24 THE QUEENS COURIER • YEAR IN REVIEW • DECEMBER 30, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
year in review
Queens’ top stories from October 2021
BY JULIA MORO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Looking ahead to the new year, QNS
takes a moment to remember the top stories
of 2021. From crime to real estate,
QNS reported on a range of topics that
our readers couldn’t get enough of.
Here are the top stories from the month
of October.
Four Queens neighborhoods
among NYC’s best for fi rst-time
homebuyers in 2021: Report
StreetEasy, the popular real estate marketplace
website, reported that four of the
top 10 best New York City neighborhoods
for fi rst-time homebuyers are in Queens.
In the study, StreetEasy looked for areas
that are aff ordable for New Yorkers ages
25 to 44 who earn the city’s median
annual income of $70,406. According to
a recent StreetEasy survey, millennials
make up the majority of fi rst-time buyers
in NYC, with the typical new buyer being
37 years old.
Th e complete list of neighborhoods is
as follows: Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn;
Forest Hills, Queens; Riverdale, Bronx;
Jackson Heights, Queens; Midtown East,
Manhattan; Upper
East Side, Manhattan;
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn;
Flushing, Queens; Rego
Park, Queens; and
Midwood, Brooklyn
Governor Hochul
announces
expansion of Long
Island Expressway
in Queens is
underway
Gov. Kathy Hochul
announced Wednesday,
Oct. 20, that the
state’s Department of
Transportation began
construction on projects
to add auxiliary lanes
and improve exit and
entrance ramps from
Little Neck Parkway to
48th Street in Maspeth
and Sunnyside.
“Investment in our
state’s transportation
infrastructure is critical
for the continued expansion
of a thriving economy,”
Hochul said. “Th ese
much-needed upgrades
will ease congestion and
enhance safety along
one of the most heavily
utilized vehicle corridors
in New York state.”
The $19.7 million
project will lengthen
three acceleration
lanes and three deceleration
lanes. Th e auxiliary
lanes will also be added between 48th
Street and the Little Neck Parkway in
Douglaston to improve traffi c fl ow.
Exit and entrance ramps at Kissena
Boulevard, Utopia Parkway and Francis
Lewis Boulevard will also be extended
by approximately 370 feet. Other safety
enhancements will be installed at those
locations.
Police looking for a
man who ripped off a
McDonald’s in Ridgewood
Th e NYPD are looking for a man who
was seen paying for his order inside
McDonald’s on Friday, Oct. 15, when the
man lunged, reaching into the cash register,
stealing $1,116.
Video surveillance caught the suspect
stealing at the Ridgewood McDonald’s
located at 54-04 Myrtle Ave. before driving
away in a dark gray Nissan Rogue in
an unknown direction.
Th e suspect was wearing a black headband,
a dark sweatshirt, ripped blue jeans
and dark sneakers. No injuries were
reported.
Police investigating aft er dead body
found in Oakland Gardens lake
Local police are investigating the identity
of the man found fl oating in the lake
at Alley Pond Park around 12:45 p.m. on
Th ursday, Sept. 30.
Cops said that the adult man was found
unresponsive when they pulled the body
from the Oakland Gardens lake. EMS
declared the man dead at the scene.
Sources familiar with the case said they
believe the man is a person who was
reported missing back in September. Th e
man’s cause of death is still unknown and
also under investigation.
‘All the Queens Houses’:
Woodside architect’s
book captures
borough’s ‘domestic
treasures’ in photos
An architect-photographer
from Queens put together a
collection of photos featuring
hundreds of unique homes
throughout the borough.
Rafael Herrin-Ferri work,
“All the Queens Houses: An
Architectural Portrait Of
New York’s Largest and Most
Diverse Borough,” was on
display at The Architectural
League of New York’s office
gallery in Manhattan in 2017.
The exhibit showcased nearly
300 snapshots of local “castles”
taken across 34 neighborhoods.
“As I started to get to
know the ‘World’s Borough,’
I was delighted to discover
how unorthodox the housing
stock was. Regardless of
socio-economic status, almost
every street of every Queens
neighborhood has some highly
idiosyncratic residential
structure exhibiting great personal,
cultural and, in many
cases, religious pride. And it
became my mission to discover
them all,” Herrin-Ferri
said.
The book is now available
in stores, as well as online on
Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
QNS fi le photo
Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced the state’s Department of Transportation has begun construction on projects for the Long Island Expressway along
parts of Queens.
Photo courtesy of Rafel Herrin-Ferri
“All the Queens Houses” has been an ongoing photography project by
Woodside-based architect/artist Rafael Herrin-Ferri, looking at the themes
of identity, diff erentiation, and adaptation as expressed in the low-rise housing
stock of the “World’s Borough.”
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