Imagine the Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs that popped up during the pandemic, but in libraries and parks.A proposal by the city’s… Read more

On most days in Corona Plaza under the 7 train subway line, Manuel Mayancela sells baseball hats and visors, $15 each or two for $25. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Mayancela worked for two different restaurants but when they closed, he started selling hats in the Corona market, which he lives blocks away from, to support himself and his young daughter. “A lot of people here,” he said of the busy plaza.

Though he does not have a street vending permit, Mayancela says he has not gotten into any trouble with police or city agencies for setting up his tables and tents and selling the hats, which he gets from Brooklyn or Chinatown. This work is temporary, though. Read more

When I received the news last Saturday that comedian Jackie Mason had passed away earlier that day, I felt as if I had lost a good friend.

It’s not that Jackie (everyone, it seems, always called him that) and I were personal acquaintances, though I was fortunate to have met him on several occasions over the years. Read more

The New York Mets are bringing back their classic Banner Day, though field access restrictions related to Covid-19 will make it a monthlong virtual event.

The team began accepting photos and videos of banners on Monday at Mets.com/BannerDay. Submissions must be sent by Aug. 9. The club will announce a winner on Aug. 26. Read more

A report released last Friday showed that drug overdose deaths in Queens County surged during the pandemic, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, surpassing the national rise in fatalities.

“In 2020, there were 391 overdose deaths, a 45.5 percent increase over 2019, when there were 268 overdose deaths. There is no question that the pandemic, which fueled a national drug abuse crisis, also hit us hard here in our borough,” Katz said in a press release. Read more

When the city was in the depths of the Covid-19-induced economic crisis, outdoor dining, which was not legal much less tried in many parts of the city, proved a lifeline.

It also proved to be popular. Now the city wants to make its Open Restaurants program permanent where possible, eventually replacing existing sidewalk cafe regulations with a comprehensive plan that includes sidewalk and street dining. Read more

The Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella group representing city unions, voted last Wednesday to shift the health benefits of about 250,000 retirees to a new plan under Medicare Advantage, a program in which private companies contract with the federal government to offer the public health benefits.

“The city’s commitment to our retirees is unwavering, and our new plan increases both quality and benefits for retirees while also lowering costs for the city and its taxpayers,” said Mayor de Blasio in a press release he sent out over the vote. Read more

Kathy Nocera has been a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic Church in Forest Hills for more than 40 years. Like many of her friends and neighbors, she was devastated last weekend to learn that statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Therese, the Little Flower, had been destroyed by a vandal.

“Some of my wedding pictures were taken in front of the Blessed Mother statue,” Nocera told the Chronicle. “I heard about it from a neighbor. But on Sunday, when I went to Mass, I had to look for myself ... It was very difficult to see.” Read more

Ten days after he allegedly slashed a man across the cheek for being Latino and gay, Ramon Castro was charged with a hate crime.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced July 16 that the 55-year-old defendant from the Bronx could spend the next 15 years in prison if convicted on several assault charges. Read more

Police recently released new surveillance video of a subject wanted in connection with an alleged hate crime in which a 55-year-old Asian woman found herself the target of harassment.

The victim was walking her dog next to the Chase Bank along Queens Plaza South in Long Island City around noon May 22, when she was approached by an unknown individual who sprayed her with a bottle of water and allegedly called her an anti-Asian slur, according to the NYPD. Read more

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to delay planned fare increases for bus and subway rides until at least 2022.

Bloomberg News and the New York Daily News both quoted Larry Schwartz, finance committee chairman for the MTA, as saying on Monday that the time is not right with the city’s economy still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic and mass transit ridership in the city still far below pre-Covid levels. Read more

Rise and Resist, a civil liberties activist group, held a “Beds, Not Body Bags” rally July 10 at the northeast corner of Rufus King Park in Jamaica to raise awareness about the lack of hospital beds in Queens.

The park was no random choice, as it lies across from the site of the former Mary Immaculate Hospital, which is now a luxury apartment complex called Parkhill City at 152-11 89 Ave. Read more