🌱Man Slashed With Blade On F Train + LL Cool J Musical Sculpture

Hey, people of Queens! It's me again, Miranda Fraraccio, your host of the Queens Daily.

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny. High: 52 Low: 39.

Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. A homeless woman slashed a man early Saturday in an unprovoked attack aboard a Queens-bound F train, the latest in a surge of subterranean assaults. “You’re a demon and your sons are going to burn to death!” the 51-year-old woman raged before slicing the stunned victim across the stomach with an unidentified blade. The attacker was behaving erratically before suddenly lunging at her target as the train headed from Lexington Ave. to the Roosevelt Island station, where cops arrested the woman after she and the victim exited the train. (Yahoo!)
2. A local sculptor paid homage to Queens native LL Cool J by unveiling a bronze bust of the rapper that also plays his music. Artist Sherwin Banfield has been sculpting busts of Queens rap icons — including Prodigy of Mobb Depp, the late Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, and the late Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest — since 2019. His latest work will be on display at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park through November of 2022. (TheGrio)
3. A New Jersey driver was killed when he lost control of his SUV on a Queens expressway, sending the vehicle “spinning” across all five lanes of traffic and into a cement median. 34-year-old Omkar Shivnauth was traveling northbound on the Whitestone Expressway when he lost control of his Toyota Highlander and struck the right side guardrail. Shivnauth was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from severe trauma following the 4:20 a.m. crash Saturday. There were no other accidents or injuries, police said; the investigation is ongoing. (New York Post)
4. Sometimes Santa ditches his sleigh and delivers presents from none other than an NYPD vehicle. Patrol Borough Queens North took Santa on a ride through Queens on Saturday, stopping at several spots to drop off wrapped gifts to children of deserving families. One of the stops was at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, where Santa and his helpers delighted the children with their arrival. (WABC-TV)
5. Elected officials and community organizers in Queens are calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to immediately invest an additional $3 billion to the New York State Excluded Workers Fund to aid countless immigrant families previously left out of crucial financial support. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards sent a letter to Hochul on Dec. 8, urging the governor to replenish the fund that quickly ran out of funds to dispense. Said Richards, “Even after this week’s announcement that the $2 billion fund has been fully exhausted, it is clear that a pressing need for additional financial assistance still exists here in Queens.” (QNS.com)

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Today in Queens:

• VIRTUAL Peer Ethics for Recovery Professionals (PARC Bronx) (9:00 AM)
• DIY: An Introduction to Brush Lettering an Adult Art Instruction Workshop for Beginners (10:00 AM)
• Gabriel Guerrero: Jazz Piano - Glen Oaks Branch Library (4:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Queens Botanical Garden: "Attention Educators! On Wed, 12/29, the QBG Compost Team is hosting a FREE workshop: Compost in the Classroom: Incorporating Compost into Lesson Plans! Sign up today for this online class to learn how to connect compost with students as they learn about environmental stewardship. Register today: https://qbgcompostintheclassroom2021.eventbrite.com" (Facebook)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a freelance copywriter for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and as an assistant producer for a live-lit storytelling show in Chicago. She holds a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Rhode Island. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.