🌱 Travelers Stranded At LaGuardia + Mabel Muniz Sarduy Retiring

Happy Tuesday, Queens! Let's get you all caught up on what's happening locally to start today off on an informed note.

First, today's weather:

A passing afternoon shower. High: 54 Low: 40.

Here are the top stories today in Queens:

1. American Airlines cancellations left travelers stranded and frustrated at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday. The airline canceled over 800 flights, or about 30 percent of planned flights for the day, citing weather conditions and staffing shortages as the problem. One traveler was told they might not be able to get rebooked until Tuesday. (WABC-TV)
2. A top Queens school official who was behind a controversial diversity plan is retiring. Mabel Muniz Sarduy, executive superintendent of Queens North, told her principals in an email that she is stepping down from her post effective this week, after two years in the position. Several Queens principals said Monday they were taken aback by the timing of her exit this week, due to her leaving during the middle of an "uncertain" school year. (New York Post )
3. A man is in custody after falsely claiming a 7-year-old boy was missing in a Queens carjacking in order to get his stolen car back faster. James Reyes, 32, allegedly reported the child was inside the red Ford Mustang when it was stolen from 202nd Street at around 6:45 p.m. on Sunday, apparently to expedite the police response. Reyes was charged with filing a false police report. (WABC-TV)
4. A $1.8 million play space is now open at PS 223 in Queens, as New York Road Runners kick off marathon week by opening their 11th play space in the five boroughs. For the last several years, NYRR has teamed up with a nonprofit group, The Trust For Public Land, to take existing empty schoolyards and revamp them for the entire community. When school is out, the space is open to the entire neighborhood until it closes at dusk. (CBS New York)
5. Governor Kathy Hochul nominated Hope Knight as the new president and CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation and Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development. Knight will serve as acting commissioner, president and CEO until confirmed by the New York State Senate, according to the governor’s office. Knight has led as the president and CEO of Greater Jamaica Development Corporation since 2015, advancing the economic growth, community-building, and sustainable real estate development that revitalized and strengthened southeast Queens. (QNS.com)

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Today in Queens:

• Reinvigorating Wise Lives: Handmade Origami Journals Part Two - Queens Public Library at Glen Oaks (12:00 PM)
• Identifying Your Work Skills Webinar - Queens Public Library at Glen Oaks (12:00 PM)

Queens Patch Notebook

• Queens Botanical Garden: "Remember: this Saturday, 11/6, 10am-1:30pm, do something fun with your pumpkins after Halloween! 🎃 Bring your jack-o-lanterns, uncarved pumpkins, or soon-to-compost gourds to Lou Lodati Park in Sunnyside for NYC Compost Project hosted bby QBG’s 2021 Pumpkin Smash!" (Facebook)
• Queens Borough President Donovan Richards: "CSA has thrived when it came to providing the support and training needed so that school administrations had what they needed to succeed during the pandemic. We are grateful for the great work and support you have done. Thx Council of School Supervisors & Administrators for a great conference this weekend." (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.