Real estate broker Michael Earl Brown was inspired to become a contender in the Feb. 2 City Council District 24 special election after seeing the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations across the city. He and his own family members contracted the virus, one of them not surviving it, and watched his neighbors struggle to pay the bills after losing their jobs.

“I want to be instrumental in helping the community,” he said. Read more

The city, Borough President Donovan Richards and lending firm Pursuit announced the launch of the Queens Small Business Grant Program on Tuesday.

Mets owner Steve Cohen donated $17.5 million as the city will partner with community-based organizations to offer $15 million worth of grants to small businesses in the borough in need up to $20,000 to support operational expenses. Read more

It felt like old times as St. John’s erased a 14-point deficit to beat UConn 74-70 on Monday afternoon.

It was the first time the teams met since 2013 as the Huskies ditched the Big East for the American Athletic Conference before returning this season. Read more

Covid-19 was first detected in the U.S. one year ago — Jan. 20, 2020 — and has since killed over 402,000 Americans.

Now, Mayor de Blasio said the life-saving vaccine supply is running low. Read more

The $1 billion in “savings” from organized labor that Mayor de Blasio has been hyping since releasing his executive budget for fiscal year 2022 on Jan. 14 still is not written on paper, much less carved in stone.

“The labor savings are to be determined,” a spokeswoman for the Mayor’s Office said Tuesday at the culmination of a series of emails between the Chronicle and de Blasio’s press office. Read more

After more than a century of educating the young women of Queens — and for many years the young men, too — St. Agnes Academic High School in College Point will be closing its doors.

The Leadership Council of the Sisters of Saint Dominic, who founded the school in 1908, revealed the decision in a Jan. 13 letter, citing years-long financial struggles. Read more

There already is a Democratic primary for Queens borough president brewing for September, with Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) on Tuesday announcing his candidacy.

“The pandemic has laid bare the inequality that exists in Queens and the city at large,” Van Bramer, 51, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “A large part of that is structural things like racism, also the growing wealth inequality. That is the defining issue of our time and is at the core of so many problems. I think we need a borough president who will use the bully pulpit of the office. Read more

There are 24 city-run vaccination sites in Queens. All sites offer the Moderna vaccine and require registration.

• Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, at 137-43 45 Ave. in Murray Hill. Call (929) 362-3020; Read more

As of last Tuesday, cars are no longer allowed on Main Street and part of Kissena Boulevard between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue.

The Department of Transportation, nearly eight months after announcing the plan, finally launched the Downtown Flushing busway Jan. 19, which gives priority travel to buses and trucks for a 0.6-mile stretch of the busy corridor. Read more

The Ridgewood Volunteer Ambulance Corps recently announced that its plan for 2021 involves extending community-based volunteer EMS services to Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens.

In December, the RVAC submitted a formal application of area expansion with the New York City Regional Emergency Medical Services Council to provide services into those communities. Read more

Facebook is partially to blame for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx, Queens) said during her virtual town hall last Friday.

“Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook bear partial responsibility for Wednesday’s events,” she said, adding, “I believe that this is directly connected to the complete lack of accountability that monopolies like Facebook have to democracy.” Read more

Annie CottonMorris, who heads the tenants association at the 71-year-old Woodside Houses, lives just a block from the nearest deli but it takes her two hours to buy a newspaper these days.

“That’s how many people stop me now to talk about what’s wrong with their apartments,” she told an outdoor rally of angry Woodside Houses residents Tuesday. Read more

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority may have delayed fare hikes on subways and buses, but a vote on increasing tolls for bridges and tunnels by up to 8 percent still is on the table, according to MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye.

Numbers presented by the MTA state the cost of a trip by E-ZPass over the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges for a passenger vehicle could go from the present $6.12 to $6.70. Read more

When the mayor and schools chancellor announced that this spring will be the last time the Gifted and Talented exam is offered in New York City’s public schools, it raised a big question about what the future holds for the programs.

Admission to G&T programs, which offer an accelerated curriculum that is aimed at covering more material with additional enrichment, is determined by a high-stakes exam administered to children as young as 4. Read more

More than 1,500 high school students logged in last Thursday for Northwell Health’s Spark Challenge, learning about careers in healthcare and roles that employees played during the pandemic.

“I think a lot of high school students are just amazed by what healthcare professionals can actually do and the pandemic is one of the events that kind of placed the spotlight more on all of us,” said physical therapist Marc Carino. Read more