Proud Boys Try To Crash Drag Story Hour + Hochul Signs Puppy Mill Bill

Good morning, Queens! 🎖

On this last day of the year, I am also celebrating another last: my last ever newsletter here at Patch. It has been a delight these past few months writing about Queens -- the community I know best and love most! I have only the well-set wishes for all my Queens Patch subscribers and I hope the New Year brings with it happiness, health, and only the best. Fondly, Emma. Now for today's top stories:

• 🏳️‍🌈📚 Over two dozen members of the Proud Boys tried to disrupt a Drag Story Hour (DSH) event on Thursday at the Jackson Heights Library.
• 🐶 Gov. Hochul signed a bill that will provide comprehensive standards of care for municipal shelters, nonprofit humane societies, and nonprofit animal shelters.
• 🗳 The contentious race for Assembly District 23 between Democratic incumbent Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato and Republican challenger Tom Sullivan draws to a close on Jan. 4.

😶‍🌫️ Fog; a.m. mist, 🚿 then a shower. High: 52 Low: 47.

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Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. Over two dozen members of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, were joined by the Guardians of Divinity, another right-wing group, on Thursday to try to disrupt a Drag Story Hour (DSH) event at the Jackson Heights Library. During one especially disgraceful moment, a Proud Boy performed a Nazi salute before he was led away from the crowd and arrested. Despite their best efforts, the far-right protest groups were thwarted by a much larger group of around 150 DSH supporters, and Drag Story Hour continued inside the library as planned. Before the standoff unfolded in Jackson Heights, elected officials released a joint statement condemning the “homophobic and transphobic” vitriol directed at Drag Story Hours. “Hate in all its pernicious forms, including attacks on our LGBTQIA+ communities, have no place in our city and must be unequivocally condemned. We stand with New Yorkers gathering today in Jackson Heights to confront hate and defend families reading with their children,” they said. “In recent months, anti-LGBTQIA+ protesters have descended on these family events, attempting to get into our libraries to disrupt them while shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs at performers and attendees. It is particularly disturbing that these anti-LGBTQIA+ protesters have focused their harassment in Jackson Heights and Chelsea, two neighborhoods with historical importance as safe communities and centers of organizing for the LGBTQIA+ movement in New York City.”

Queens Courier

2. Governor Kathy Hochul signed Queens Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.’s bill that will provide comprehensive standards of care for municipal shelters, nonprofit humane societies, and nonprofit animal shelters. The new law, which will go into effect in 2024, will also prohibit retail pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits to puppy mills and will instead offer their retail space for the adoption of these pets. “We want to make sure that no animals are subject to the deplorable conditions of puppy mills that maximize their profits at the expense of the well-being of these animals,” Addabbo said. “But we also want to protect local credible pet shops and keep them in business. If these pet shops are doing the right thing and partnering with rescues and not the puppy mills, they have nothing to worry about. We will monitor the situation once the law goes into effect in 2024.”

Queens Courier

3. With a little over 100 votes still unaccounted for in the contentious race for Assembly District 23 between Democratic incumbent Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato and Republican challenger Tom Sullivan, the tensions continue to mount until Jan. 4, the day when a winner may finally be elected. While Sullivan continued to decry Pheffer Amato’s legal actions in a Facebook video on Dec. 19, he said he refuses to use the word “steal” in relation to the election. Meanwhile, Pheffer Amato has mostly refrained from commenting on the ongoing race aside from statements made by spokespeople.

The Rockaway Wave

4. Records from the Federal Election Commission show that Congressman-elect George Santos received thousands of dollars in excessive contributions to his campaign — his filing reports show 69 people gave donations to the campaign that exceeded the $2,900 federal cap on individual contributions. In total, Santos’ campaign received upwards of $188,550 in excessive contributions, the Chronicle determined. “It’s not that uncommon for campaigns to inadvertently accept excessive contributions, but the Santos campaign seems to have had more instances of this than normal for a House candidate,” Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform for the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C, told the Chronicle via email. “Campaigns that are notified they have accepted excess contributions have to promptly refund the excessive portion and reflect those refunds as disbursements in subsequent FEC reports. It doesn't appear that Santos's campaign did either part of that,” Ghosh said.

Queens Chronicle

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

• Officer Fatally Shoots Armed Man In Far Rockaway, NYPD Says (Patch)
• Braunstein Delivers Thousands Of Holiday Toys To Children In Need (Queens Gazette)
• FDNY appoints first Black chief of Emergency Medical Service (New York Daily News)
• Hochul faces ‘defining moment’ in Appeals chief judge fight, ex-govs say (New York Post)
• Are These New York City’s Hottest Neighborhoods for 2023? (The New York Times)

🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

• Food Pantry: Corona Queens (11 a.m.)
• Exhibition - Living with The Walking Dead (12 p.m.)
• Neapolitan Pizza Making Class (1 p.m.)
• Rise of the Guardians at the Museum of the Moving Image (1 p.m.)
• Hand-Paint Plaster Doll Painting Studio (1 p.m.)
• New Year’s Eve at Lost in Paradise Rooftop (4 p.m.)
• The New York Winter Lantern Festival – Illuminate the Farm (5 p.m.)
• Hiphop Caribbean Vibes on the Water Cruise (5:15 p.m.)

🗣 Queens Chatter:

• 🏳️‍🌈 Drag Story Hour isn't going anywhere: "This is what and who we should give air to: Those who stand for love, equality, inclusion and respect — the bedrock ideals of Queens — instead of hatred, bigotry and intolerance. To everyone who stood up and spoke out for good yesterday, I’m honored to call you my neighbor. Let’s be clear: Drag Story Hour isn’t going anywhere. And like so many of us in Queens, I’m proud to support a program that provides such a beautiful, first-hand education about the importance of acceptance and understanding." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
• ⭐️ Thousands of sparkling lights not the farm: "Illuminate the Farm is a gleaming display of all-new illuminated Chinese lanterns! Handmade by artisans with decades of dedication to their craft, these colorful sculptures featuring over 1000 lights are taking over six acres of historic farmland. Visit https://www.queensfarm.org/illuminate-the-farm/ for info & tickets to this immersive experience open through January 8th, and be sure to use our Queens Farm friends & family discount by entering promo code FARM25 for 25% off!" (The Queens County Farm Museum via Facebook)
• 5️⃣ The teachings of Kwanzaa: "The fifth of Kwanzaa's Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) is Nia (Purpose), "to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness." Here is Community Board 3 Chair Frank Taylor to talk more about Nia. Learn More about all of Langston Hughes Library's virtual and in-person #KwanzaaWeek programs. http://connect.queenslibrary.org/9870?utm_source=social..." (Queens Public Library via Facebook)
• 🏠 Solving the housing crisis: "This year, the @NYCCouncil confronted NYC’s housing crisis by approving major land use projects, prioritizing affordability, and fighting to expand homeless services. We will continue to advocate for increasing access to housing for all New Yorkers." (Speaker Adrienne Adams via Twitter)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today! I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow morning with a new 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