John Hatfield, executive director of Socrates Sculpture Park, will step down from his post, the nonprofit announced on Wednesday, October 14th. Executive director of the outdoor art space since 2012, Hatfield will leave the nonprofit as soon as its board of directors has chosen his successor, according to a news release. The Park’s Board of Directors has assembled a transition committee to search for a new executive director, who is expected to come into position in the middle of 2021. During Hatfield’s time leading the nonprofit arts organization, he oversaw the commission of works by acclaimed artists such as Agnes Denes and Nari Ward and enhanced social and education programming and the expansion of the sculpture park’s digital voice. The park most recently drew recent acclaim from the NYTimes for its current exhibition, “Monuments Now,” featuring a series of monuments to the historical narratives of marginalized communities. “I am so proud of Socrates’ mission and work, especially this year — remaining open and active throughout the pandemic to serve New Yorkers,” Hatfield said in a statement. “There have been many accomplishments during my tenure, and I am confident that even greater accomplishments will follow with a new Executive Director.”   Bel Falleiros, Process image of ‘America (un)known,’ 2020, Courtesy the Artist, Photo by Sara Morgan

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In partnership with all 14 Queens Community Boards, Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee has announced the launch of a boroughwide coat drive to support families in need as the cold weather months approach. From now through Friday, November 13th, community members can drop off new adult and children’s coats in the lobby of Queens Borough Hall at 120-55 Queens Blvd, in Kew Gardens on weekdays between 9 AM and 5 PM, as well as at the offices of each participating Queens Community Board. The locations of each participating Queens Community Board office, along with the dates and times donated coats can be dropped off, are listed below: Community Board 2: 43-22 50th St., Suite 2B in Woodside By appointment only (718-533-8773) Community Board 4: 46-11 104th St. in Corona By appointment only (718-760-3141) Community Board 7: 133-32 41st Road, Suite 3B, in Flushing Weekdays between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Community Board 8: 197-15 Hillside Ave. in Hollis By appointment only (718-264-7895) Community Board 9: Queens Borough Hall (drop-off in lobby) Weekdays between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Community Board 10: 115-01 Lefferts Blvd. in South Ozone Park Mondays between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM Community Board 12: 90-28 161st St. in Jamaica Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM For more information, visit queensbp.org/coatdrive.   Winter Coats- Photo:Flickr/KOMUnews

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Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the Department of Buildings (DOB), Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) today to release thorough guidance for city restaurants planning to stay open and serve customers outdoors with heating devices this fall and winter. The announcement furthers New York City’s efforts, laid out in the Mayor’s recovery agenda, to enhance New York City’s healthy outdoor living. The NYC Council has also just passed a bill that will extend the current outdoor dining program until the end of September 2021. By law, the legislation requires the city to develop a new permanent outdoor dining program. This legislation also allows for the use of heat lamps which have been approved subject to various requirements which you can learn about here. In September, Mayor de Blasio announced the City’s popular Open Restaurants program will be extended year-round. All restaurants must abide by state restrictions on operating in COVID hotspots. Participants in the Open Restaurants program interested in providing comfort heating for their customers in outdoor dining areas have three options: Electric radiant heaters will be allowed in sidewalk and roadway seating setups. Natural gas radiant heaters will be allowed on the sidewalk only. Portable heaters fueled by propane will be allowed on the sidewalk only — propane heaters will not be allowed in the roadway seating areas. Food service establishments with private outdoor dining spaces may use heating devices subject to the applicable guidance from FDNY and/or DOB. Each agency has focused on streamlining the permitting processes to make installing these outdoor heating options as easy as possible for businesses, while ensuring strict adherence to safety protocols. Additionally, the City of New York also released requirements today for restaurants and bars that want to use heating units in their outdoor dining setups...

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Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) in association with Theater East is kicking off its 20th Anniversary season with American Arcana, an apocalyptic comedy by Cyndi Williams of survival and the fight for a better tomorrow. The show will feature recorded and live performances by an ensemble which includes several APAC alums, and will be exclusively shown on their new FiveOhm TV channel. Performances are on October 22nd, 23rd and 26th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $15 through October 20th and $25 October 21st through October 26th. All ticket sales will benefit Astoria Performing Arts Center, Vote.org, and our 20th Anniversary Season, which is set to be announced after the show. To purchase tickets visit APAC’s FiveOhm TV channel or www.apacny.org.

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MONUMENTS NOW, an exhibition examining the role of monuments in American society and championing underrepresented histories and marginalized peoples, continues at Socrates Sculpture Park this Saturday, October 10th, with the unveiling of ten new monuments projects by the Park’s 2020 Artist Fellows: Daniel Bejar, Fontaine Capel, Dionisio Cortes Ortega, Patrick Costello, Bel Falleiros, Jenny Polak, Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Andrea Solstad, Kiyan Williams, and Sandy Williams IV. The Artist Fellows’ projects are each distinct in material and conceptual approach, yet united by a common interest in the power of community as opposed to the individual – a dichotomy that is especially relevant in light of recent controversies surrounding monuments of historic figures. Much of the works’ impact relies on public participation and reception by actively inviting visitors to take part in creating the meaning of the monument. The exhibition is set to last until March 14, 2021. For more information, visit Socrates Sculpture Park’s site here. Photo: Daniel Bejar, Concept rendering for monument to immigrants, 2020. Courtesy of the artist.  

