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Johnnies Down Bluejays

BQE Admin on January 15, 2026

Best shooting night of the year gives the Red Storm a big road win over Creighton

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

The St. John’s Red Storm picked up vital BIG EAST wins on the road last week, defeating the Butler Bulldogs in Indianapolis before taking down the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha. Coming off a brutal loss to Providence, Rick Pitino and his team are looking to reestablish themselves and catch fire for an important stretch of conference play.

The win in Nebraska was done by way of aerial assault, playmaking, and rebounding. The Red Storm knocked down 12 threes and won both the assist and rebounding battles.

Seven of the St. John’s three-pointers came off the bench, with Lefteris Liotopoulos shooting 5/8 from downtown and Dylan Darling hitting 2/4. The Red Storm finished with 52.2% shooting from deep, by far their best mark in what’s been a relatively rough season from the floor.

For Liotopoulos, the past few BIG EAST matchups have been a good opportunity to earn important minutes in the rotation. The Sophomore out of Greece recorded his second double-digit scoring performance of the year on January 6 at Butler (10 points, matching Dec. 13 vs Iona) before using his sharpshooting to set a career high with 17 against the Bluejays in Omaha.

The back-to-back conference wins are just the beginning if St. John’s wants to steady a rocking ship. The #4 UConn Huskies are going to be very difficult to catch, already 6-0 in BIG EAST play and in order to secure a tournament bid they’ll need to finish near the top of a competitive conference.

Following Tuesday’s matchup with Marquette the next two contests for the Red Storm are on the road against 2nd place Villanova on Saturday and next Tuesday at MSG against 3rd place Seton Hall, who broke into the nation’s Top 25 this week.

“After the loss [to Providence] we gathered together and said, ‘we’re not going to lose anymore,’” said Liotopoulos following the win over Creighton. “We were great in practice, aggressive with a lot of energy and that translated on the court.”

The goal is set, and now it’s time for the Red Storm to deliver. Can they start the transformation of MSG back into the fortress it was last season, and can they do it in emphatic fashion against the rival Pirates?

Taty Castellanos Heads to West Ham

BQE Admin on January 15, 2026

Former NYC striker scores in FA Cup

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

Former New York City FC star and 2021 MLS Cup and Golden Boot winner Valentin “Taty” Castellanos has landed in London, joining West Ham United on a contract running through 2030 with an option for 2031.

Castellanos was a vital part of New York City’s first ever title-winning team. He scored the last of his 19 regular season goals on the final matchday, winning the Golden Boot via assists tiebreaker.

In the postseason, Taty scored in each of NYC’s first two matches, opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Atlanta and briefly putting them ahead in extra time against New England before an eventual win in a penalty shootout. In the MLS Cup Final in Portland, Taty scored his third playoff goal and converted in the cup-deciding penalty shootout, etching himself into club history.

The Argentine striker was loaned to Spanish side Girona FC to begin his European career in 2022 before being sold to Italian club SS Lazio the following year. In nearly 100 matches over three seasons in Rome, Taty netted 22 goals and 16 assists, a fraction of what he provided NYC in just 36 more matches played.

Now Taty heads to the British capital to help the Hammers in their quest to avoid relegation. A meager 14 points through 20 matches has West Ham four points behind safety in Nottingham Forest, but with 18 matches to play there is ample time to secure a 14th consecutive season in the Premier League.

“I hope to give my all to the fans. I’ve always defended the jersey of every team with the utmost responsibility, and I want to tell them that I’m going to give everything, to defend this jersey, and obviously, to achieve our goals day after day,” Castellanos said. “That’s the most important thing.”

Castellanos was signed and made available for his West Ham debut on Tuesday against Tottenham Hotspur. He played the full 90 minutes, recording a handful of shot attempts, though he did not find the net.

Taty’s first West Ham goal came over the weekend in FA Cup action, scoring the winner in extra time to defeat Championship side Queens Park Rangers 2-1. He headed home the winning goal from the top of the 6-yard box, finishing a great run and cross from Crysencio Summerville.

With his first West Ham goal scored, will this final stretch of the Premier League season be where the prolific goalscorer once again finds his high-scoring boots? And will it be enough to save the possibly doomed Hammers?

Maxi Moralez Re-Signs With NYC

BQE Admin on January 15, 2026

Club leader in matches played, goal contributions, returns for 10th season in City Blue

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

Long time New York City FC legend Maximiliano Moralez will be returning to the club for the 2026 MLS season. The 38-year-old Argentine has been a mainstay in the midfield, holding club records for matches played, goal contributions, and both goals and assists in the postseason.

Moralez joined the club back in 2017, briefly returning to his first ever club in Argentina’s Racing Club between the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Now NYC’s #10 returns for a 10th Major League Soccer campaign, following up a phenomenal veteran season where he started in every match and came up big in postseason clashes.

