As 2024 turns into 2025, QNS is looking back on its most popular stories from each month of the year.
From new store openings to popular new pop-up festivals, a variety of stories have captured our readers’ attention throughout the year. Below, we offer a look at the stories that proved most popular between January and November.
December: Pet store owners in Queens brace for impact as New York ban on sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits takes effect
By Shane O’Brien
As a new law banning the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in New York pet stores came into effect, pet stores across Queens braced for the impact of the new law, which altered the nature of their business.
The Puppy Mill Pipeline Act, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022, officially took effect on Dec. 15, prohibiting retail pet shops from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. The legislation, co-sponsored by Queens state Sen. Michael Gianaris and Manhattan Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, aims to crack down on unethical breeding practices and encourage pet adoption.
Nasser Ahmed, owner of Vanity Pups in Bayside, said his store will pivot to focus on services such as grooming, daycare, and pet accessories. Despite these changes, Ahmed anticipates a significant financial blow and has been forced to lay off four of his five staff members to keep the business afloat
November: Parents speak out as DOE proposes new school for recently immigrated students at Ridgewood’s IS 77
By Max Parrott
In November, the Department of Education unveiled plans to create a Queens junior high and high school for recently immigrated students in the partially occupied school building that houses Ridgewood Middle School IS 77.
The proposal is part of the city’s bid to address widespread overcrowding and the influx of recently immigrated students to New York City.
However, the project has met resistance from a group of IS 77 parents who are petitioning the public school system to expand the existing middle school to become a high school that serves neighborhood residents. Parents raised concerns over the school’s previous high school co-location, when Bushwick Leaders High School moved into the building for two years.
Parents said the previous co-location created an environment that was disruptive and, at times, unsafe for their middle school students. That co-location caused a serious breach of trust between the DOE and the parents.
October: Order free at-home COVID-19 test kits as USPS resumes nationwide distribution
By QNS News Team
The US Postal Service (USPS) resumed its distribution of millions of at-home COVID-19 test kits across the nation as part of a federal effort to enhance access to testing.
The program, a partnership with the White House and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), allows U.S. residents to order rapid test kits at no cost through the site COVIDTests.gov.
This latest round of distribution comes as New York City continues to track COVID-19 trends and totals, which include daily case counts, hospitalizations and death rates by borough. Up-to-date data from NYC Health shows ongoing surveillance of the virus’s impact across communities, with weekly updates on the citywide situation and neighborhood-specific transmission levels.
September: Queens Center Mall expands offerings with five new retailers, including Primark and Burlington
By Czarinna Andres
Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst announced the addition of five major retailers in September, including the highly anticipated arrival of multinational retailers H&M and Primark.
The new additions brought the Macerich-controlled shopping mall to full occupancy, with Warby Parker, Gap and KIKO Milano opening in the mall at the time of the September announcement. H&M and Primark have since opened at the mall, while Burlington opened a new store in the JCPenney building, operated separately by the Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.
The previous H&M location at Queens Center shut its doors in 2020 as part of a broader corporate downsizing. The reopening of H&M marks the brand’s return to the mall and is seen as part of a new strategy to strengthen the store’s local presence.
Meanwhile, Primark opened its second Queens-based location at the mall after previously opening a Jamaica location in 2022.
August: Chinese Dragon Fest to pop up in Forest Hills this month with over 100 food vendors
By Iryna Shkurhan
The Queens debut of Dragon Fest, New York City’s largest outdoor Chinese food and cultural festival, provoked huge excitement among the QNS community back in August.
Dragon Fest made its Queens debut at Forest Hills at the end of August, offering attendees a chance to sample more than 100 popular and rare Chinese dishes.
The 2024 Dragon Fest season, which started in April and ran through October, was the biggest yet, with pop-up events almost every weekend across the city.
Vendors lined Queens Boulevard between Yellowstone Boulevard and 72nd Road for the Queens-based pop-up, offering a diverse menu that included soup dumplings, lotus root sandwiches, fried skewers, noodles and iron plate tofu.
