Community Corner

🌱Queensbridge Residents Calling On DOT To Improve Safety+ New DOE Data

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Good morning, Queens! ⭐️

  • ⚠️ Residents of the Queensbridge Houses are calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve safety measures at dangerous intersections.
  • 📚 Newly released data from the NYC Department of Education provides the most accurate picture yet of how thousands of new students living in homeless shelters and other temporary housing are enrolling in public schools in every borough.
  • 🚜 The Queens Botanical Garden (QBG) recently received $20,000 to make their farm more accessible to those with mobility issues.

☀️ Sunny to ⛅️ partly cloudy. High: 56 Low: 45.

Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. Residents of the Queensbridge Houses are calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve safety measures at dangerous intersections in Queens. Bill Robinson, the managing president of Urban Upbound, an organization dedicated to breaking cycles of poverty in New York City public housing, says a stretch of residential road along 40th Avenue next to the Queensbridge Houses is dangerous, even deadly. Robinson has been asking the city to step in for years but nothing has been done. "They have to do something, we need some help here," Robinson said. Councilmember Julie Won sent a letter to the DOT on Oct. 13 citing three specific adds: a speedbump at 40th Avenue and 10th Street, a speedbump at 40th Avenue and 12th Street, and a stop sign on 40th Avenue and 10th Street. In a statement to CBS2 News, the DOT said: "We are in active conversation with the Council member and exploring possible safety enhancements at this location."

CBS News New York

2. According to newly released Education Department data, 369 New York City schools have enrolled least a total of 5,851 students identified through Mayor Eric Adams' Project Open Arms since July. The new data provides the most accurate picture yet of how thousands of new students living in homeless shelters and other temporary housing are enrolling in public schools in every borough. Queens has taken in the most new students of any borough, with 1,936 new enrollees across 107 schools. "The teachers have really been stepping up," said state Sen. Jessica Ramos, whose Queens district includes a school that enrolled nearly 100 new students living in temporary housing — the most of any in the city. "We're talking about a new group of children who are arriving, who have survived incredible trauma to arrive [in] this country," said Ramos.

Gothamist

3. The Queens Botanical Garden (QBG) has partnered with the American Rental Association (ARA) Foundation and the Toro Company Foundation to create a new paver pathway that will make the one-acre farm more accessible to those with mobility difficulties. Approximately 50 volunteers from the ARA and Toro lent their time, equipment and expertise to create a 82-by-15-foot paver at the QBG farm, and both organizations also presented a donation of $20,000 to assist with QBG's project costs and long-term maintenance of the farm. "This project will allow the farm to expand its service to the community by showcasing all parts of it to people of all abilities by making it more wheelchair accessible," said Karen Guzman, QBG farm manager, who thanked the organizations for their support. "Now we will have more space to host educational workshops and events that allow people of all ages and abilities to see how their food grows, as well as provide healthy, locally grown food to those most in need in our community."

Queens Courier

4. A FDNY medic from Queens has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly stealing a debit card from a 79-year-old patient's purse during an ambulance call and using it to buy champagne, Buffalo Wild Wings, and other purchases. EMT Robert Marshal, 29, is accused of taking the elderly woman's debit card on Aug. 8 after he responded to her Springfield Gardens home for an emergency call and took her to a hospital for medical attention. When she returned home several days later, the woman realized her debit card was missing from her wallet, according to prosecutors. NYPD investigators soon discovered surveillance footage from a liquor store on 20th Avenue in Queens that allegedly shows Marshall using the woman's red debit card to buy two bottles of Moet brand champagne on Aug. 8, the same day of the ambulance call. The red card was also used to make purchases at a brick oven pizzeria, a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, a Key Food grocery store, and a laundromat. "This first responder allegedly used the medical crisis of a senior citizen as an opportunity to steal and indulge himself," said Melinda Katz, Queens District Attorney, in a statement. Marshal was indicted on 12 counts charging him with forgery, identity theft, grand larceny, falsifying business records, criminal possession of stolen property and other crimes.

Patch ; NBC New York

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

  • Midterms bring big voter turnout in NYC: 1.4 million cast ballots by 6 p.m. (New York Daily News)
  • The open space that Queens needs (New York Daily News)
  • Indian Idol singers entertain crowds at Jackson Heights, NY Diwali Mela (News India Times)
  • Restaurant Review: Why Does This Tibetan Kitchen in Queens Also Cook Sichuan Food? (The New York Times)
  • Zimmerman concedes to Santos in Long Island-Queens congressional district (Spectrum News NY1)
  • Dog-friendly coffee shop Chateau le Woof building community in Astoria, Queens (CBS News New York)

🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

  • YWCA of Queens Food Pantry (10 a.m.)
  • Queens Farm Farmstand (11 a.m.)
  • Diversity Virtual Queens Career Fair (11 a.m.)
  • NYC Compost Project Hosted by Queens Botanical Garden (1 p.m.)
  • Walking & Stretching (1:30 p.m.)
  • Creatine Crashing Comedy Open Mic (5:30 p.m.)
  • Claudio Simonetti's Goblin (6 p.m.)
  • Family Craft Night (6 p.m.)
  • Children's Book Club (6 p.m.)

🗣 Queens Chatter:

  • 🏮A stunning array of hand-crafted lanterns: "Back by popular demand, Nov 11 – January 8! Join us as NYC Lantern Festival lights up the holiday season with over 1000 lights at Queens Farm. This stunning array of hand-crafted lanterns creates an unforgettable immersive experience across 6 acres of our historic farmland. This experience will feature a dazzling display of lights and illuminated Chinese lanterns, all handmade by artisans with decades of dedication to their craft." (The Queens County Farm Museum via Facebook)
  • 🎉 Happy Gurpurab!: "As representative of Richmond Hill- the "Sikh Capital" of the USA- I wish Sikhs across the world a happy Guru Nanak Jayanti. On this most auspicious day, may we be inspired by the teachings of love, goodness & equality from Guru Nanak Dev Ji, founder of Sikhism. Happy Gurpurab!" (Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar via Twitter)
  • 🙏 A huge thank you to all the poll workers yesterday: "Thank you to the poll workers making our democracy work today!"(Comptroller Brad Lander via Twitter)
  • 🎥 Long overdue retrospective of Japanese giant of documentary filmmaking Noriaki Tsuchimoto: "Starting this weekend, please join us for a long overdue retrospective of a giant of Japanese documentary filmmaking: Noriaki Tsuchimoto (1928–2008). From capturing Tokyo's rapid industrialization through the eyes of a taxi driver to his renowned chronicles of the environmental disasters in Minamata, Tsuchimoto turned a critical eye on the powers that be and worked in mutual trust with the communities he depicted. See the full lineup, which features many imported film prints and new English translations, at bit.ly/Tsuchimoto" (Museum of the Moving Image via Facebook)
  • 🗳 I hope all those with the ability to vote yesterday did: "Elections aren't just about the present - they're about our future. Today at Tangram, I joined with future voters to speak with them about civic engagement and the importance of voting. Together, we read Dr. Seuss' book "If I Had Your Vote."" (Councilwoman Sandra Ung via Twitter)

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That's it for today. I'll catch up with you bright and early soon with 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

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