Maxi set up a trio of postseason scores, netting one himself and providing assists for the other two. In a heated Eastern Conference Final against Inter Miami, Maxi stood firm, even getting in the faces of Lionel Messi and Rodrigo de Paul.

That clash featured some trash talk about Racing Club, with all three players hailing from Argentina. While it was expected that Moralez would hang up his boots after his return home, he has instead aged like a fine wine in New York City.

While age always gets the final say at the professional level, the club can once again turn to the veteran leadership of Moralez, and in a pinch he is sure to deliver big moments to help push the team forward as they look to return to the Eastern Conference Final and this time make a second appearance in the MLS Cup Final.

“I’m very happy to be back with New York City FC for another season,” said Moralez after penning his new deal. “This Club is home for me, and I’m motivated to keep helping the team and working toward our objectives. We know what we’re capable of as a group, and my focus is on giving everything I have to help us compete and win trophies this season.”

Monitor Point, Explained

BQE Admin on January 14, 2026

Gotham Organization’s rendering for one of the Monitor Point Towers. Photo via the Gotham Organization.

A proposal to build towers by Bushwick Inlet has drawn pushback, and a key hearing is next week. Here’s what you need to know.

By COLE SINANIAN 

news@queensledger.com 

On Tuesday, January 20, Greenpointers will testify to Community Board 1 regarding plans from the Gotham Organization to build three residential towers just to the north of Bushwick Inlet, marking the beginning of what is sure to be one of Greenpoint’s landmark land-use battles of the year.  

The proposed development, located at 40 and 56 Quay Street on a small peninsula called Monitor Point, would also include museum and retail space and require a rezoning from medium to high-density. It has garnered serious opposition from local activists, who argue the towers are far too big for the location and betray a two-decade-old commitment on the City’s part to preserve the 56 Quay section as a public park. 

There are also environmental and gentrification concerns; the towers would sit on the banks of a rare and ecologically sensitive estuary that’s only just begun to recover from centuries of environmental exploitation. And with nearly 3,000 new residents expected to be added to the neighborhood — most of whom would be paying luxury rent — critics worry that the project will only accelerate displacement in an already gentrified community. 

Developers and City planners, meanwhile, have highlighted the importance of boosting housing stock and the public benefits the project would fund. Namely, a new Greenpoint Monitor Museum — which would explore the history of the USS Monitor, an early ironclad ship built in Greenpoint — and an extension of the East River esplanade that would connect the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfronts.

But a portion of the land on which the proposed towers would be built — currently owned by the Greenpoint Monitor Museum — was set aside as park land as part of the 2005 Greenpoint/Williamsburg rezoning, with the intention of eventual acquisition by the City Parks Department. For the local critics, at issue is the question of the role the public should play in deciding the fate of New York City’s treasured waterfront land, and the City’s responsibility in honoring the word of former administrations. 

“There’s this choice that’s being presented to us that’s not fair or feasible,” said Katherine Thompson, one of the directors at Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, at a January 8 presentation at the Greenpoint Library. “That you can have either open space and protect the environment or affordable housing— it shouldn’t be this dichotomy.” 

The Plan 

The mixed-use development would include three residential buildings, pedestrian connections along the waterfront that would connect Bushwick Inlet Park to the Shore Public Walkway to the north, retail space, and a building that would house an expanded Greenpoint Monitor Museum. The residential towers would stand 640ft tall, 490ft and 260ft tall and sit about 50ft from the Bushwick Inlet shoreline. The two properties, 40 Quay Street and 56 Quay Street, currently house an MTA storage facility and the current Monitor Museum, respectively. 

The developers would need a rezoning to build towers of this scale. Currently, the area is zoned R6, which is medium density and requires developers to implement setbacks and other contextual considerations when building towers. They are seeking to upzone to R8, or “high density” residential. 

The Gotham Organization estimates construction cost of $630 million. Altogether the towers will include 1,150 residential units. 

The Opposition 

As part of the consequential 2005 Williamsburg/Greenpoint rezoning that transformed the heavily polluted, once-industrial area into residential neighborhoods, the City set aside 27.8 acres of land around Bushwick Inlet to be converted into public park space. The 56 Quay Street lot on Monitor Point was one of these properties. Another became the current Bushwick Inlet Park. Others have remained empty, the soil contaminated from years of housing petroleum and fuel storage facilities, still awaiting cleanup. 

Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park was formed in part to hold the City accountable for ensuring this land became the public space that the rezoning designated it as, said Greenpointer Steve Chesler, who sits on the organization’s board of directors. In 2015, a paper storage facility owned by CitiStorage caught fire and burned to the ground. The City considered allowing the property owner to sell it to a private developer, but Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park launched an aggressive campaign, urging the City to purchase the property and keep its commitment to making this land available to the public. 

For Chesler and Thompson, the move to build residential towers on a property once slated as park land represents a betrayal by the City, and an insult to years of activism aimed at preserving the waterfront around Bushwick Inlet for the public. 

