QNS is looking back at the top stories throughout 2025, as we look forward to 2025.
Below are some of the top stories from the month of July, including a concert, Independence Day activities and more.
Free jazz and R&B festival returns to Jamaica’s Rufus King Park on July 26
Many Queens residents were interested in this year’s Downtown Jamaica Riddim and Jazz Festival, hosted by the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning on Saturday, July 26, at Rufus King Park in Jamaica.
Several local and internationally renowned musicians in jazz, salsa and R&B performed at the free event, including American jazz alto and soprano saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, New York-based Japanese pianist, organist, composer and educator Miki Yamanaka, Queens-based urban contemporary band the Bartlett Contemporaries, who blend together music genres like salsa, R&B and jazz, and trumpeter, band leader, educator and New York native Steve Oquendo.
This year’s event built upon the success of the 2024 festival, which drew thousands of attendees. The audience was even larger this year, showing just how popular this event has become in the Queens community in a short amount of time.
Fireworks, food and fun: What to do in Queens this July 4
There are often plenty of fun activities to do in Queens each Independence Day. Shortly before the holiday, QNS highlighted some of the potential things to do during America’s birthday.
Events in Queens included rooftop celebrations with fireworks watch parties, as well as live musical performances. Several bars and restaurants had holiday staples available, including burgers, hot dogs, sausages, BBQ, beer and more.
One of the previewed events was a watch party of the July 4 Subway Series game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees, with the Mets rallying late to win the game 6-5.
Among the Queens businesses highlighted for their Independence Day events were the CityView Rooftop Lounge in College Point, Prime Met Steakhouse in Flushing, One Station Plaza in Bayside, Murphy’s Bar in Astoria, Greats of Craft in Long Island City and Claret Wine Bar in Sunnyside.
Limited-edition ‘Welcome to Queens’ street signs go on sale as part of NYC DOT’s monthly drop
The New York City Department of Transportation launched a limited sale of “Welcome to Queens” signs in July, which became very attractive to many Queens residents.
Part of the Department of Transportation’s monthly sign drop initiative, this limited sale was for 50 of these hand-crafted signs, each priced at $100. Proceeds from sales benefited New York City’s general fund.
Upon the launch of sales, this marked just the second borough-specific drop from the Department of Transportation’s monthly sign sales since the initiative began in June 2024.
Numerous Queens residents were eager to learn about the sale of these signs, which were produced by the Department of Transportation’s Maspeth-based sign shop. In addition to celebrating the borough, the Welcome to Queens signs made for great collector’s items.
Average price of Queens houses surpasses $1M in Q2 2025: Report
A report came out in July 2025 from the real estate agency Brown Harris Stevens that found the average price of single-family homes in Queens eclipsed $1 million for the first time ever in the second quarter of the year, which ranged from April to June.
The average price for the quarter reached $1,013,558. This marked a big jump of 9.1% from the $928,953 average during the same quarter the previous year.
Despite the fact that the average price of homes in the borough went up year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025, the total number of closed sales for homes in Queens declined slightly over the same period of time, from 1,331 in 2024 to 1,301 in 2025.
Apartments in Queens also went up in average price by 4% during this period of time, from $487,641 in the second quarter of 2024 to $550,417 in the second quarter of 2025. Unlike with homes in the borough, apartments increased in closed sales over this span. The increase in closed sales matched the rise in price, at 4%, from 1,141 last year to 1,183 this year.
