🌱 Queens Turkey Trot + Meals For Ida Victims + Friend’s Tavern

Good morning, Queens! Happy Thanksgiving! Please know that, like most of you, I will be taking the day off to enjoy the festivities, so there will not be a newsletter in your inbox tomorrow. We appreciate your understanding of the slight pause in the Queens Daily, and we'll be back to our normal routine Saturday morning!

First, today's weather:

More clouds than sun. High: 55 Low: 42.

Here are the top stories in Queens today:

1. The Queens Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving weekend is still open for signups. While turkey trots traditionally take place on Thanksgiving Day, the TriStateRuns NYC Turkey Trot in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is held on Saturday, Nov. 27th, and registration is available until 9:00 a.m. day-of. The race kicks off at the Unisphere and includes a traditional 5K plus a half marathon on the same course. (Queens Patch)
2. Thanks to a partnership between a local nonprofit, government, and corporate partners, more than 100 families affected by Hurricane Ida received a turkey, ham, and other goods for Thanksgiving. Most of those affected were largely from Queens and other areas of New York, where Ida left devastation and death in its wake. Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens (NHSQ), NYS Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, Federal Home Loan of New York, NYC PEU Office, Cherry Valley Supermarket, Betty Catering, and Empire Blue Cross partnered up to provide the meals. (Western Queens Gazette)
3. Permits have been filed for a seven-story mixed-use building at 97-44 64th Avenue in Rego Park. The proposed 73-foot-tall development will yield 20,800 square feet, with 16,788 square feet designated for 25 residences and 4,012 square feet for community facility space. Demolition permits were filed in July for a two-story residential building on the site, but an estimated completion date has not been announced. (New York YIMBY)
4. The oldest gay bar in Queens will remain in Jackson Heights after the owner purchased the building in which it has operated for more than three decades. When Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz heard Friend’s Tavern owner Eddie Valentin and his business partner Casimiro Villa wanted to purchase the building at 78-11 Roosevelt Ave., Cruz connected Valentin with the Queens Chamber of Commerce to facilitate an introduction to representatives from TD Bank, which led to a mortgage. A ribbon-cutting celebration at the tavern Monday night followed a difficult year and a half for so many small businesses in Queens that were impacted by COVID restrictions placed on bars and restaurants. (QNS.com)
5. A number of local non-profits and community groups came together in Astoria last week to distribute Thanksgiving turkeys to families in need across Queens. Organizers for the event, which was organized by the non-profit Queens Together, said that 1,000 turkeys were delivered to 1,000 families throughout the day. The non-profit joined forces with Kaufman Astoria Studios, Innovation QNS, Sysco Foods, and TF Cornerstone to purchase the turkeys. Some of the groups that helped in the distribution efforts included VBGCQ, Zone126, Freemason Lodge 586, Dominico American Society of Queens, and the GPK Foundation. (Sunnyside Post)

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Queens Patch Notebook

• Queens Borough President Donovan Richards: "It's truly a blessing to know that we can work together to make sure that all our veterans are fed, #Queens being the home to the largest population of veterans it is our duty to make sure we are able to give back to them the way they have for us. Food Bank For New York City does an incredible job in tackling the accessibility of food throughout the entire city and it is a great honor to be here at the St. Albans VA Medical Center to support their pop-up pantry." (Facebook)
• Queens Museum: "We are proud to be partnering with Visual AIDS, for Day With(out) Art 202! On December 1st, join us for “ENDURING CARE”, a video program highlighting strategies of community care within the ongoing HIV epidemic. The program features newly commissioned work by Katherine Cheairs, Cristóbal Guerra, Danny Kilbride, Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad and Uriah Bussey, Beto Pérez, Steed Taylor, and J Triangular and the Women’s Video Support Project." (Facebook)
• Queens Chamber of Commerce: "Are you a #marketing or communications major interested in B2B growth? Learn from Wendt Partners about free tools to grow your skills, #businessstrategy, #brandstrategy, and more." (Facebook)

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— 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.