A petition by a group called Save the Inlet has already gathered more than 5,000 signatures. At the January 8 meeting at Greenpoint Library — organized to educate Greenpointers and to help them prepare their testimonies for the hearing on the 20th — community members expressed concern about the neighborhood’s population density, the shadows the towers would cast, the traffic construction could cause, and the use of small affordable housing concessions to justify what they have described as an unsustainable and out-of-context development. 

Scot Fraser, a documentary filmmaker who sits on Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park’s Board of Directors, called out the long shadows the towers would cast over the adjacent neighborhood. He also pointed out the irony of the situation — the northernmost section of the park, known as the Motiva Parcel, is set to open in the coming months after years of cleanup and advocacy. However, should the Monitor Point Towers be built, the Motiva section’s opening will likely coincide with the noisy arrival of cement trucks and construction crews. 

“That part of the park is just about to open, the Motiva section of the park, will be immediately devoured by excavating trucks,” Fraser said.  

Some residents at the meeting called the city’s affordable housing designations out-of-touch. According to the Draft Impact Environmental study, the Gotham Organization will make 40% of the Monitor Point towers’ residential units affordable at 40-80% area median income (AMI), a salary that, in New York City, amounts to about $87,000 for a three-person family. 

Others, meanwhile, criticized the City for making the discussion about housing at all.

“They love the idea about us spending time talking about what percentage of affordable housing, because then they’ve already forced the false choice,” said a Greenpointer named Andy.

“We don’t want to talk about what percentage of affordable housing. We want to talk about, find another site.”

The Process 

Despite the already simmering opposition, the plan is still in the earliest advisory stages of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, which dictates the approval process for development. 

ULURP goes like this: A developer submits its plan, along with a draft environmental impact statement, to the Department of City Planning, which reviews and certifies it. Next, the local Community Board has 60 days to review the application and provide a recommendation. This recommendation is non-binding.

“It’s not technically binding conditions,” said Chesler, who also sits on Community Board 1. “But the board kind of sets the stage. The borough president, and especially our city council member, have to answer to the people.” 

The community board review stage is made up of several meetings, of which the public hearing on January 20 is a part. On February 3, the Community Board’s Land Use Review Committee will meet to deliberate, followed by a full-board vote on February 10. 

After the community board’s recommendation, the plan goes to the borough president, whose recommendation will take into account the community board’s. Still, the borough president’s recommendation, like the community board’s, is non-binding, meaning the plan could still proceed without it. 

The plans are then sent to the City Planning Commission (CPC) for a 60-day review. This decision is binding; the plan dies if the CPC rejects it. 

If the plan is approved by the CPC, it then goes to the City Council for a 50-day review. “Member deference” is customary— that is, the City councilmember whose district the plans concern has the final say. In this case, that councilmember is Lincoln Restler. 

Finally, the mayor has the option to veto the council’s approval. If he does not, then the project is approved. 

The January 20th public hearing begins at 6:00pm in the auditorium of the Polish and Slavic Center at 176 Java St. The public will get one minute to read their testimonies. It might make sense to arrive early— if the January 8 meeting was any indication, the hearing on the 20th will be quite the spectacle. 

Brooklyn Hospitals Spared As Historic Nurse Strike Rocks Manhattan, Bronx

BQE Admin on January 14, 2026

Photo via @nynurses on Instagram.

By COLE SINANIAN

news@queensledger.com

Nearly 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday morning at three of New York City’s wealthiest private hospitals in the largest nurse strike in city history. 

The nurses have accused management at Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals and multiple Mount Sinai hospital branches of threatening to cut nurses’ health benefits plan, failing to address workplace violence, keeping dangerously low nurse-patient ratios, and rampant union busting amid a surging flu outbreak and increasing instances of violent confrontations at hospitals around the city. Nurses are also asking hospitals to ensure that patients always have access to a real human at their bedsides at a time when some hospitals have moved to implement AI tools in patient care.  

Some 16,700 nurses at 15 hospitals throughout New York City and Long Island unionized under New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) gave strike notices on January 2. Since then, 4,000 of those have withdrawn their strike notices after management at eight safety-net hospitals — which accept Medicaid and generally serve the city’s poorest communities — came to a tentative agreement with nurses. One of these, Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, is in the midst of a merger with NYC Health and Hospitals after years of financial hardship. 

Mount Sinai fired several nurses on Monday morning just hours before the picket was said to begin, in what a NYSNA press release described as illegal terminations. According to NYSNA president and veteran Maimonides nurse Nancy Hagans, the fact that the city’s most cash-strapped hospitals are willing to negotiate when its wealthiest are not illustrates the greed and disregard for nurse and patient safety at New York City’s largest private hospitals.

