ten years ago today, a crazed gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary and opened fire, taking the lives of 20 innocent children and six of their teachers. This heinous act should be a reminder every day why we have to fight the scourge of gun violence in our society." (Councilmember Sandra Ung via Twitter)
• 🎉 Happy retirement to labor legend Kyle Bragg: "Kyle Bragg is simply a labor legend — there isn't a person I know who fights harder for workers and for working families than Kyle has in his time with @32BJSEIU. An honor to celebrate your retirement with you last night! Thank you for your stellar career of service to #Queens." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Twitter)

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Events:

• Santa, Coockies & Cocoa! (December 17)
• Winter Events at The Poppenhusen Institute (December 17)
• Grace Baptist Church of Forest Hills - Holiday Services 2022 (December 18)
• Party Like A Maccabee! (December 18)
• Holiday Lights At The Bronx Zoo (December 23)
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Thanks for following along and staying informed. See you all tomorrow 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