Queens Ledger - Brooklyn Star News

05/14/2026

In a borough known for bold flavors and late-night food culture, Pookie Bakery is quickly becoming one of Brooklyn’s sweetest success stories.

Tucked inside a longtime neighborhood café on Coney Island Avenue, the cookie shop has built a loyal following with oversized gourmet cookies, molten cookie tins, and a family-centered story rooted in community.

The bakery was founded by Muheed Ali, a Brooklyn entrepreneur who grew up watching his family operate Gyro Cafe for nearly two decades. Ali first started baking cookies at home for friends and relatives before his brother encouraged him to offer them at the Gyro Café. Customers immediately responded, returning for more and spreading the word throughout the neighborhood.

In a borough known for bold flavors and late-night food culture, Pookie Bakery is quickly becoming one of Brooklyn’s sweetest success stories. Tucked inside a longtime neighborhood café on Coney Island Avenue, the cookie shop has built a loyal following with oversized gourmet cookies, molten cook...

05/14/2026

Community Board #5 took quick action at last night’s meeting at Christ the King HS in Middle Village, to lobby the Parks Department for ‘getting the play-lights sports lighting timers right,’ at Principe Park, an 8-acre ‘active park’ situated along the LIE and Maurice Avenue.

The park has synthetic turf soccer and baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball and a hard surface softball field, which is used as six pickle ball courts. The pickle ball area is heavily used, as there is a self-controlled systematic coordinated use of the courts for players. It’s not unusual to see fifty or more pickle ballers at the park at any given time.

The basketball courts are also heavily used, but according to testimony at the public forum Wednesday from Kyle Beauchamp, a hoopster from Glendale who frequents the park during evening hours, he wonders why the lights shut off at 8:35, when the lights at the other two lighted sports areas are shut off at 9:30 or 9:35? “It’s about safety for those who play until the posted time of the park’s closing,” said Beauchamp.

05/13/2026

Scroll for hyper-realistic portraits, bar scenes worthy of Edward Hopper, and even a fruit fly in a diaper!

On Friday, May 8, more than fifty senior art majors from Frank Sinatra School of the Arts had an opportunity to show their work in a communal show at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, to the delight of friends, family, and curious museum-goers.

The collaboration between FSSA and MoMI started in 2022, as the school was searching for a larger venue for its end-of-year showcases. “When we have all four grades together on stage, it’s too stuffed,” explains art teacher Laura Blau. “Here, the seniors get to show everything.”

Many of the students have been recognized with Scholastic Awards, and senior Jenascia Fernandez has a painting hanging in the Met as part of a temporary exhibition.

“There’s nothing more important than letting the student go with the thing they’re gravitating towards,” says Blau. “Even if that means they have to dig themselves deep into a hole and crawl out of it in a way where they’re forced to engage in higher-order thinking.”

Read more online at queensledger.com!

05/08/2026

In a preliminary vote, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) set up a possible rent freeze on all rent stabilized units at a public hearing Thursday night in Long Island City, while rejecting a motion that would have guaranteed it.

Seven board members voted in favor of a 0 to 2% range for proposals to increase rents on one-year leases, and 0 to 4% for two-year leases. Landlord representative Christina Smyth voted no, while Mamdani appointee Maksim Wynn abstained.
The vote marks the first time that the RGB has considered a rent freeze for two-year leases, and kicks off a series of public hearings ahead of the final vote in June.

Hundreds of protesters with tenants advocacy groups flooded the sidewalk for a rally before packing into the LaGuardia Community College Performing Arts Center, holding signs and shouting “freeze the rent” as the board voted.

04/10/2026

A new educational resource is taking shape in Sunnyside, as local residents Brillie Phan and Daniel Best expand their commitment to helping Queens students build confidence and skills in math.

The husband-and-wife team behind the Astoria-based Mathnasium Center has officially opened a second Mathnasium location in Sunnyside, aiming to meet growing demand from families across western Queens.

“We live right here in northwest Queens with our two kids, so education is something that’s very important to our family,” said co-owner Brillie Phan. “We wanted to give back to the community we’re part of.”

A new educational resource is taking shape in Sunnyside, as local residents Brillie Phan and Daniel Best expand their commitment to helping Queens students build confidence and skills in math. The husband-and-wife team behind the Astoria-based Mathnasium center has officially opened a second Mathnas...

04/02/2026

Last week we had the pleasure of sitting down with assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas for a roundtable at our office in Woodside to discuss her campaign for senate. Queens Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas is running for a seat in the New York State Senate, building her campaign around health justice, housing access and community investment in the neighborhoods she has lived in for nearly three decades. The daughter of a Paraguayan immigrant, Gonzalez-Rojas said her father’s working- class journey and her early experience helping immigrant families during an internship with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.

Since being elected to the assembly in 2020, Gonzalez-Rojas has focused on initiatives such as universal school meals, reproductive health access and housing programs while working closely with residents on neighborhood issues. She said a Senate seat would give her greater ability to influence state agencies and bring more resources to Queens, including pursuing her long-term goal of establishing a community health center and expanding mental health support through a stronger social work workforce. Read more online at Queensledger.com

03/19/2026

In this week’s edition of the Queens Ledger and our 7 other weekly neighborhood papers, we sat down for an hour with to learn more about her campaign for congress. State Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who represents Queens’ 37th District, is running for Congress after a path to politics shaped by labor organizing, economic struggles and early activism. Raised in Lubbock, Texas during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Valdez first became politically engaged as a teenager through anti-war art before eventually moving to New York to pursue a career as an artist. After years of working retail and service jobs to afford life in the city, her experience with workplace conditions and the loss of employee benefits pushed her toward labor organizing.
Valdez later joined a union at Columbia University and became deeply involved in organizing through United Auto Workers Local 2110 and the Democratic Socialists of America.
She was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2024 and now says her campaign for Congress will focus on expanding union power, strengthening worker protections, improving access to health care and advancing affordable housing. Valdez argues that many of the biggest labor and economic battles happen at the federal level and says her goal in Washington would be to help build greater political and workplace power for working people. Read more on Queensledger.com

03/04/2026

In this week’s Queens Ledger Newspaper 📰

• ‘s vision for Queens

• Advocates say transit campaign promise should include fair fees

• pitched Trump $21 Billion plan to build housing over the Sunnyside Amtrak yard

• Middle Village Residents weigh in on rezoning low density plot

• Zuby elevates Red Storm with win over Nova

• Residents push back on battery site near public school 128

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03/03/2026

Zuby Ejiofor scored 16 points along with 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the St. John’s Red Storm as they bounced back from their defeat against UConn.

Ejiofor became the 4th known Johnnie to record a triple-double in the blowout win against Villanova. He follows Kadary Richmond (2025), Ron Artest (1999), and David Cain (1993 NCAA Tournament).

Ian Jackson was also phenomenal, setting a career-best with five steals along with his 19 points.

Read more at QueensLedger.com/sports.

02/16/2026

In last week’s Queens Ledger 🗞️

• succeeds Mamdani in Albany
• Former Star signs with the
• students turn 100… days
• wins innovation grant
• announces new safeguards for immigrants
• Senator steps down after 25 years in office
• take down #3 Huskies at MSG

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