🌱 Nneji + Kosciuszko Bridge Illuminated + Habitat Net Zero

Morning, people of Queens! Miranda Fraraccio here with a brand-new issue of the Queens Daily.

First, today's weather:

Cooler with a shower or two. High: 50 Low: 38.

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Here are the top three stories today in Queens:

1. One Queens woman is on a mission to share her West African cuisine and culture. 31-year-old Beatrice Ajaero turned her pride in her Nigerian roots into a now-thriving restaurant called Nneji during the pandemic. Her restaurant, located at 32-20 34th Avenue in Astoria, serves authentic Nigerian and West African food inspired by Ajaero’s mom and aunts, such as yassa, egusi soup, and spicy goat stew. (WPIX 11 New York)
2. The Kosciuszko Bridge was illuminated in solidarity with the Ukrainian people on Thursday night. The bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Queens by way of Long Island City, was among 13 landmarks chosen statewide by Governor Kathy Hochul to illuminate, marking one month since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24. On Thursday, the Governor also launched a website that contains resources to help Ukrainian people and allies in New York, including information on immigration assistance and how to give humanitarian aid. (Patch)
3. An ambitious plan to rehab abandoned buildings in southeast Queens is breaking ground. Thirteen derelict homes will be torn down or rehabbed into 16 permanently affordable homes as part of the new plan, Habitat Net Zero, and transferred into the ownership of nonprofit Interboro Community Land Trust. The houses, located near 116th Avenue, were part of an abandoned program for affordable homeownership initiated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) before being transferred to NYCHA as rentals — where they remained vacant. (Next City)

Today in Queens:

• Virtual Saturday Science Lab: Birds On The Wing, At Long Island City Library (11:00 AM)
• Conversational Bengali For Beginners, At Glen Oaks Branch Library (11:00 AM)
• Nice One! Comedy Show, At Culture Lab LIC (9:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Learn about the Queens Public Library through the years. (Western Queens Gazette)
• Lawmakers announced that $1 million has been secured to help in the creation of a new NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens dialysis center. (QNS.com)
• A proposed Queens to Brooklyn train could link with a Port Authority-managed public transit route to LaGuardia Airport in Jackson Heights. (Patch)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Saturday. I'll see you back in your inbox Monday with a new update!

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander, now living in New York. She works as a staff writer for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and is a graduate of The University of Rhode Island, where she earned a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies. In her free time, you can find her traveling, drinking tea, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.