By MOHAMED FARGHALY | mfarghaly@queensledger.com

New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the largest Open Streets: Car-Free Earth Day event yet, with a number of car-free streets and extended operating hours taking place on the 54th anniversary of Earth Day on Saturday, April 20.

The annual affair, spearheaded by NYC DOT, transforms select city streets into car-free zones, amplifying activism and education on climate change, environmentalism, and sustainable transportation. This event also heralds the commencement of the city’s Open Streets and Public Space Programming season.

“Open Streets: Car-Free Earth Day encourages New Yorkers to leave their vehicles at home and appreciate our streets as shared open spaces for all,”  NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said. “As part of the city’s largest-ever Car-Free Earth Day celebration, will be hosting programming, music, and other activities at dozens of car-free streets around New York City. And new, temporary public art will help us remember: We only have one planet — and we must all do our part to reduce our carbon footprint and respect our environment.”

This year’s Open Streets: Car-Free Earth Day, sponsored by WABC, boasts 53 car-free streets and plazas across the five boroughs, featuring public art or community programming—an expansion from the 30 locations in 2023. NYC DOT will extend car-free operations by one hour, with streets closed from 10 am to 4 pm.

Through support from Lyft, Citi Bike will offer unlimited 30-minute rides on classic bikes for 24 hours with the promo code CARFREE24 in the Citi Bike app.

Among the highlights, four artists have been chosen to create temporary, environmentally themed works along designated routes. Natalie Wood presents EcoHarmony, transforming repurposed furniture into organic sculptures adorned with live plants, while giving away 1,000 plants to promote environmental awareness. Kelp Parade, by Amanda Thackray and Wendel Jeffrey, brings a dynamic kelp forest to life through 24 flags made from upcycled plastic bags, activated by movement and sound. Lyubava Kroll designs Keep NYC Green graphics envisioning a greener future for the city, to be installed on streetlight poles.

Signature event locations include Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, featuring a car-free route from 40th to 45th Street, and Woodside Avenue in Queens, spanning from 75th to 78th Street.

“I’m thrilled to celebrate Open Streets: Car-Free Earth Day in Queens and across the city again this year.” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr said. “This event is a great way to encourage city residents to reduce our reliance on cars and to take other steps that will reduce our city’s carbon footprint and help limit the negative impacts of climate change, which we have already started to feel.  I look forward to the Car Free Earth Day festivities that will take place on Woodside Avenue in Elmhurst, which will be a great launching point for DOT’s highly anticipated Open Streets and Public Space Programming season.”

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso emphasized the importance of sustainable transportation, envisioning safer, cleaner streets and more livable neighborhoods through investments in public transit.

“Car-free streets are more than a celebration of Earth Day, they’re a chance for New Yorkers to see the sustainable, green, healthy city of the future that’s within reach,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “By investing in public transit and encouraging a shift away from private vehicles, we can achieve a future where our streets are safer, air is cleaner, and neighborhoods are more livable. I’m so excited that NYC DOT will be not only upping the number of car-free streets but increasing the hours of operations as well, and I hope to see all of New York enjoying the great outdoors in honor of Earth Day.”

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

State Assemblyperson Jenifer Rajkumar held a rally with State Senator Leroy Comrie and about 20 supporters on the steps of City Hall on Friday to call for the SMOKEOUT Act to be included in the State’s enacted budget.

The SMOKEOUT (Stop Marijuana Overproliferation and Keep Empty Operators of Unlicensed Transactions) Act, first introduced in early January, is Rajkumar’s proposed fix to the state’s bumpy rollout of cannabis legalization and the proliferation of thousands of illegal, unlicensed smoke shops through the five boroughs. Under the proposed rule, local municipalities would have the power to shutter illegal shops and seize all merchandise. Currently, that power is reserved for the State’s Office of Cannabis Management, which has only 14 inspectors statewide.

