LIC/Astoria Journal

Strong videos do not always translate into a growing TikTok audience. A creator can spend hours refining a concept, editing clips, and choosing the right opening, only to see the follower count barely move. That gap between effort and visible progress makes follower services appealing. The attraction is easy to understand. An established follower count can shape a visitor’s first impression.

<img src=”https://queensledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/IMG_6960-scaled-e1790614445768-1024×527.jpeg” alt=”” width=”1024″ height=”527″ class=”size-large wp-image-20287″ /> Former Queens Community Board 1 member and State Assemblymember-elect Brian Romero testifies at the September 22 meeting.

Q.E.D’s “Chalkathon” in September overwhelmed the chalk vandal. (Photo: @qedastoria on Instagram) THE GOTHAM GOOSE | thegothamgoose@gmail.com At 7:22 one morning, a man stopped outside QED Astoria, purposely spilled his drink onto a sidewalk with chalk drawings and dragged his foot across it attempting to erase it. Then, as QED’s owner described on Instagram from security footage after several incidents, he looked toward the camera and gave it the finger.

Members of the Pop the Bubble Coalition making posters. Photo via Instagram. Pop the Astoria Bubble is bigger than tennis and the rest of NYC should be listening. BY NICOLAS STERGIOU | nicolas.stergiou@gmail.com Astoria has become very good at organizing itself. A group starts because people want to pick up garbage. Another wants to make Mondays slightly less depressing.

BY NICOLAS STERGIOU | nicolas.stergiou@gmail.com I love music. I love Astoria. I think silent discos can be fun—maybe a little awkward if you’re only watching. Living here, I wish my neighbors would adopt headphones when they have backyard music parties until 2 a.m. But I was in my twenties once. I get it. But if there were ever an inappropriate moment for a “disco” of any kind — silent or otherwise — it’s probably a September 11th memorial.

BY COLE SINANIAN  | cole@queensledger.com ASTORIA – A coalition of local tennis players and activists are sounding the alarm over a proposal to build private “bubble” enclosures over most of Astoria Park’s tennis courts, which they argue would mark the beginning of the total privatization of the park’s public spaces and turn the sport into a costly and exclusive activity.

BY COLE SINANIAN cole@queensledger.com ASTORIA — The smells of succulent Brigadeiro, rich, savory bowls of Feijoada and cheesy chunks of Pão de Queijo filled 31st Avenue on September 5, and if you don’t know what these things are, mark your calendars for next year’s BrasilFest, a brand new festival celebrating Brazilian independence and culture right in the heart of Astoria’s liveliest commercial district.

Doreen Mohammed and James Carr, Astoria Tenant Union organizers. (Photo:@astoriatenantunion on Instagram) And what the Astoria Tenant Union can teach us about actually using it. Nicolas Stergiou nicolas.stergiou@gmail.com Social Media Manager, Labor, Organizer, and Unnofficial “Astoria Street Spectator” I have been renting apartments for more than 20 years, most of that time in Astoria.

Photo via astoriafoodpantry.com BY EMIL MOHAMED news@queensledger.com ASTORIA  — Where can you go to get warm bread, a crash course in tarot, abolitionist literature and good-old-fashioned company — all for free, powered by your neighbors? At the Astoria Food Pantry, of course! An unassuming space on Steinway Street and 28th Ave with a community fridge out front, the Astoria Food Pantry is abuzz on its busiest days, with neighbors lining up outside for bread, food, and clothes.

A political cartoon published in Puck Magazine about the disaster. Obtained from stuffnobodycaresabout.com How negligence turned General Slocum’s summer excursion into one of New York’s deadliest disasters — and helped erase an entire neighborhood. BY NICHOLAS STERGIOU nicolas.stergiou@gmail.com Social Media Manager, Labor Organizer, and Unnofficial “Astoria Street Spectator” From Astoria Park, Hell Gate looks more scenic than threatening.