Community Corner

🦝 Raccoon Vaccination Efforts Begin + Man Tries To Hire Hitman, Fails

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Queens.

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Good morning, Queens! ☕️

Let's start this Monday off on the right foot with some news you need to know:

  • 💉🦝 The NYC Health Department will begin vaccinating the city's raccoons against rabies today!
  • 👎 An Arverne man allegedly and unsuccessfully hired a hitman to kill the main witness scheduled to tesify against him in a pending assault case.
  • 🎾 In a shocking turn of events, the true winner of this year's U.S. Open is actually an MTA employee.


🌧 A t-storm around in the p.m.. High: 80 Low: 72.

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Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. Starting today until October, the New York City Health Department will try to vaccinate raccons against rabies after 18 NYC animals this year tested positive for the virus — 7 raccoons from Queens, 1 cat, 1 raccoon, and 2 bats from Staten Island, and 2 skunks and 5 raccoons from Bronx. To reach the raccoons, wildlife biologists will distribute individual baits containing an oral rabies vaccine throughout wooded areas in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. In early to mid-October, the Health Department also plans to immunize raccoons on Staten Island by dropping the baits from a helicopter flying at low altitudes over wooded and marshy areas.

Fox 5 New York


2. An Arverne man was indicted and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Saturday for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill the main witness scheduled to testify against him in a pending assault case. Back in May 2021, prior to the murder-for-hire allegations, Mark Douglas, 44, was arrested after he viciously attacked a man in the face with a broken glass bottle, resulting in an injury that required 100 stitches. police gathered intelligence that revealed that Douglas had put out word about his intent to kill the victim to prevent him from testifying. In response, the NYPD's Intelligence Bureau set up a sting operation, during which Douglas agreed to pay an undercover cop posing as a hitman $5000 to kill the victim. Douglas faces up to 25 years if convicted on the new charges.

QNS ; Shore News Network


3. On Friday, Sept. 9, rapper Cardi B showed her support for anti-violence non-profit group Community Capacity Development (CCD) by attending their back-to-school event in Queensbridge. During her visit, Cardi B. spoke directly to a group of young people involved in a CCD music program, and watched a video they produced. She also acknowledged the socio-economic challenges many young New Yorkers face, stressed the importance of education, and showed her support for CCD's work confronting challenges in marginalized communities. CCD was founded in Queens in 2010, and first began its violence interruption work in Jamaica. The organization has grown significantly since then, and last month, it was one of five programs across the country tapped to join a violence intervention group led by the whitehouse.

Fox 5 New York ; Aboutccd.org


4. Tremayne Cradle, an MTA employee in Queens, might just be the real champion of this year's U.S. Open. Over the past three weeks, Cradle has become a fixture at the Mets-Willets Point subway station, using a bullhorn to direct, in his words, a "tsunami wave" of people. This description is especially apt this year, which saw record-breaking numbers of sports fans flood Flushing for tennis, soccer, and baseball games. "This is showtime," Cradle told The Post. "I love doing the bullhorn. I love seeing people and directing the traffic. This is a lot of fun." Cradle has worked as an MTA traffic checker in Queens for the past 22 years, moving between 13 stations from Court Sqaure to Jamaica. In the future, he hopes to become an MTA train conductor.

New York Post


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

  • Four new school buildings opened in Queens for 2022-2023 school year (Queens Post)
  • The best sandwich in NYC lives in Ridgewood, allegedly (Tasting Table)
  • Police searching for man who attempted to rape sleeping woman in Jamaica (QNS)
  • Man shot in Queens road rage attack, attacker still at large (ABC 7 New York ; AM New York Metro)
  • New stop-motion exhibition opens at the Museum of the Moving Image (Queens Ledger)


🗓 Events Today in Queens:

  • Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York: 25th Annual Golf Outing (9 a.m.)
  • Socrates Sculpture Park Free Admission Monday (9 a.m.)
  • Master Composter Build Day at Queens Botanical Garden (9:30 a.m.)
  • The Heavy Weight of Being: New Exhibition at King Manor Museum (11 a.m.)
  • Pop-Up: Elevated Tradition and Homage to Chinese Hospitality (Chefs Tasting) (4 p.m.)
  • NYC Ferments: September Meetup! (7 p.m.)
  • Entrepreneurial Empowerment Event (7 p.m.)
  • Board Game Speed Dating (Ages 27-39) (7 p.m.)


🗣 Queens Chatter:

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Monday off right. I'll catch up with you bright and early tomorrow morning with a new update!

— Emma Radu Fighera

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

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