“If the poorest hospitals in the city of New York could come to the table, negotiate a fair contract in order to protect our communities, in order to protect our patients, the rich hospitals should do the same,” Hagans said at a press conference on January 8. 

Along with Maimonides, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Bronxcare, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, and several other safety-net hospitals have come to tentative agreements with NYSNA nurses. Striking nurses are picketing at 10 locations, including the Montefiore Hutchinson Medical Center and Jack D. Weiler Montefiore campuses in the Bronx, and the Columbia University NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside in Manhattan. 

In a statement to the Ledger, Marketing and Communications Vice President for Maimonides Sam Miller expressed management’s willingness to continue negotiations with NYSNA: 

“We have resolved many of the key contract issues, and will continue negotiations toward a final agreement that rewards nurses for their important work while recognizing the increasingly difficult financial challenges that we and other safety net hospitals face,” he wrote. “We are grateful for our partnership with NYSNA, now and always, and look forward to finalizing a new contract soon.”

This is not the first time New York nurses have gone on strike for better staffing and work conditions. In January 2023, 7,000 nurses at Montefiore in the Bronx and Mount Sinai in Manhattan went on a three-day strike that resulted in a tentative contract that in theory would guarantee better staffing and wages. But three years later, nurses say that the for-profit hospitals have not honored their agreement and allowed conditions to slide. 

“We went on strike then, and we won what hospitals said we couldn’t: enforceable safe staffing ratios throughout our hospitals,” Hagans said. “Now the same hospitals are trying to undo the progress we’ve made on safe staffing for our patients. They want to take back everything we accomplished three years ago.” 

Many hospitals lack any kind of metal detectors or security infrastructure, Hagans said, which has allowed violent incidents to occur that put the lives of staff and patients at risk. 

Last week, a mentally disturbed patient at the NewYork-Presbyterian Methodist Hospital in Park Slope cut himself with a piece of broken toilet seat and threatened an elderly patient and hospital staff member before being fatally shot by police. And in November, a 20-year-old man entered Mount Sinai Medical Center with a gun and threatened to shoot the staff inside, before police apprehended him and shot him dead. Nurses at the hospital — who had attempted to save the shooter’s life after police shot him — rallied outside the hospital after the incident to demand increased security measures, and were subsequently issued disciplinary write-ups by management in what union reps alleged was an illegal disciplinary action. 

Meanwhile, the New York State Department of Health announced January 2nd that the state was experiencing its highest recorded number of flu hospitalizations in a single week, pushing nurses to the brink as they endure long shifts and high patient loads while struggling to maintain their own health amidst cuts to healthcare benefits. 

NYSNA nurses are also seeking to prohibit hospitals from relying on artificial intelligence for patient care. As part of their tentative agreements, safety net hospitals have already agreed to this, while Mount Sinai, NewYork Presbyterian, and Montefiore have refused to negotiate. 

“Every patient deserves a nurse at the bedside to take care of them, not artificially,” Hagans said. Patients need human touch. Every patient is a VIP, regardless of your zip code, regardless of your immigration status.” 

In a recorded press update, Mount Sinai Health System Chief Executive Officer Brendan G. Carr urged nurses to come back to work.

“Nurses want to be back at the bedside even though the unions have instructed them to stay home,” Carr said. “In fact, we had about 20% of our nurses show up for work today. I’m grateful to those of you who chose to stay at the bedside, and I welcome those of you who’d like to come back to work, to come back. And I commit to all of you, no matter what  your decision, that we will work tirelessly to come to an agreement that balances the incredible value you bring to our teams, with the financial crisis that’s facing healthcare today.”  

On Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she would issue an executive order to ensure striking hospitals stay operational. 

“This could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients, and I’m strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Hochul said in a recorded statement posted on social media. 

Mayor Mamdani, for his part, voiced his support during a picket in Morningside Heights on Monday. 

“New Yorkers have a right to quality healthcare, as do the nurses who provide that care,” he said. “My job as mayor is to protect both of those rights.” 

According to a Monday NYSNA press release, NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore and Mount Sinai had spent more than $100 million on replacement nurses bussed in from elsewhere around the state, money that Hagans says could have been spent meeting the nurses demands. Mount Sinai had an annual revenue of $11.9 billion in 2024, while NewYork-Presbyterian CEO Steve Corwin earned a salary of $26.3 million, or about $72,000 per day. 

“They are spending millions of dollars to bring in out of town nurse replacements that are not as highly qualified as our nurses,” Hagans said. “We are asking them to take the money and invest them into our communities, invest them into our patient care, and invest them into reducing workplace violence.”

Maduro Arrives in Brooklyn

BQE Admin on January 14, 2026

Locals protested outside the notorious Sunset Park jail where Venezuela’s president is being held, though few Venezuelans were in attendance. 

By JACK DELANEY 

“No blood for oil. Hands off Venezuela’s soil!”

