New western Queens districts create faux state Senate fight
Posted by Rebecca Henely in District 12, District 13, District 16, Governor, State Senate on February 2, 2012 | No Comments
The new proposed state Senate district lines would set Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) against Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), but the longtime friends say they have no plans to duke it out at the polls. “This actually makes it very amusing,” Peralta said. Both senators characterized the new districts, drawn by Senate Republicans, as politically [...]
City building accidents down 18%: Mayor
Posted by Rebecca Henely in Assembly, City Council, City Offices, Congress, District 14, District 25, District 26, Mayor, U.S. House on January 26, 2012 | No Comments
Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited an apartment complex under construction in Long Island City Monday to announce what he called a step in the right direction: an 18 percent drop in construction accidents citywide from 2010-11. “This is good for the agency. This is good for the public,” Bloomberg said. The mayor said there were 152 [...]
Jackson Heights residents cry foul on Trade Fair
Posted by Rebecca Henely in City Council, City Offices, District 21, District 25 on January 26, 2012 | No Comments
City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and Jackson Heights residents are demanding that the Trade Fair, at 75th Street and 37th Avenue, take down its sidewalk enclosure and make changes to its practices, but the grocery chain denies it is doing anything illegal. “To me it’s outrageous to think that people can build on the [...]
Queens dreads 11 weekends of 7 train outage
Posted by Rebecca Henely in City Council, City Offices, District 26 on January 19, 2012 | No Comments
City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) hosted a town hall meeting with representatives of the MTA last week about extensive renovation to the No. 7 line that will mean some Long Island City stops will be out of order for 11 straight weekends. “I wanted to have this town hall so people have an opportunity [...]
Avella trashes city’s garbage bin policy
Posted by Rebecca Henely in District 11, Mayor, State Senate on January 19, 2012 | No Comments
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) slammed the city Department of Sanitation Friday for fines that have been levied against residents for putting their trash cans out too early the day before collection. Avella said he suspected the levied fines, which are a minimum of $100 but can be as high as $300, were not supported [...]
Astoria residents condemn pharmacy merger
Posted by Rebecca Henely in Assembly, District 36 on January 5, 2012 | 1 Comment
State Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) held a recent rally attended by about 30 people at an Astoria pharmacy to protest a proposed merger between two pharmacy benefit management companies, saying the plan would be a detriment to local businesses. “They can put pharmacies out of business,” Simotas said about the possible combination of the two [...]
