Queens Chronicle

Automated traffic tickets issued by cameras mounted on Q8 buses will come with fines effective today, Aug. 14, the official end of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s 60-day grace period. The MTA also has announced that Automated Camera Enforcement technology will be mounted on the Q101 line effective Monday, Aug. 17. Cameras will issue warnings for 60 days for blocking bus lanes and bus stops. Other new routes in the program are the B8 and B9 in Brooklyn and the Bx 21 in the Bronx.

It took four years to bring Damion Howell to trial for the August 2022 shooting that killed Julian Askew. On Tuesday, it took a Queens jury two hours to convict him of second-degree murder. Howell, a 42-year-old Flushing resident, shot Askew, 29, following a dispute that began in a Jamaica bogeda. He died after three months. Howell subsequently fled the country and was arrested nine months later.

Nine New York City residents, including three from Queens, are among 11 people charged in a two-count federal indictment for allegedly arranging sham marriages between foreign nationals and U.S. citizens in order to improperly obtain legal immigration status.

Woodhaven residents and business owners near the elevated J/Z subway stop at 85 St.-Forest Parkway along Jamaica Avenue may have a light before the end of the Manhattan-bound tunnel. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority told the Chronicle in an email on Tuesday that the construction work, heavy equipment and sidewalk sheds will be clearing out by the end of 2026. The initial goal was August 2025.

Overgrown tree branches have long been an issue on several blocks of 92nd Street in Elmhurst, according to residents. But, they say, the situation recently got worse, with low-hanging power lines. Rina Lam, who lives on the block between 52nd and 53rd avenues, said tree branches have remained uncut for years, presenting a risk of injury and property damage as they loom over homes.

Less than two months after smothering his recurring Democratic Party primary challenger by over 40 points this past June, Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D-Queens Village) says his longtime rival, and president of the St. Albans Civic Improvement Association, defrauded the state’s matching funds campaign finance system using a straw donation scheme.

British writer A.A. Milne, remembered most today as the creator of the Winnie-the-Pooh book series, was actually known primarily as a playwright until his great success with the beloved teddy bear.

As the federal government reportedly steps up arrests of unauthorized immigrants in Western Queens, some elected officials and advocates are showing their support for those at risk of deportation. The activist group Make the Road New York and lawmakers rallied Monday at Corona Plaza to decry the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and declare solidarity with those being targeted.

For over a century, an Episcopal congregation has occupied a square of land, just a block above Jamaica Avenue. For some, it was a church hidden in plain sight; online, the congregation’s motto has been: “A small church with a big heart.” On Sunday, Sept. 6, the pastor, the Rev. Frederick Walker, will oversee the final service at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.

English language arts test scores for city public school students have fallen 6 percentage points since last year, according to new Department of Education data. As per a city DOE report released last week, the percentage of students in grades 3 to 8 achieving proficiency in ELA dropped from 56.3 in 2025 to 50.3 this year. Just over half of the 98,020 students in Queens who were tested — 51.6 percent — scored a 3 or 4 out of the 4-point scale in ELA assessments.