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Halletts Point and Stark Production Group marked the official opening of Radial Park at Hallets Point Play with Broadway’s longest-running show, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera on Thursday, October 1st. This one-of-a-kind performance showed the 25th Anniversary Gala Performance of The Phantom of the Opera recorded from the Royal Albert Hall in 2011 on the big screen. Also included were musical numbers from stars Derrick Davis (The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King) and Ali Ewoldt (Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, The King and I), who brought this all-time fan favorite to life alongside a live 11-piece orchestra. Halletts Point Play, a 50,000 square-foot open-air space in Astoria, Queens, located along the waterfront, with views of the East River and the Manhattan skyline featured this first-of-its-kind drive-in. Halletts Point Play is steps away from Citi Bike and NYC Ferry with direct connections from the Upper East Side, Midtown, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Roosevelt Island and is just a short walk from the subway. Following the requirements of government and health officials, Radial Park is implementing strict health and safety protocols including temperature checks upon arrival via an infrared, touchless thermometer, color-coded wristbands for social distancing, “lifeguards” on duty who will be ready to blow the whistle to enforce strict social distancing, and more. For future events, check out Radial Park’s site for more info.   Photos: Richard Khuzami

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Days after a pair of public hearings, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey returned to making its case for an AirTrain between LaGuardia Airport and Willets Point. They made their case at Old Astoria Neighborhood Association’s last online meeting. The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing a draft environmental impact study for the plan, which aims at cutting travel time between the airport and both Midtown and Downtown Manhattan. The proposed route would run along the Flushing Promenade. The route and the project itself have been critiqued by both nearby residents and environmental advocates. Residents are concerned about the impact of construction in neighborhoods that have lived with the LaGuardia rebuild for nearly four years. Both groups have pointed out the loss of parkland in the Promenade, which runs along Flushing Bay southeast of the airport. Hersh Parekh, PA director of government and community relations for airport redevelopment, introduced his presentation with an overview of the LaGuardia reconstruction and the steep drop in travel due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “In terms of access, the roadways around the airport are still incredibly congested,” Parekh said. “You will continue to have unreliable travel times to the airport. You will continue to have the air pollution and greenhouse gases that have severely impacted the residential communities across from LaGuardia.” Parekh argued that the only possibility to significantly reduce vehicular travel to and from the airport is with a rail system. During the question-and-answer period, a participant said the outcome seemed predetermined, citing the possibility of bolstering the Q70 bus route instead, saying the AirTrain would carry passengers, “at six to seven times the fare.” OANA President Richard Khuzami asked about the possibility of using the city’s expanding passenger ferry program to service LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal. Khuzami, who worked at John...

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Incanto Productions is hosting a litter clean-up at De Marco Park on Sunday, October 11, from 1-2:30 pm. The meeting location will be at 21st Ave and Shore Boulevard. NYC Parks will provide the material needed. OANA is proud to support Incanto Productions in keeping our environment clean and encourages the community to come out on Sunday and show their support! Reach out to incantoeducation@gmail.com for any questions.  

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Every restaurant owner has had six months of difficult decisions. Back in March, many chose to close and remain open only for takeout and delivery. The next hurdle was deciding to reopen last week in preparation for this week’s reintroduction of indoor dining at 25 percent capacity — a risky choice for customers, and a rule that restaurant owners fear won’t do enough to save their struggling businesses. With restaurants, bars, and clubs playing an ever-growing role in the economy of western Queens, Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said this is a common concern, speaking remotely Tuesday night at an online meeting of the Old Astoria Neighborhood Association. “Twenty-five percent is extremely difficult,” Rigie said. “Even before the pandemic, operating a bar or a restaurant at 100 percent capacity in New York City was incredibly difficult.” Rigie said the rule, which began on Wednesday, has a few advantages over outdoor dining. He said that while closing time is midnight, seven days per week, people dining indoors have a 30-minute buffer to finish beverages, dessert and the like; under outdoor dining, customers must be gone by 11 pm sharp. Rigie said all customers not seated at tables must be wearing masks, and that employees who are not seated at a table on a break do not count toward the 25 percent number. However, there are some benefits to outdoor dining. Rigie stated new outdoor dining regulations allow restaurants to use sidewalk space of adjacent businesses with permission from the building owner, and the owner may not charge rent for the space. However, there are still questions about whether a restaurant’s liquor license would apply to adjacent outdoor space. And if a restaurant chooses to enclose its outdoor seating area to keep it warmer as the...

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To promote breast cancer information and education, New York-Presbyterian Queens is hosting free virtual events via Zoom throughout the whole month. You can join on Mondays at noon or Wednesdays at 2 pm for breast and prostate cancer information sessions. Links to each of the sessions are below — registration is required. If you are not able to attend one of these sessions, you can contact Coordinator Maureen Burns at mab9493@nyp.org to schedule another date and time. MONDAY’S @ 12 PM REGISTRATION LINKS: OCTOBER 5, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItdO6orDgiGtBWWD1lI2tyAukZVS_PKint OCTOBER 12, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvdemrrDkuE9TW_qmhVIz6hx_KA1Wd1ak6 OCTOBER 19, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIufuyqqTIiH91WNwBSgsoeGcoU34O4eYN2 OCTOBER 26, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcrc-ivrjsiE9Dak32fakAyH0XBRdwicBqo WEDNESDAY’S @ 2PM REGISTRATION LINKS: OCTOBER 7, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIuceiopz4vGt2GclHciZ_eSazJ_A_9bKYq OCTOBER 14, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAldumhpzopGdVct5irvvC9zBSZa-7VuLAE OCTOBER 21, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqfu-vrzguE9Nf7cOXgA8fzPjjuSfVyn9T OCTOBER 28, 2020: https://nyph.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYldOCvrDIuHN2hbxg5kCauRAww2ofs9y4L   Photo:Angiola Harry

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