Community Corner

🗞State Funding For Student Publication Center+ Bike Lane Growing Pains

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

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Good morning, Queens! 🫖

  • 🗞 On Tuesday, State Assemblywoman Nily Rozic announced $375,000 in state funding to create a new digital media space at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing.
  • 🚲 Some Queens residents have expressed anger over the city's recent bike lane expansion.
  • 👎 The principal of a Rego Park middle school sent a warning email to parents after a student walking home from her after-school program reported being approached by a man in a blue van who told her to get inside his car.

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Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. State Assemblywoman Nily Rozic announced on Tuesday that she has allocated $375,000 for the expansion and upgrading of the Student Publication Center at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing. The new state funding will go toward renovating one of the school's classrooms into a digital media space that will be used not only to host digital art classes, but will also serve as the new headquarters of the student-run newspaper, The Classic, and the student-run literary magazine, The Phoenix. "Providing students with the best resources and tools available to produce cutting-edge news and media is imperative to shaping the next generation of leaders," Rozic said. "This new room and gathering space will harness the creativity of students looking to publish their work and allow students to use their voices for change."

Queens Courier

2. Some Queens residents have expressed anger over the city's bike lane expansion in Forest Hills, saying the new lanes have created congestion, replaced parking spots, and caused accidents on Queens Boulevard, known colloquially as the "Boulevard of Death." The new bike lane separators are part of the city's safety program, known as Vision Zero, which aims to reduce traffic fatalities in Forest Hill, Rego Park, and other areas, and believes bike lane separators are necessary to guarantee bikers' safety. Though some residents believe the protected lanes will increase car accidents, they are actually proven to do the opposite — lane separators reduce all crashes with injuries by 15% and reduce pedestrian injuries by 21%, according to the Department of Transportation.

Patch

3. The principal of a Rego Park middle school sent a warning email to parents on Monday after a student reported being approached by a stranger in a blue van while walking home from her after-school program. The concerning incident took place around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 when a man pulled over at an intersection near Stephen A. Halsey Junior High School 157 and asked the girl to get inside his van. She declined and ran home for help. The student and a parent reported the incident to the school and filed a police report the next day. In the email to parents, which also provided safety guidelines for students, Principal Vincent Suraci and school officials said they "strongly urge" students to travel to and from school with an adult or in a group, to not use headphones, to stay on populated roads, and to not speak with strangers.

New York Post

4. Ten years after Hurricane Sandy devastated the coastal community of Breezy Point, Queens, NBC reporter Michael Gargiulo returned to the area and asked residents — who include his parents — how life in the Rockaways has changed since the superstorm. Breezy Point was one of the communities hardest hit by Sandy, which destroyed 350 homes and damaged 2,000 other buildings in the community. Strong winds from the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay toppled electrical lines and sparked a six alarm fire that tore through block after block. Though it has taken years for residents to recover, the community has successfully been building back — there are only 20 vacant lots left, most of them with building plans. To mitigate erosion and flooding, a double dune system is now in place along a portion of ocean-facing beach. Additionally, homes have been elevated by six-to-seven feet and ground floors have been converted into storage areas.

NBC New York

5. "You can't do anything nice at all anymore," said Astoria resident Vicky Poumpouridis after her iconic Halloween display, which she has been putting up for the past ten years with the help of her mother, was vandalized and had decorations stolen. Poumpouridis' magnificent display — featured in The Post as one of NYC's best in 2021 — has been the delight of trick trick-or-treaters on Ditmars Boulevard who line up around the block to come see the spooky decorations. Now, however, the neighborhood's favorite Halloween house will not decorate as usual. Poumpouridis captured the two vengeful acts against her display on video — the first took place on Oct. 16 around 5:40 a.m., the second on Oct. 24 around 1 a.m. Both times, a grown man went onto her property and stole a life-size animatronic zombie figure, which Poumpouridis says costs around $400. Poumpouridis is in the process of reporting the incidents to the police, but says it feels useless since the NYPD are so overwhelmed.

New York Post


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

  • Food For When You're Sick at Home, Including Delicious Queens Options (The New York Times)
  • Early voting ahead of general election to begin Oct. 29 to Nov. 6 (Queens Chronicle)
  • Bayside Congresswoman Discusses Transit Crime With Pete Buttigieg (Patch)
  • Hundreds Participate in Sunnyside Post Mile, $20K Raised for Local Non Profit (Queens Post)
  • Queens Night Market to close season with Halloween costume contest (Queens Courier)

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🗓 To Do Today in Queens:

  • Walking Group (7:30 a.m.)
  • YWCA Food Pantry (10 a.m.)
  • Queens Farm Farmstand (11 a.m.)
  • Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) Event - Exploring Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American (12 p.m.)
  • Paint Your Pride: Express Yourself at Queens College (12:15 p.m.)
  • Children's Book Club (6 p.m.)
  • Family Craft Night (6 p.m.)
  • The Moth at Culture Lab LIC! (6:30 p.m.)
  • Stand Up Comedy Show in Astoria Park: Training Day (7 p.m.)

🗣 Queens Chatter:

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Wednesday. See you all tomorrow morning for 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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