“I think all New Yorkers feel right now like they’re high, because they look at the situation and it makes no sense,” Rajkumar said at the rally. “There are 1000 times more illegal shops than there are legal shops. There’s only about 60 legal shops in the whole state. And there’s 36,000 illegal shops. How can this be? Am I high right now?”

Comrie told the crowd that the issue was consistently top of mind among his constitutents. “Every meeting I attend, everywhere I go, people want to see these places shut down,” he said. “The ones that have been inspected, they found rat feces in the basement. They found other chemicals that are being mixed in with the marijuana. You don’t know what you’re getting. You’re not getting it from a safe supplier.”

Rajkumar’s office estimates there are about 1,500 illegal shops in New York City alone. Previous estimates cited by Council Member Lyn Schulman this past summer put that number much higher, at 8,000. Mayor Eric Adams has claimed that if Rajkumar’s legislation is enacted, the city could shut down every illegal shop in 30 days.

“The state budget is due on April 1. That’s five and a half weeks from today. On April 1, I don’t want to be standing here saying ‘April Fools,’” Rajumar said. “I want to be standing here saying ‘we have put the SMOKEOUT Act in the state budget.’”

By Charlie Finnerty | cfinnerty@queensledger.com

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member James F. Gennaro announced a $5 million allocation of capital funds to John Bowne High School’s agricultural program in a press conference at the Flushing school Monday, November 20. The agricultural program dates back to 1917 when young New Yorkers were recruited to fill positions on farms upstate when workers were recruited to fight in World War I. Since then, the program has grown into a nationally recognized hub for agricultural education on the school’s campus in the heart of Queens with over 500 current students and eight teachers managing four acres poultry, livestock, animal laboratories, greenhouses, orchards and field crops.

Assistant Principal of Agriculture Patrycja Zbrzezny said the financial support from City Council will fuel the agricultural program for years to come.

“It is with great pleasure and heartfelt appreciation that I extend our deepest thanks to Councilmember Gennaro, and Speaker Adams for the extraordinary generosity of donating the $5 million in our historic school farm,” Zbrzezny said. “The impact of this donation extends beyond the fences of our farm. With this significant support. We can now envision a future where innovation and sustainability flourish in our agriculture education program.”

Senior Melissa Pratt said the unique position of John Bowne’s program in New York City provides unique opportunities for students to learn about hydroponics and micro farming operations that might not be seen in the typical agricultural programs in more rural parts of the country. Pratt pointed out that, as the agricultural industry in the United States changes, the techniques and tools for small-scale farming taught at John Bowne are increasingly important.

“The [agriculture] program has helped us build on urban agriculture,” Pratt said. “There’s a big difference with people from Texas or from Florida or even in New York outside of the city. Agriculture is much different with us compared to them. We have a much smaller area but we still get to do all that hands-on learning to understand and have a better idea of how the future might look for us as a whole with a lot of farmland being cut down.”

Senior Aniyah Findlay Thomas said her work with animals and farming at John Bowne has given her a sense of purpose and direction since starting high school.

“Growing up, I very much didn’t know what I wanted to do. You know, you want to be a doctor, a scientist, an astronaut,” Findlay Thomas said. “I feel like I really didn’t discover what I wanted to be until I reached high school. This program has done wonders for me.”

Zoe Valencia said her time at the agricultural program has inspired her to pursue a career as a veterinarian.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be doing something in agriculture in the future until I got here at Bowne,” Valencia said. “It helps us develop traits that help us in certain careers. For example, I want to be a veterinarian in the future, and being in [the Veterinary Science Club] I’ve been able to learn about procedures and terms that are actually used in the veterinary world.”

Sophomore Maria Rivera said in addition to the skills learned through the agricultural program, she has found working with the animals to be a therapeutic outlet.

“Just being out here working with the smaller animals or the barn animals, yeah, it’s a lot but it’s honestly very therapeutic. It brings comfort to me,” Rivera said. “Just being in this school, it has kinda opened new doors for me.”

The students also emphasized that the program teaches a wide array of skills beyond farming, from math and sciences to law to photography and more.