On Sunday, January 4, about 80 pro- testers gathered around the corner from the Metropolitan Detention Center — a notorious jail in Sunset Park where Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, is being held.

“We need to reject this now,” said Taher Dahlel, a Sunset Park resident and an organizer with Palestinian Youth Movement. “We don’t want any more forever wars: not in Venezuela, not in Palestine, not anywhere across our region.”

What Happened?

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have been rising since September, when the Trump admin- istration began striking alleged “drug boats” in the country’s waters.

But the capture of Maduro and his wife, which occurred last Saturday dur- ing a “large-scale strike” of the capital, Caracas, marks an extraordinary escala- tion in the conflict — the first unilateral kidnapping of a sitting leader by the US since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

On Monday, Venezuelan Vice Presi- dent Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president, condemning the at- tack — which killed 40 people, includ- ing civilians in a three-story apartment complex and 32 soldiers sent from Cuba — but noting she would work with the US “on an agenda of cooperation.”

In New York, meanwhile, Maduro arrived at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan De- tention Center (MDC) late on Saturday, and was arraigned in Manhattan on Monday.

The MDC, a well-known landing pad for celebrity arrests, has a troubled history. “Inmates at the chronically-un- derstaffed MDC have suffered through an eight-day blackout during a polar vortex,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes earlier this year, as well as “constant lockdowns, medical mis- treatment and botched cancer diagno- ses, and complaints of maggot-infested food.”

Opened in 1990, the MDC became the only major federal jail in New York City in 2021 when the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhat- tan closed — temporarily, officials say — after Jefferey Epstein died while in custody.

The MDC now holds Luigi Man- gione and Sean “Diddy” Combs, among other household names, and was used last summer to jail over 100 immigrants who had been detained by ICE.

“The horrors I witnessed behind those walls will never leave me,” wrote Sean Chaney, a formerly incarcerated artist who spent 15 months in the MDC. “The conditions inside are beyond inhumane — they are deliberately cruel.”

Residents and PSL members rally around the corner from the Metropolitan Detention Center, near Industry City.  

What Are People Saying?

Speaking in a press conference shortly after the initial announcement, President Trump said that the US would temporarily “run” Venezuela, though other officials appeared to contradict his statement; he also promised to “get the oil flowing,” with talks reportedly set with industry giant Trafigura on next steps.

“Maduro is a horrible dictator,” said Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday. “He’s a bad, bad person, [but] I also be- lieve in following the Constitution and the rule of law that we have in place.”

For his part, newly-elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani noted at an unrelated event in Greenpoint that he had called Trump to “to register his opposition” to the coup, “based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the viola- tion of federal international law, and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day.”

The rally outside the MDC in Sun- set Park on Sunday morning, organized by a coalition that includes the Party for Socialism and Liberation, followed a similar theme. “I think the rule of law is really important, even when someone that is not that great gets kidnapped,” said Nadine, a local, who stood at the outskirts of the designated protest area with a homemade sign before eventu- ally joining the throng.

Another recurring beat was a pro- gressive riff on America First. “It’s important to show [that] people aren’t going to tolerate the US meddling in other countries’ affairs, taking their oil, taking their resources,” said Jake, a lifelong Sunset Parker. “Brooklynites don’t want all of their money being put toward in- vasions, or being spent on these things that don’t help our own conditions in our own lives.”

Some protesters mused about why Maduro was brought to New York City, specifically. “It’s not unconnected to the attacks we’ve seen on our immigrant neighbors, many of them Venezuelans, who were driven out of their country after more than 15 years of brutal sanc- tions,” said Dahlel. “Now Brooklyn is being used by the United States to build a further authoritarian system.”

Yet very few Venezuelans, if any, were in attendance. TV crews clumped around an older Latino man waving a Venezuelan flag, taking quotes. But when a correspondent finally asked whether he was from Venezuela, he laughed. “Me? No, I’m Puerto Rican.”

Elsewhere in the city, many Venezuelan New Yorkers celebrated Maduro’s ouster. Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid, a prominent local nonprofit, posted a cartoon of a grandmother crying tears of joy, captioned “For justice and the swift liberation of Venezuela!”

And at Lulla’s, a Venezuelan-owned cafe and bakery in East Williamsburg, the owners told NewsNation’s Marcus Espinoza that they were “rejoicing,” with one patron saying “We have been waiting for this day for decades.”

In Sunset Park, however, the crowd that assembled around the corner from the MDC worried about the precedent this attack might set. “I came out here today because a president of another country was kidnapped and put into federal prison,” said Emmanuel, whose family is Dominican. “I live in Sunset Park, but regardless of where I lived I would’ve been here today to support the cause — because there should be no blood for oil. That’s the number one problem.”

An Elegy for Oakland Street

BQE Admin on January 14, 2026

Mamdani crosses McGuinness Boulevard. Photo: Mayor’s Office.

