City Council takes on illegal smoke shops

City Council takes on illegal smoke shops

A new city law in response to the scourge of illegal smoke shops went into effect this summer, and on Monday, the Queens councilmember who sponsored it and other officials discussed how the new law will work. 

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Queens Dems select Supreme Court candidates

Queens Dems select Supreme Court candidates

Judges Cassandra Johnson, Karen Lin, Peter Kelly, Scott Dunn and Jessica Earle-Gargan will each run on the Democratic Party’s line for one of the five vacancies on the bench in the World’s Borough after being selected by the party at their annual judicial convention on Thursday evening. 

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Board of Correction sues DOC over revoked video access

Board of Correction sues DOC over revoked video access

The Board of Correction, the citizen watchdog board charged with providing oversight to the Department of Correction, sued the agency in an effort to regain unfettered access to video from within Rikers Island after DOC brass revoked the board’s ability to view it remotely earlier this year.

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Protestors clash over upcoming Creedmoor migrant shelter

Protestors clash over upcoming Creedmoor migrant shelter

A chaotic scene in Eastern Queens broke out after a small group of Queens residents urging a more welcoming attitude toward asylum seekers clashed with a much larger group of people protesting an upcoming 1,000-bed tent shelter for migrants at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Campus. 

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Queens lawmakers call Rikers 'cheerful' days before judge to consider federal takeover

Queens lawmakers call Rikers 'cheerful' days before judge to consider federal takeover

Queens City Councilmember Robert Holden this week said Rikers Island had a “great atmosphere” after taking a tour of the jail complex where over two dozen people have died in the last two years.

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‘Haphazard, tepid, and insubstantial’ : Ahead of crucial court appearance, monitor says little has changed on Rikers Island

‘Haphazard, tepid, and insubstantial’ : Ahead of crucial court appearance, monitor says little has changed on Rikers Island

A month ago, the federal monitor charged with overseeing conditions on Rikers Island said the city should be held in contempt for failing to tamp down violent conditions within the notorious jail complex. Four weeks later and just days before a consequential court hearing in a case that could see New York City lose control of Rikers, the monitor says not much has changed. 

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