Two Rockaway residents ran away from the field on Tuesday in the special election in the City Council’s 31st District.

In unofficial results from the city’s Board of Elections on Wednesday afternoon, Selvena Brooks-Powers was leading, with 2,613 votes and 38.07 percent of the vote with 97.78 percent of the votes counted. Read more

The Hawtree Creek Middle School, MS 297 of South Ozone Park, held its eighth annual Celebration of Reading Week, Jan. 11 to 15, continuing the tradition despite having all students learn remotely.

This year, the school’s theme was “Reading: Let it Empower You!” All speakers, events and activities were geared toward students highlighting how books are not just enjoyable, but also inspire us to make a difference in the world and in ourselves. Read more

Get the popcorn ready.

Movie theaters in the city can open at 25 percent capacity with up to 50 people starting March 5, Gov. Cuomo announced Monday. Read more

Gov. Cuomo was on hand Wednesday morning to officially open a new Covid-19 vaccination site at York College in Jamaica.

And early returns indicate the folks coming out for their shots were pleased with the addition. Read more

A coalition of activists sued the Department of City Planning in June in an effort to halt the Special Flushing Waterfront District development, but the plan was approved by the City Council in December anyway.

Now, the activists are adding the Council to its lawsuit. Read more

Two young people from Queens were killed and two more injured in a late-night crash last weekend on the Northern State Parkway in Suffolk County.

Husein Radoncic, 26 of Astoria, and former Queens resident Sasha Stopanjac, 22, of Liberty, NY, were killed when the car they were riding in left the roadway and hit the guide rail, several trees and a light post, according to state police. The crash occurred around 1:30 a.m. last Sunday on the westbound side of the parkway near Exit 39, at the border of Melville and West Hills in the Town of Huntington. Read more

New York City sheriffs busted a party in the basement of a Corona bar where over 300 people, many of them maskless, were caught dancing and smoking hookah in violations of state laws last Saturday, their office said.

At around 2:25 a.m. deputy sheriffs raided the basement of Corona’s Sue–o Americano restaurant, located on Junction Boulevard near 35th Avenue, which they said contained an unlicensed bar, a DJ booth and around 305 reckless revelers. Read more

Area leaders spoke out after a swastika was found at the Rego Park Jewish Center last Wednesday.

Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing), Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) and Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) released a joint statement last Thursday. Read more

Restaurants in New York City will be allowed to fill 35 percent of their seats tomorrow, Feb. 26.

The new rule, announced by Gov. Cuomo last Friday, marks a 40 percent jump in capacity over the 25 percent limit in place until now. An eatery with 50 seats, for example, has been able to serve 12 patrons at a time, but as of Friday will be able to serve 17. Read more

A gathering of Queens businesses owners in Floral Park last Saturday was billed as a celebration of Black History Month.

But it also was intended as a clarion call for small businesses and the community to pull together in challenging times that still could be far from over. Read more

On Feb. 9, a man verbally accosted an Asian woman in Astoria, following her and repeatedly asking why Chinese people eat dogs. A week later, a man in Flushing aggressively pushed an older Asian woman to the ground. She required stitches to close the gash on her forehead.

Hate crimes against Asian-Americans are on the rise in New York City. Racially charged incidents against the community rose by 33 percent between 2019 and 2020. Read more

A Glen Oaks GOP leader was arrested Monday for participating in the Capitol insurrection.

Philip Grillo, a 46-year-old District 24 Assembly leader and former City Council District 24 special election candidate, was picked up by police at his girlfriend’s house for his attempts to obstruct President Biden’s win last month. Read more

Hailing Chen immigrated to Queens from China when he was 14 years old. He learned English from near-scratch, worked as a busboy throughout school and ultimately graduated from St. John’s University. Yet, he found it incredibly difficult to find a career, ultimately settling for a job as an Uber driver.

“Achieving the American dream is getting harder and harder,” said the City Council District 20 candidate. Read more

Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) will be term-limited out of office at the end of the year and nine candidates are running to replace him.

The 25th district covers Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. Read more

The race to succeed term-limited Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) from his City Council seat continues to grow — 18 candidates are vying to represent District 26.

Last week the Chronicle introduced 10 of them. Here are the other 8. Read more