GEOFFREY COBB

Author, “Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past”

gcobb91839@Aol.com

One of the first things that our new Mayor Zohran Mamdani did was to come to Greenpoint and address the controversy surrounding McGuinness Boulevard, the four- lane traffic artery that divides the neighborhood and many local resi- dents. Before we address the present controversy let’s take a look at the history of the boulevard. Once, Mc- Guinness Boulevard was not a four- lane speedway at all/ It was once quaint Oakland Street; a charming cobblestoned street lined by pretty, wood-frame 19th-century homes typical of our historic district.

It is hard to conceive the mindset that wanted to destroy such a lovely street and replace it with a soulless four-lane highway, but in the late 1950s automobiles were seen as the future of transportation and the city was ready to carve up Greenpoint for motorists. Robert Moses, the in- famous power broker, had his sights on our area. Moses, who arguably had the greatest influence on New York’s infrastructure of any person who ever lived, wanted to destroy Oakland Street. The destruction of Oakland Street was only a small piece in the grand scheme of Rob- ert Moses who built the BQE, the Tri-borough Bridge, and the Cross-

Bronx Expressway. Moses wanted a city for motorists and tens of thou- sands of homes across the city fell victim to his projects.

Oakland Street was, sadly, the only north-south street, other than Manhattan Ave. that stretched to Newtown Creek. In the late 1950s the city determined that the rick- ety old Vernon Blvd. Bridge, which Greenpointers called the Manhattan Avenue Bridge, should be replaced. The north end of Oakland Street be- came the logical place to build a new bridge of the creek, and they built the Pulaski Bridge to funnel traffic between the Brooklyn Queens Ex- pressway in Brooklyn and Long Is- land City.

When the new bridge first opened, Oakland Street was widened, but only as far south as Greenpoint Ave- nue – and gas stations to service the heavy car and truck traffic quickly appeared. The narrow section of Oakland Street remaining beyond Greenpoint Avenue survived, but created traffic jams, dooming the quaint cobblestone street and its pretty houses.

All of the houses on the east side of Oakland Street and all the houses from Driggs Ave to the BQE were condemned by the City to create the new grand boulevard. Some residents tried to fight and save their homes, but their utilities were cut off, and they grudgingly accepted com- pensation for their beloved homes. Amazingly though, most people did not protest. They regarded losing their homes and the cobblestoned street as the price to pay for progress. The only defiance by the community was a proposal for more gas stations on the boulevard south of Meserole Av- enue. The commu- nity killed the idea and that is the only reason new hous- ing was built on the thoroughfare at all.

In 1964, Sal- vatore Tortorici pressed his local alderman, Joe Shar- key to rename the new boulevard in honor of the great- est politician in lo- cal history: Peter J. McGuiness, who had passed away in 1948. The City Council passed the name change unani- mously and Oak- land Street was re- named McGuinness Boulevard.

Many local residents have complained about the way motorists drive along the boulevard. The four wide lanes encouraged aggressive driving, illegal passing, and excessive speeding—conditions that routinely lead to serious motor vehicle collisions. Hundreds of pedestrians have been hit on McGuinness Boulevard, with over 200 fatalities since 1956, including 11 pedestrians or cyclists killed between 1995 and 2021.

Activists in the community pushed for the transformation of McGuinness into a two-lane, pedestrian friendly artery with bike lanes. Wealthy production company own- ers Gina and Tony Argento funded a movement to block the changes to the boulevard. After the redesign began in 2023, the Adams admin- istration abruptly switched course, throwing its support behind a re- vised plan for the northern section of the road that critics called wa- tered down and insufficient.

In August, the Manhattan district attorney charged Ingrid Lewis-Mar- tin, a top aide to Mr. Adams, with conspiring to kill the original pro- posal, in exchange for a relatively small sum of money and a speaking role on a television series owned by the Argento siblings. Ms. Lewis-Martin pleaded not guilty, as did the production company’s owners, Gina and Anthony Argento, who were also charged.

Last week, Mayor Mamdani, surrounded by supporters with signs bearing the names of crash victims on the boulevard, said he would finish the original, full plan for the roadway as soon as weather permit- ted, and that he would not be “bowed by big-money interests.” “Thanks to so many who went out and pounded the pavement, that pavement now will change,” he said. Some residents fear that the changes to the boulevard will lead to increased auto traffic on the streets running parallel to the boulevard. One thing though is certain, the boulevard will soon change into a narrower, more pedes- trian and cyclist friendly artery.

New Years Fireworks Fraud in DUMBO

BQE Admin on January 14, 2026

A crowd massed by the Brooklyn Bridge on NYE for fireworks that never came. Photo: Kevin Burke, @keankburke on Instagram.

By COLE SINANIAN 

news@queensledger.com 

Thousands of people were left disappointed on New Year’s Eve after waiting in the cold at Brooklyn Bridge Park for a midnight fireworks show that never came. 

