The snow came in as predicted last Friday morning, with depths meeting or exceeding forecasts in Queens during the first real storm of the season. But that meant a lot of people’s days didn’t go as planned. And at least one who works here let his bosses hear about it.

Schools remained open, with Mayor Adams saying, “We don’t have any more days to waste, and the long-term impact of leaving our children home is going to impact us for years to come,” according to NY1. “I’m not going to contribute to that.” Read more

The city has released details outlining how children will return to school as scheduled on Jan. 3 following the holiday vacation.

The “Stay Safe and Stay Open” plan will double in-school testing and shorten the isolation period for fully vaccinated staff. At-home rapid tests will be sent home with any student or adult who was exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid. Read more

Central Queens wouldn’t be Central Queens without a few rallies, elections and disputes over bike lanes, traffic and building development.

But it also had the city’s first homicide of 2021. And Covid still cast a shadow over all. Read more

Vaccinations — they were the No. 1 issue by most measures as 2021 dawned on a borough, city, state and nation tormented by the worst virus in a century, and they remain that way as the second year darkened by the foul new plague draws to a close.

At the beginning of the year the issue was who could get the vaccines as they were restricted to the older population and healthcare workers, with the rules gradually loosening until any adult could receive them. Read more

Folks in Mid Queens may have taken some knocks early in 2021 — and we’re not even talking about Covid-19 — but there always seemed to be someone there to help somebody back up. Read more

Lots of elected officials, upon leaving office, will leave an envelope in his or her desk for their eventual successor, often sharing congratulations, advice and best wishes.

Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) already had taken care of that two weeks before his desk of 12 years was inherited by Shekar Krishnan. Read more

The Panel for Educational Policy voted to pass a regulation last week that sparked a heated debate over race and freedom of speech.

Chancellor’s Regulation D-210, passed with a vote of 10-2, is an “anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy governing the conduct of the elected and appointed members of the Community and Citywide Education Councils and establishes a procedure for the filing and resolution of complaints of violation of this regulation,” the Department of Education notice reads. Read more

ClearMD Health, a private lab with a number of locations throughout Manhattan and one in Astoria, was issued a warning from Attorney General Tish James Tuesday for allegedly misrepresenting its turnaround times for Covid-19 test results to paying customers.

The private lab offers free or low-cost coronavirus tests for those with insurance as well as to Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act patients, or patients whose tests were covered by the federal government, but it also upcharged up to $498 to people who wanted a premium service where they could get their results within two hours, according to James’ office. ClearMD Health advertised that it had the “fastest [test] turnaround time in New York — less than 24 hours.” Read more

The New York City Racial Justice Commission put forth its final report on Monday on how to amend the Big Apple’s charter to address structural racism via ballot measures.

The first ballot measure included adding a new preamble or introductory statement to the charter that establishes that New York City would be “a just and equitable city for all residents”; the second referendum was to create a Racial Equity Office, a racial equity plan and a racial equity commission; the last item was to measure the true cost of living to track the price of meeting essential needs in the Big Apple, according to the RJC. Read more