🌱 Queens Compost Pickup Begins + Asylum Seekers Find Work In Florida

Good morning, Queens! 🍀

Happy Monday to all those who celebrate. Here are today's headlines:

• 🚛 Starting today, curbside compost will be picked up weekly by the Department of Sanitation.
• 🌀Asylum seekers living in shelters in Corona, Queens are traveling in large groups via bus to Florida where they expect to find work doing disaster cleanup after Hurricane Ian.
• 🏠 Councilwoman Sandra Ung urges the city to open more homeless shelter intake facilities for families with children under 18 — there is currently only one to service the entire city!

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🌬 Windy; ☁️ cloudy, then ⛅️ some sun. High: 60 Low: 49.

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Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. Starting today, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will pick up compostable waste weekly from Queens curbs, no sign-up required. New York's Strongest will collect the organics on the same day as recycling. Compostable waste includes leaf and yard waste, food waste, and food-soiled paper — not to be mixed with trash like diapers, hygienic products, animal waste, wrappers and packaging, or foam products. The city is piloting the program for the next three months until the week of Dec. 23, when it is pausing for the winter. Service will resume in late March, according to an agency spokesperson.

AM New York Metro

2. Groups of Venezuelan asylum seekers boarded buses in Corona, Queens bound for Florida, where they expect to find work doing Hurricane Ian cleanup. "They want us for hurricane cleanup, we'd get paid $15 an hour, overtime and $15 for food daily, I think," said Javier Moreno, 37. "I'm going for the work. It's been hard for us migrants to find work here in New York, that's why a lot of us are going." Moreno said he was under contract with a water and debris company, which did not answer numerous calls from The Post.

New York Post

3. Flushing Councilwoman Sandra Ung wrote a piece in the Daily News urging the city to prioritize the ongoing homelessness crisis after the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) reported a major influx of applications for shelter. In a recent meeting of the City Council's General Welfare Committee, the DHS stated that, at one point recently, they had received more applications in one day than they generally do in a week. Currently, there is only one intake facility in the entirety of the city that processes families with children under 18 into the shelter system — the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing (PATH) intake center in the Bronx. Ung believes there should be one such facility in every borough, not just one center for all of New York City. Since May, more than 8,000 asylum seekers, who fall into the families with children category, have applied for shelter.

New York Daily News

4. Police are searching for the person behind multiple drive-by shooting in Whitestone early Thursday. The driver of the black SUV fired shots at four parked cars on different corners, and one of the bullets entered a home where three people were sleeping. The vehicles were unoccupied, and there were no injuries.

CBS News New York ; ABC 7 New York

5. City Council approved plans last week for the Hallets North development in Astoria — a three-tower residential development that will house 1,340 apartments. The waterfront development will replace several vacant warehouses and will include 335 affordable units. "We can only tackle the affordable housing crisis by making New York City a 'City of Yes,' and approving this project is a significant step in the right direction," said Mayor Eric Adams. "The solution to our housing shortage is simple: building more housing, and this project will create thousands of homes, including hundreds with restricted rents." City Council voted in favor of the proposal 43-1 after Astoria Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán announced her approval of the rezoning application filed by the developer.

New York YIMBY

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

• Queens bowling alley, NYPD team up to 'Strike for a Cure' to fundraise and bring awareness to breast cancer (Spectrum News NY1)
• Man indicted on attempted murder charges after brutal Howard Beach subway attack that left victim in pool of blood (Queens Courier)
• Large Tree Crashes Down Onto Queens Home (NBC New York)
• Slain FDNY EMS Lt. Alison Russo devoted herself to Long Island volunteer ambulance crew for 30 years: 'Hard to imagine the squad without her' (New York Daily News)
• New Yorkers on edge after series of violent, unprovoked attacks (Boston Herald)

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🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

• Queens Botanical Garden Compost Build Volunteer Days (9:30 a.m.)
• Queens Farm Pumpkin Patch (12 p.m.)

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🗣 Queens Chatter:

• 🎨 What keeps your artistry going?:"'To be a human being as well as an artist is difficult. There is such a fictional aura about being an artist today. The aura is so inflated that an artist must play a game... In a sense, I value nonrecognition — or failure. I think success is a very dangerous thing because you become immediately less free than when you were less successful. So, I'm still a struggling artist—at least in my own eyes. Possibly, people think otherwise. But that's how I like to look at myself. It's what keeps me going." In his search for motivating forces, Isamu Noguchi often looked inward. The freedom to unravel his ideas was pivotal to Noguchi—often more important than being perceived as successful. What keeps your artistry going? #IsamuNoguchi #NoguchiMuseum #Noguchi #Sculpture #noguchisubscapes #イサムノグチ" (The Noguchi Museum via Facebook)
• Major results from last week's fundraiser: "The results are in from our fundraiser last Saturday! With your help, we raised over $15,500 dollars to support those affected by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. We'll be sharing those funds with the Fiona Community Response Fund and the Hispanic Federation. Thank you all for your inspiring generosity!" (Queens Night Market via Facebook)
• 🕊 BIRD (not the animal) Festival ends: "The BIRD Festival came to a close today, with the final performance of 'AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS' and the last session of the 'Writing The Short Play' workshop. Big thanks to Mokoto Nakashima for inviting #QueensTheatre, to the playwrights and the excellent cast who did them justice, to the enthusiastic workshop participants, and to Tomoko Masukawa, my translator and friend. Till next time! #TheatreForAll #BirdTheatreFestival" (Queens Theatre via Facebook)
• 🐾 Take a walk on the Wild Side Trail: "Fall is the perfect time to get outside and discover the amazing animals at the Queens Zoo! Take a stroll along the Wild Side Trail, where you'll find our Canada lynx. These highly skilled hunters are generally more active during the night than the day." (Queens Zoo via Twitter)

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

— Emma Radu Fighera

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