Three new schools are set to welcome Western Queens students this week – but local education advocates say they’ll only make a marginal difference in addressing overcrowding in the borough’s schools.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, New York City released tens of thousands of pages of documents confirming previous city officials were aware of the potential health hazards first responders and survivors faced but still encouraged New Yorkers to return to dust-strewn areas surrounding Ground Zero after the terror attacks.

Michael Gianaris, the longtime Queens state senator who recently retired from his role in Albany, has been hired to work for billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen and his Metropolitan Park casino venture.

After months of praising a shift toward greater transparency at the Department of Correction, the federal watchdog overseeing Rikers Island sharply changed course Thursday, accusing agency leadership of taking steps that could undermine court-ordered reforms.

Even after federal immigration officials said they had finished large-scale sweeps across the city, reports of federal agents conducting arrests near a Woodside playground continued to pour in throughout the week, angering local officials.

Brian Romero wasn’t endorsed by the Democratic Socialist of America, but that won’t stop him from working on behalf of the group when he takes office in the Assembly next year.

The group charged with nominating the city’s judges recently published its first-ever code of conduct for its members to abide by, an attempt to fulfill, in part, the mayor’s promise to make the powerful committee more transparent.

The City Council is currently drafting a bill to extend the deadline to close Rikers and replace it with four borough-based jails

Governor Kathy Hochul declined to commute the sentence of any of the more than 1,000 people in New York’s prisons who applied for clemency when she granted half a dozen pardons on Friday, angering advocates who say the governor has all but abandoned her promise to reform the state’s clemency process.

Former community board chair and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams returned to her home turf in Southeast Queens on Thursday – now as a candidate for lieutenant governor. 

“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. “