According to 40-year-old photographer and Brooklynite Kevin Burke, the confusion likely stemmed from erroneous information from popular tourist account Time Out New York, which posted an article advertising a New Year’s fireworks show over the Brooklyn Bridge. In reality, fireworks shows on New Year’s are held annually in Central Park and Prospect Park, but not at the Brooklyn Bridge, which is instead known for its July 4th fireworks.  Additionally, a Facebook video posted on an account called New York Vibes that showed the July 4th fireworks show over the Brooklyn Bridge circulated on multiple social media platforms, which Burke suspects might’ve contributed to leading some tourists astray. 

By the time Time Out New York issued a correction to its article it was too late. Burke had been in Midtown, attempting to photograph the Times Square New Year’s Eve festivities. But when the immense crowds blocked him from getting anywhere near the celebration, he decided to check Google for a last-minute plan B. 

“I saw the AI response from Google saying where to see fireworks,” Burke said. “They mentioned all these normal places, like Prospect Park, Central Park, and it also mentioned Brooklyn Bridge Park.”

“I’m like, Brooklyn Bridge Park, they don’t do fireworks,” Burke continued. “Then I saw articles from Time Out New York, which is a big Instagram page. So I’m like, ‘hold on, maybe they got some inside information that I don’t know about.”

The A train was quiet until he got to High Street, Burke said, where large crowds clogged the stairs and subway entrances. Outside, there were cops, police barricades, and what looked like thousands of people, some with tripods set up, Burke said, yet the bridge was still open and full of cars. The crowds at the park were so large that Burke hardly had space to set up his own camera. 

Burke also noticed that there were few English speakers among the crowd, suggesting the majority could have been tourists who were easily misguided.

“The crowd didn’t even want to let me get a spot there,” he said. “I was like ‘let me squeeze in here.’ And they were, they were looking at me funny. I don’t know if they didn’t understand me, they were just like, staring at me. I had to push my way through.” 

Videos on TikTok and Instagram showed crowds of people on the grassy hill overlooking the East River at Brooklyn Bridge Park counting down with their phones out. Some cheered and shouted “Happy New Year!” despite the lack of fireworks. In other videos people danced and posed for photos, seemingly unphased by the disappointment. According to Burke, people stuck around until about 10 minutes after midnight. 

”No one got pissed off,” Burke said. “That’s another reason I knew they weren’t from New York. New Yorkers would have been like, bugging out.”

Waterfront Museum Gets 400k Boost

BQE Admin on January 14, 2026

Waterfront Museum Director David Sharps (left) and museum Docent and Researcher Stefan Dreisbach-Williams (right).

By COLE SINANIAN 

news@queensledger.com 

There’s only one wood-covered barge in all of the five boroughs, and it’s about to get a makeover. 

The Lehigh Valley 79, better known to its Red Hook neighbors as the Waterfront Museum, has for decades been a floating testament to the region’s maritime-industrial past. Now, thanks to a $410,702 state grant, the boat will be towed to Staten Island for structural repairs in the spring, while its dock will be fortified to keep the barge afloat in an age of worsening storms and rising sea levels.

Built in 1914, the boat is the project of Captain and Museum Director David Sharps, a professional juggler who spent his career performing on boats in Europe and the Caribbean. Sharps, who acquired the Lehigh Valley 79 in 1985 and has spearheaded its restoration, belongs to a presumably niche community dedicated to the art of floating theater. Visitors to the barge are greeted upon entry with a bizarre contraption that passes a ball through a series of elaborate slides and pulleys—a nod to Sharps’ juggler past. 

It is among the last remnants of a period of New York history known as the Lighterage Era, during which small barges called “lighters” transported railroad cargo from railyards on the mainland to and from the islands of New York Harbor. Now, the barge offers a rare glimpse into this near-forgotten era of maritime commerce. But keeping a 112-year wooden boat afloat is no easy task— the wood structure is susceptible to rot and destructive mollusks called ship worms. With the grant, Sharps will lead structural improvements to the ship’s wood body, as well as the construction of a new mud berth that will help keep the barge grounded during storms and flood conditions. 

”I bought the boat for $500,” Sharps said. “It had 300 tons of mud in it.  Took two years to float it, another couple of years to get it accessible for the public.” 

Despite major redevelopment coming to Red Hook in the coming years, Sharps is confident that the Lehigh Valley 79 will remain for decades to come. Docked on private land, the barge turns into a floating theater in the summer, offering concerts and children’s programming to the public. In May 2026, the barge will host a Cajun music night called “Swamp in the City.” This past May, it hosted a Moby Dick-themed performance called “Into the Charmed, Churned Circle” by NYC artist Stanzi Vaubel. 

When Sharps first arrived in Red Hook in 1994, the neighborhood was what he described as a “no man’s land.” Part of his goal with the Waterfront Museum has been to build a cultural hub that draws visitors to Red Hook with the promise of a unique experience. 

