A fire that injured 18 children at an unlicensed daycare center in Kew Gardens Hills on Jan. 25 raised a great deal of outcry in its immediate aftermath.

Now city and state agencies are sorting out just what happened while elected officials in City Hall and Albany decide what steps to take next. Read more

Community leaders and elected officials crowded into Queens Theatre on Thursday to see Mayor Adams give his second State of the City address, during which he highlighted the successes of his first year in office and unveiled his Working People’s Agenda.

The agenda is divided into four “pillars”: jobs, safety, housing and care. Read more

It was a joyous, packed house last Thursday at Queens Palace in Woodside as congregants of the Binapani Sangho religious organization and some special guests marked the festival of Saraswati Puja.

Also known as Vasant Panchami, the Hindu festival marks the preparation for the arrival of spring, and is held about 40 days before the season’s start. Read more

Aqueduct Race Track appears to have been marked for elimination in Gov. Hochul’s 2023-24 executive budget presentation on Wednesday.

Hochul’s proposal for the fiscal year beginning April 1 includes $455 million in capital spending for the redevelopment of Belmont Racetrack, located just the other side of the Cross Island Parkway in Nassau County. Read more

The New York State Department of Transportation is advising drivers that the northbound Van Wyck Expressway will be reduced from three travel lanes to two between exits 1A at the Nassau Expressway and 1B at North Conduit Avenue beginning on or about Monday, Jan. 30.

The lane closure is expected to remain in place through about Sept 30. Inclement weather could cause the closure and construction work to be rescheduled. Read more

Proposals for Success Academy to be co-located in two Queens schools were pulled by the city this week.

The plans drummed up opposition in recent months from the MS 72 and Springfield Gardens Educational Campus communities, elected officials and the teachers union as Success fought to open elementary schools in the buildings. Read more

If there is any cause that southern Queens can rally around, it is flooding.

That is case in Howard and Hamilton Beach, where chronic flooding and drainage issues persist, most recently with winter storm Elliott that hit right before Christmas and most notably with Superstorm Sandy, of which many are still dealing with the repercussions. Read more

Recent pitches by the New York Blood Center asking people to donate blood have taken a humorous approach.

It hurts less than dropping your cell phone, or running into your ex with a piece of spinach in your teeth, they say. Read more

As the political clash over Gov. Hochul’s nominee for chief justice of the Court of Appeals, Justice Hector LaSalle, reached a boiling point, Queens elected officials found themselves right in the middle.

State Sens. Jessica Ramos (D-East Elmhurst), Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and John Liu (D-Flushing) were among the 10 Judiciary Committee members who voted not to advance LaSalle’s nomination to the full Senate last Wednesday, winning by a one-vote margin. Read more

The push to make Diwali a school holiday in New York City public schools continued in Albany on Tuesday as lawmakers and residents rallied in support of the proposed legislation.

“We have never seen such enthusiasm for this cause,” said Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Woodhaven), the sponsor of the bill, on the Million Dollar Staircase of the New York State Capitol Building. Read more

A new bill introduced in the City Council last week would require the NYPD to host regular gun buyback programs throughout the five boroughs and provide the rewards.

The legislation was introduced by Councilmembers Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan) and Rafael Salamanca Jr. (D-Bronx) last Thursday in the Committee on Public Safety. Read more

State Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson (D-South Ozone Park) didn’t let a downpour prevent him from advocating for #6MinuteService for subways and buses last Thursday.

With a group of straphangers and members of the Riders Alliance, a public transit organization, Anderson caught the Q111 bus in Jamaica on Jan. 19 and spoke with riders about their difficulties traveling throughout the borough and the city. Read more

Following the culmination of a Fair Student Funding formula working group’s effort, Mayor Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks have selected two of the panel’s recommendations to propose.

They are recommending a weight be added to the funding formula for students in temporary housing and another for schools that have a higher concentration of students with needs including those with disabilities, English language learners and those living in poverty. Read more

A daylong effort to address the conditions under the Richmond Hill train tracks near Babbage Street commenced over the weekend, much to the surprise of Kevin O’Leary, a Kew Gardens resident and member of Community Board 9, who has long called for attention to the site and happened upon on the scene on his way to a diner.

On Saturday, MTA police and its Right of Way Task Force responded to a complaint of illegal dumping under the trestle of the former LIRR station, according to an MTA spokesperson. LIRR personnel were on-site with equipment including two dump trucks to remove the debris, soil, sand and concrete that had been illegally dumped under the trestle. Read more

Residents of Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill now have an additional set of first responders in the event of medical emergencies.

The Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance on Jan. 10 received final state and city approvals to respond to emergency calls in the two neighborhoods. The group already serves Forest Hills and Rego Park. Read more

Absent any measurable amount of snow by Sunday, Jan. 29, the New York City area will set the record for the latest-ever date in winter without the white stuff.

The simple answer according to experts consulted by the Chronicle was the same — it has just been too warm for snow to form and stick. But the underlying causes, they said, are myriad. Read more

Dozens of protesters, public health officials and city councilmembers were at the steps of City Hall last week to fight for a ban on menthol cigarettes.

Menthol, an organic peppermint compound, is often found in cigarettes targeted toward Black communities, according to Candace Prince-Modeste, a Springfield Gardens resident and manager of the Menthol Kills NYC campaign. Read more