A former Queens Defenders attorney who was wrongfully accused of smuggling drugs into Rikers Island is suing the city and the correctional officers’ union who levied the accusations against him, alleging he was unlawfully detained and defamed so the union could score political points.
Queens residents rallied outside City Hall on Wednesday to demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani work with the City Council to help fill a $150 million hole in funding to construct a much-desired trauma center on the far-flung Rockaway peninsula.
Over 1,000 attorneys could go on strike as early as July 1 unless the city makes considerable investment into their public defender organizations, union leaders warned on Wednesday.
A Queens Housing Court judge ordered the city’s “worst landlord” to fix the hazardous living conditions at a crumbling Elmhurst apartment by the end of the month or face consequences.
New York lawmakers sent a bill to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk that includes several major reforms to how the courts determine if defendants are capable of standing trial.
The dispute over the existence of “deadlocking,” or the practice of locking up detainees on Rikers Island for weeks or months at a time in violation of Department of Correction policy, cutting them off from health care, services and other people in custody, continued during a jail oversight meeting on Tuesday.
Queens News
For the second time in around three decades, a Queens jury found Michael Robinson guilty of murdering his estranged wife last week.
A former Queens Defenders attorney who was wrongfully accused of smuggling drugs into Rikers Island is suing the city and the correctional officers’ union who levied the accusations against him, alleging he was unlawfully detained and defamed so the union could score political points.
Queens residents rallied outside City Hall on Wednesday to demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani work with the City Council to help fill a $150 million hole in funding to construct a much-desired trauma center on the far-flung Rockaway peninsula.
Over 1,000 attorneys could go on strike as early as July 1 unless the city makes considerable investment into their public defender organizations, union leaders warned on Wednesday.
A Queens Housing Court judge ordered the city’s “worst landlord” to fix the hazardous living conditions at a crumbling Elmhurst apartment by the end of the month or face consequences.
New York lawmakers sent a bill to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk that includes several major reforms to how the courts determine if defendants are capable of standing trial.
The dispute over the existence of “deadlocking,” or the practice of locking up detainees on Rikers Island for weeks or months at a time in violation of Department of Correction policy, cutting them off from health care, services and other people in custody, continued during a jail oversight meeting on Tuesday.
Watch the World Cup in the World’s Borough at one of nearly a dozen free watch parties happening across Queens over the next month.
A popular bill that promised to give New York the means to appoint more desperately needed trial court justices failed to make it out of the legislature last week, leaving its future, as well as the prospect of increasing the number of justices in the state, uncertain.
Elected officials in Western Queens want the MTA to turn its attention to their properties in the area, which have been plagued by delayed construction, poor conditions and illegal dumping.
Voices from Queens
“Community-based alternatives to incarceration and post-release reentry programs are proving every day that public safety and decarceration are not competing goals.”
“Families are being presented with a false choice: Send your children to a brand-new, $92 million facility, or continue using an aging building that has been allowed to deteriorate.”
“With the mayoral elections coming up, it's important that we seek out representatives who will do right by their constituents and abolish Rikers once and for all. “
The Oklahoma-based Williams Transco company is proposing a pipeline through lower Hudson Harbor again. New York first rejected this pipeline in 2020, and now we must do it again. What’s good for a Tulsa gas company is terrible for Queens’ health and our wallets.
“For a corporate center that hosts more than a thousand employees every day — including staff at the Department of Corrections, Skanska, numerous firms and the headquarters of the Queens Chamber of Commerce — this change is more than an inconvenience. It is a step backward for our borough’s economy.”
“Metropolitan Park is a project that has been shaped by the people who live here. A steadfast partner of the community and Elmcor, Metropolitan Park has been intentional with its support for putting the community first. “

For the second time in around three decades, a Queens jury found Michael Robinson guilty of murdering his estranged wife last week.