Community Corner
🏙 Won Says Make Innovation QNS 55% Affordable + Pomonok Houses Issues
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Queens.
Good morning, Queens! 📆
- 🌆 Councilwoman Julie Won voiced her opposition to the Innovation QNS development saying she would not settle for a proposal that was less than 50% affordable.
- 🔨 Elected officials went on a property walkthrough of the Pomonok Houses in Flushing last week to address and begin to rectify residents' concerns.
- 🚨 An FDNY contractor had a pretty bad day on the job last week when he pressed a wrong button and shut down the entire digital communications system at the FDNY's emergency dispatch center in downtown Brooklyn.
🚿 A couple of showers. High: 65 Low: 49.
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Here are the top stories today in Queens:
1. In an internal email that was leaked to the public Friday afternoon, Councilwoman Julie Won argued that the changes the Innovation QNS team made to their original proposal were insufficient. "This development team has repeatedly ignored the community needs," she wrote. "Therefore, I oppose the proposed Innovation Queens development." Late last month, the builders behind the $2 billion development offered to make 40% of the project's 2,800 apartments permanently affordable, up from 25% in the original proposal. Won, however, who has been critical of the project since she took office in January, said she would not settle for a proposal that was less than 55% affordable. The City Council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will hold a hearing on Innovation QNS on October 19.
2. Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal joined NYCHA officials last week for a property walkthrough of the Pomonok Houses, a housing development in Flushing afflicted by chronic quality-of-life issues. For over two hours, the officials surveyed the 35-building complex and addressed residents' concerns, which include: infrastructure challenges, unsanitary conditions, a pattern of failure to address issues, and public safety concerns. By the end of the walkthrough, Rosenthal and the Pomonok Residents Association were hopeful for change, and NYCHA agreed to maintain a schedule of recurring meetings.
3. With the press of one wrong button, a repairman at the FDNY's emergency dispatch center in downtown Brooklyn accidentally shut down the agency's computer dispatch system, triggering an hours-long crisis, and causing delays in emergency response times. An outside contractor from a communications company was making repairs last Wednesday at the FDNY's MetroTech Center when he mistook a button marked "EPO" for "emergency power off," for an electronic door release button. This error forced staffers at the facility to use paper, pen, and telephones, instead of computers, to transmit information to first responders as 911 calls came in. City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who chairs the fire and emergency management committee, plans to hold an oversight hearing and "hold the FDNY accountable for not having a backup system." This incident marks the first time city first reponder dispatch systems were out since the 2003 blackout.
4. Fearful of being priced out of their neighborhood by an influx of luxury developments, Astoria residents are taking their concerns about the Innovation QNS project to the City Council in the hopes of impacting an upcoming vote. The project's application to rezone five blocks in Astoria was approved last month by the City Planning Commission, making way for what will in essence be a new neighborhood. The $2 billion project would include about 12 residential and commercial towers, nearly 3,000 new apartments, two acres of green space, new stores, restaurants and a movie theater. "We don't want [Astoria] to turn into another Long Island City or Williamsburg where the focus is on whiter and wealthier people," Farihah Akhtar, a Queens native and advocate with Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, told The News.
5. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced on Oct. 13 that a veteran benefits advisor, who normally operates out of the St. Albans VA Medical Center, will work on-site at Queens Borough Hall every Monday for the next four months. Through this partnership with the New York State Division of Veterans' Services, the existing Veteran Resource Center satellite office at Borough Hall will become an even more useful one-stop-shop for Queens veterans to apply for and inquire about their benefits.
🗞 Hungry for more news? 🍴Snack on these headlines:
- A Housing Crisis Has More Politicians Saying Yes to Developers (The New York Times)
- Beloved Queens Pizzeria Closes Its Doors, Owner Heads To Italy (Patch)
- Asian Supermarket H Mart Is Officially Coming to Long Island City, Queens (Thrillist)
- Queens teacher seeks new kidney; former students help in search (PIX11 News)
- Vintage Redbird leaves Queens Borough Hall en route to new home (AM New York Metro)
- Lawyer claims 73-year-old killer was acting in self defense when he shot brother at mom's Queens home (New York Daily News ; New York Post)
- Arrest Made in Fatal Shooting of Teen on Queens Subway; 15-Year-Old Identified (NBC News ; PIX11 News)
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🗓 To Do Today in Queens:
- Socrates Sculpture Park Free Admission Monday (9 a.m.)
- Senior Cardio Sculpt (10:30 a.m.)
- Composer Interview: Nicky Sohn (12 p.m.)
- Greater Nexus X Queens Chamber Tech Mixer (12 p.m.)
- Chair Fitness (2 p.m.)
- Drawing from a Distance at The Noguchi Museum (7:30 p.m.)
- Improv with The Armory (8 p.m.)
🗣 Queens Chatter:
- 🪱🎃 Adopt a worm on Halloween? Count me in!: "Got your tickets to Halloween on the Farm yet? On Sun, 10/30, trick or treat the whole family to a BOO-tiful day of spooky fun! Get caught up🕷🕸 in the Amazing Maize Maze, dance party with DJ Still1, hayrides, crafts, the Adopt-a-Worm composting program at the Con Edison Ecology booth, and of course trick or treating at 8 stations located around the farm! Local vendors will be serving up yummy food and drink all day to sink your fangs into…it'll be love at first bite! 🧛♀️Get tickets while you still can: https://www.queensfarm.org/halloween-on-the-farm/" (The Queens County Farm Museum via Facebook)
- 🔬The Design Lab at the New York Hall of Science is back!: "Design Lab has reopened!!! Science museums have always been known for hands-on exhibits and participatory programs, but with Design Lab, visitors are in the driver's seat like never before." - #NYSCI President/CEO Margaret Honey. Tickets: https://nysci.co/3yiadic (New York Hall of Science via Twitter)
- 🎥 A rare glimpse at a city long vanished: "Our latest series offers a glimpse of a city long vanished through the eyes of two of our great New York City chroniclers. See rare works from celebrated filmmakers Manfred Kirchheimer and Leo Hurwitz, including Kirchheimer's 1981 classic STATIONS OF THE ELEVATED and the premieres of the final two installments of his magnum opus. Starting today, Oct 15 with Kirchheimer and other special guests in person! movingimage.us/series/kirchheimer/" (Museum of the Moving Image via Facebook)
- 💭 Thoughts on rezoning: ""We are encouraged that our elected officials have seen the light, and moved ahead with important projects like Hallets Point in Astoria, the Flushing waterfront development and the Bruckner Boulevard rezoning just north of us in the Bronx. These projects will create jobs and desperately needed affordable housing. We need to keep this momentum going, and approve the Innovation Queens project in Astoria, which will bring over 1,000 homes for low-income families in an area perfectly suited for development," added Tom Grech, President and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce..." (Queens Chamber of Commerce via Facebook)
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Thanks for following along and staying informed. I'll be in your inbox tomorrow morning with your next 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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