“Now that there’s people here, it’s our hope to provide a community space where people can come together, where diverse people can share ideas, where creative people can maybe take you out of your everyday life and maybe transport you in time,” Sharps said. 

Altogether, Sharps said the repairs will take about eight weeks and will likely begin sometime in the spring. In the meantime, the Waterfront Museum has free open hours on Thursdays from 4-8pm and Saturdays from 1-5pm at 290 Conover Street in Red Hook. 

Celebrating Dia de Los Reyes

BQE Admin on January 7, 2026

Marcus Luna (L), dressed as King Balthazar, Marcus Sanchez, center, as the King Gaspar, and Junio Alvarado as King Malchoir pose with camels during the Three Kings Parade which winds through Harlem on January 6, 2011 in New York City. Three Kings Day, also called the Epiphany, celebrates the kings biblical journey to see the baby Jesus in Bethlehem and offer him gifts. UPI /Monika Graff. 

GEOFFREY COBB

Author, “Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past”

gcobb91839@Aol.com

A few years ago, I was driving towards the BQE on a cold blustery early January day, not unlike the recent cold snap we have been having, when I was shocked to see a camel at the intersection of Graham Avenue and Meeker Avenues. Much to my delight, I realized that the camel was part of an old Hispanic tradition that is still celebrated in our area, the Feast of the Three Kings, a beautiful part of Puerto Rican and Latinx heritage that will be on display this week.

The Feast of the Three kings has its roots in Spanish and Latin American Catholic culture. The feast is a celebration of the Epiphany, the day the Three Kings, or Three Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, reached Bethlehem, after a 12-day journey guided by a star, to where baby Jesus lay. The Kings, who arrived by camel, brought gold, frankincense, myrrh, and annotated oil to Jesus. According to Hispanic tradition, on the Epiphany before going to sleep, children leave grass or hay under their beds, or in their shoes, for the camels that carry the Three Kings on their travels to deliver gifts to children around the world. In the morning, children find gifts in place of the hay and families have a big celebration. Inspired by the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Infant, in many Hispanic cultures families
also celebrate the day with an exchange of gifts. Another tradition is the eating of a Roscon de Reyes (King’s Ring). This sweet bread shaped like a wreath has a figurine of a baby Jesus baked inside.  Customarily, the person who finds the figurine is expected to host a party on Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas), celebrated on February 2nd.

Three Kings Day is widely celebrated in Spain and across much of Latin America, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, and parts of Central and South America. There are celebrations across New York City in areas where Puerto Rican and other Latino immigrants have settled including East Harlem, The Lower East Side and Williamsburg/Greenpoint. In Puerto Rico towns across the island, from San Juan to Ponce, hold vibrant celebrations every January 6 th . For many in the Latinx and Caribbean communities, this day represents faith, unity, and cultural resilience.  It is a living and vital link for New York Hispanics to the culture and faith of their roots and one that they are fighting to keep alive.

Saturday January 10 th the Southside Williamsburg Hispanic community organization El Puente will hold its thirty-ninth annual Feast of the Three Kings celebration from 10- 6 at 211 South 4th St., Williamsburg with a parade. When the first feast day was celebrated almost forty years ago, there was a huge Hispanic presence in the area, but as a result of gentrification the Hispanic population, which comprised fifty percent of residents in 2010 is now down under 20%, but organizers of the festivities are determined to keep the tradition going. Parade founder and president, Radames Millan, says that the event was begun so that young Hispanics are aware of and continue to preserve the culture of their parents and ancestors. The parade often includes colorful floats, dancers in colorful Mexican costumes, a stilt walker waving the Puerto Rican flag, local merchants advertising their wares and of course vibrant Hispanic music. A Padrino, which literally means Godfather is chosen from the community as a special honoree of the parade. Two Madrinas, or Godmothers are also honored in the parade.

El Puente’s celebration features singing, dancing, acting by local elementary to high school students, highlighting their roles as future leaders. The tradition also blends culture with advocacy, focusing on important community themes like peace, justice, self-determination, and environmental sustainability, the same themes that inspired El Puente’s legendary late founder Jose Garden Acosta to found this community service organization.

Each year El Puente chooses a theme for the feast. Last year the theme was Planting a seed, honoring children as future leaders and focusing on nurturing their potential for peace and justice. For El Puente the celebration is also a means for local Hispanics to affirm their identity and culture, while maintaining their unique traditions, even in a new setting.

Another celebration of the Feast of the Three Kings will take place Tuesday January 6 th at the Moore Street market 110 Moore St., Williamsburg and the free celebration will include hot chocolate, gifts, and arts & crafts.  Even if you are not Hispanic, the Feast of the Three Kings celebration is lively festive and rhythmic offering a fun way to learn about the rich Hispanic heritage of North Brooklyn. Come out and enjoy the fun.

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