July: Port Authority slashes price for AirTrain to JFK this summer to cut down traffic
By Christian Murray
The Port Authority’s announcement that it was halving the price of AirTrain fares from July 1 through Labor Day garnered significant attention in Queens and across New York City in July.
The Port Authority announced that it was slashing prices in order to reduce congestion at the airport over the summer amid extensive construction at JFK.
The fare reduction aimed to encourage more travelers to use the AirTrain, helping to alleviate traffic during the peak construction period.
June: Queens park rape: Person of interest in custody after being assaulted, sources say
By Robert Pozarycki, Dean Moses and Bill Parry
The apprehension of 25-year-old Christian Inga in connection with the brutal rape of a 13-year-old girl in Kissena Corridor Park in Flushing was one of the most-read stories on QNS in June.
Sources close to the investigation reported that Inga resided at a men’s shelter in the vicinity of 108th and Waldron Streets in Corona, where he was restrained by at least ten fellow residents, who used a belt to tie him up.
Inga has since faced predatory sexual assault, rape, kidnapping and other charges in connection to the attack, which occurred on June 13.
May: NYPD confiscates nearly 100 illegal scooters and mopeds in western Queens crackdown: DA
By Bill Parry
News that the NYPD had seized nearly 100 illegal scooters and mopeds off the streets of Long Island City, Corona and Elmhurst caught the attention of Queens readers in May.
The Queens District Attorney’s office announced on May 13 that the operation took place to address the persistent use of scooters in crimes such as drive-by shootings and robberies with searches at five locations in the confines of the 114th Precinct in Astoria and the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst.
“Unregistered scooters are not only illegal, but they are also being used to commit violent crimes, including shootings and robberies, without any accountability or ability to identify the culprit,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
April: DEVELOPING: Nearby earthquake shakes New York City
By Emily Davenport
The rare earthquake that shook New York in early April was all anyone in Queens – and other parts of New York City – was talking about for at least a week.
The 4.8-magnitude earthquake—the most powerful to hit New York City in more than a decade—originated three miles north of Lebanon, New Jersey, and could be felt throughout the tri-state area. Some people reported feeling the earthquake for at least ten seconds.
“We’re really moving and shaking here in Queens, in more than one way,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said on X following the earthquake. “My team and I will be monitoring conditions across the borough today following the earthquake. How are you feeling and what are you seeing in your community?”
March: Affordable housing lottery opens for recently completed 19-story residential building in Astoria, rent starts at $3,105
By Ethan Marshall
Affordable housing proved one of the most talked-about topics in Queens in March following the launch of an affordable housing lottery for a newly finished 19-story residential building in Astoria.
Always a divisive issue, the starting point of $3,105 at the building at 26-225 4th St. proved contentious among QNS readers.
There are a total of 165 units in the building, with studio to three-bedroom rental apartments. It is situated between 26th Avenue and 27th Avenue.
Of the 50 affordable units in the lottery, nine are studio, 22 are one-bedroom and 19 are two-bedroom. All of them are meant for residents earning 130% of the area median income (AMI). The monthly rents are $3,105 for the studio units, $3,317 for the one-bedroom units and $3,963 for the two-bedroom units.
February: Queens gets its own Monopoly: Call for locals to shape the board
By Queens Post News Team
News that Queens was getting its own Monopoly board generated significant buzz among QNS and Queens Post readers back in February.
Top Trumps USA announced in February that it would be launching a Queens-specific Monopoly game before the end of the year and sought the input of Queens residents and businesses to capture the true essence of the borough.
Top Trumps later launched its Queens Monopoly in October, honoring some of the most famous and iconic landmarks and areas in the borough.
January: $12.3 million purchase of additional land for Willets Point redevelopment plan completed
By Ethan Marshall
One of the biggest stories to impact Queens throughout 2024, New York City FC’s development of a soccer-specific stadium and affordable housing complex in Willets Point made progress in January with the acquisition of two parcels of land for a total of $12.3 million.
The Willets Point project subsequently received almost unanimous approval from the City Council in April before NYCFC finally broke ground on the new stadium at the beginning of December.