“Being here has helped us broaden our horizons. It’s not just farming,” Pratt said. “There’s a whole bunch of different aspects. There’s aquaculture hydroponics, there’s different law parts to it, there’s reporters, photographers, different stuff like that which has just opened everybody’s eyes. There’s much bigger things than just working with animals.”

By Celia Bernhardt and Charlie Finnerty

Vickie Paladino won reelection to City Council to represent District 19 for a second term, defeating former State Senator Tony Avella, who also held the seat in the past. Taking home 60 percent of the vote in contrast to her narrow 47 percent plurality last time she faced Avella in 2021, Paladino’s win solidified her hold in eastern Queens — showing that her election to City Council as a hardline firebrand conservative could not only be repeated, but strengthened. On election night, Paladino emphasized that her victory would not have been possible without support from conservative Democrats across the aisle and the local area’s growing Asian-American population.

At around 9:30 PM, a cheering crowd from Paladino’s election party began to spill into the parking lot outside of her Bay Terrace campaign office as Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” blared over the speaker system.

“This couldn’t have been done without God—and all of our amazing volunteers that have been out since the beginning of this campaign,” Stefano Forte, Paladino’s campaign manager, said to overwhelming whoops and cheers from the crowd. “This is a mandate. The people of district 19 are telling us that Vickie Paladino is doing the job that they want.”

Paladino’s son, Thomas Paladino, took the stage after Forte.

“This race was never what the media made it out to be. We won this race from the day it was announced,” Thomas Paladino said. “This was a concoction, a figment of our opponent’s imagination. It was a concoction of the media who needed something to talk about. And I think that we put to bed the notion that there is any competition in this district for Vickie Paladino.”

“Now we can finally say that this district is rid of him once and for all,” Paladino said. “We rejected his poison. This district looked him in the eye, saw what he was saying, and said, ‘no, thank you. We’ve had enough of you. Vickie Paladino is doing the job that we want her to do. And we don’t believe you.’”

Paladino emphasized that his mother could not have won the district without votes from Democrats.

“I think that when all the votes are counted, and when everybody sees where our votes came from, they’re going to be very, very surprised about the bipartisan support that we have in this district.”

Thomas then called up Yanling Wagner, the campaign’s Asian Liaison, to embrace her. “I love Yanling—we all do,” he said. “We could not have done it without her and without the support of the Asian community.

After her son’s speech, Vickie Paladino was welcomed to the mic with thunderous applause as “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty played. She sang and danced in place as her staff held a giant sign reading “VIC-TORIOUS” behind her.

“You need any more proof than that?” she said. “My theme song.”

“We taught the people of this district that slander will not sell,” Paladino said. “We taught the people of this district that they could trust me.”

Paladino also took a moment to emphasize her gratitude to Wagner. “I want to thank Yanling for everything that she’s done with me, for me. That’s my Asian liaison. I cannot thank you enough, Yanling, from the bottom of my heart I thank you.”

A dancing conga line of Paladino’s staff and supporters formed after the speeches concluded.

Speaking directly to the Queens Ledger, Paladino expressed gratitude for her voters.

“Most important is the constituents themselves. They showed me tonight the trust that they have in me, and they cross party lines,” Paladino said. “This wasn’t Republican, this was quality of life. I resonate to everybody. I cross all barriers.”

She also relished the successful defeat of her longtime rival. “I beat [Avella] big in ‘18,” Paladino said. “I beat him again in ‘21. And now I beat him huge tonight.”

On the topic of winning as an incumbent for the first time, Paladino said she considered it “an honor.”

“Now I get the opportunity to finish the job that I started. Two years is not long enough. But I got done so much in two years that I’m looking forward to the next two. And then after that, the next four.”

“We will tackle everything that comes our way, with the same vigor that we did these last two years,” Paladino said. “There’s no such thing as problems for my office, only solutions, and the constituents know that as well. They know they can pick up the phone and call Vickie.”