Community Corner
⚡️Battery Storage Coming To Astoria+ Dogs To Compete At Tennis Stadium
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Queens.
Good morning, Queens!🥳
There's a lot to look forward to this Friday, such as today's fresh-brewed, hot-off-the-presses headlines:
- ⚡️ Con Ed has plans to build out the city's lithium-ion battery storage system infrastructure at locations in Queens as part of New York's move toward renewable energy.
- 🐶 I'm barking with excitement! The Westminster Kennel Club dog show will be held in Flushing next may at the at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
- 🐎 Students from Bowne High School in Flushing, which has the largest agricultural program in the state, went on a field trip to 618 W 52nd Street stable to observe how veterinarians and carriage drivers take care of the horses that walk carriages in Central Park.
😶🌫️ Fog in the a.m.; ☀️ mostly sunny. High: 70 Low: 60.
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Here are the top stories in Queens today:
1. Lithium-ion batteries can provide necessary backup power to a local grid when there is extra demand for electricty, such as on a hot summer day or during extreme weather. These battery energy storage systems are an important part of the city's transition to renewable energy, and one such storage site run by Consolidated Edison is hidden in plain sight in Ozone Park, Queens, sandwiched in between a school, church, homes and the A train tracks. Con Ed is is currently building a new storage project in Fox Hills, Staten Island, and also has plans to build a large-scale project in Astoria. For some city-dwellers, such as residents of NYCHA's Ravenswood Houses, many of whom live near NYC's largest fossil fuel plant in western Queens, the switch to renewable lithium-ion energy cannot come fast enough. Due to the detrimental health effects of carbon emissions produced by the plant, local officials and environmental justice groups have called the area of Dutch Kills and nearby neighborhoods "Asthma Alley."
2. The Westminster Kennel Club announced their new venue for next year and it's right here in Queens at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on May 6, 8 and 9. The kennel club said that top dog will be crowned in the center of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world with a capacity of 23,771. The famous dog show, considered the nation's most prestigious canine competition, has been held at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan for decades, but Covid-19 prompted the show to move outdoors. Organizers hope to bring the show back to the Garden as soon as the pandemic further subsides.
3. Three celebrations for the Mexican day of remembrance, Día de los Muertos, were held simultaneously on pedestrian plazas in Sunnyside, Jackson Heights and Corona on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Andrea Pérez, a local curator, community organizer, and the co-founder of Manhattan Mexican Dance, was the lead organizer of the coordinated events, where the central activity in each was the communal remembrance of relatives and loved ones who have passed away. Sunnyside Shines hosted their third annual Día de Muertos event at the Lowery and Bliss Street plazas, where there was an ofrenda directly under the Sunnyside Arch for participants to place photos, flowers, and other mementos. Celebrations were also held on Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights and Corona Plaza at 103rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Small businesses local to each plaza participated in the festivities, offering specialties and traditional pastries to participants.
4. Around 30 of Tatiana Eder's students from Bowne High School in Flushing visited the 618 W 52nd Street stable on a field trip to observe how veterinarians and carriage drivers take care of the horses that walk carriages in Central Park. Eder teaches equine and animal ethics classes at Bowne, which has the largest agricultural program in the state, offering agricultural classes to over 600 students, and housing animals like miniature horses and goats. The visit to the stable comes nearly a month after a carriage horse, Ryder, collapsed on a city street in August and was later euthanized, a move that inspired animal rights organizations to call for a ban on horse carriages in New York City. Ryder's death was a tough blow to many of the Bowne students who aspire to become veterinarians in the future; however, others are convinced the stables are providing proper care to the horses.
5. The commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, Eric Ulrich, 37, a former city councilman from Queens, resigned on Thursday, one day after he met with prosecutors who are investigating him for possible organized crime ties and illegal gambling. The resignation was confirmed by a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams who said the commissioner, in his own words, left his post to avoid 'unnecessary distraction for the Adams administration.' Though the scope of the investigation is not yet clear, two people with knowledge of the matter said it is focused in part on gambling and organized crime activity at Aldo's, a pizzeria in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens.
🗞 Hungry for more news? 🍴Snack on these headlines:
- New LIC Ferry Dock Would Block Precious Park Views, Conservancy Says (Patch)
- Annual Queens World Film Festival kicks off with screenings of 157 independent films (Queens Courier)
- Regional Plan Association and RISD reimagine NYC's notorious Rikers Island as a green energy hub (The Architect's Newspaper)
- NYC Parks' Ice Skating Rinks To Open For Winter Skating Season (Queens Gazette)
- New York City marathon: Street closures and transportation tips (PIX11 News)
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🗓 To Do Today in Queens:
- Corona Greenmarket (8 a.m.)
- Active Parenting Workshop (8:30 a.m.)
- Total Body Workout (10 a.m.)
- DiversityX Queens Virtual Job Fair (11 a.m.)
- Free First Friday at The Noguchi Museum (11 a.m.)
- Queens Farm Farmstand (11 a.m.)
- New York Hall of Science Free Hours (2 p.m.)
- Video Lab for Kids: Making a Movie Trailer (4:30 p.m.)
- Gallery Opening Reception: The Thing About Things (5:30 p.m.)
🗣 Queens Chatter:
- 💽 Queens has a lot to be proud of for hip-hop history month:"A Tribe Called Quest, Mobb Deep, Nicki Minaj, Run DMC...the list of #hiphop icons from Queens goes on. Join us and #QPLHipHop Coordinator Ralph McDaniels to celebrate #HipHopHistoryMonth throughout November with programs, recommended books, and more! https://www.queenslibrary.org/abo.../news-media/blog/2743..."
- ⚠️ The Open Streets revolution: "Open Streets, like on 31st Avenue in #Astoria, have been revolutionary for our borough. A few weeks ago, I sat down with Open Plans and local advocates on 31st Avenue to talk about the need to invest even further in these incredible community spaces. Click here for the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyjs-aZLUbI." (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Facebook)
- 📖 Emily Hockaday reading: "This Saturday, 11/5, join us for a special poetry reading by Emily Hockaday as she shares parts of her book, "Naming the Ghost," a collection of poems about a new mother and her day-to-day life after a mysterious ghost has taken to haunting her and her family. Hockaday will be joined in conversation by author Sokunthary Svay and will invite audience members to engage in a Q&A. This event is FREE. General garden admission is free November through March. Register: https://qbgnamingtheghost.eventbrite.com" (Queens Botanical Garden via Facebook)
- 🗿 Speaking through sculpture: "#IsamuNoguchi's 'Sun at Noon' (1969) is back on view, lending its warmth to the darkest time of year."It's the privilege of the artist to make his own translation, his own distillation of what moves him. I try to say what I have to say—in sculpture, not in words." – IN" (The Noguchi Museum via Twitter)
- 🧄 To ensure that all the vampires lingering in Queens after Halloween stay far, far away, thousands of cloves of garlic were planted yesterday at Queens Farm:"We're planting thousands of cloves of garlic in the annex today with help from @google volunteers! This reusable plastic mulch will help suppress weeds as the cloves settle in over winter." (Queens Farm via Twitter)
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Alrighty, you're all good for today! I'll see you soon.
— 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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