✨ Business Spotlight: 🎨 Miss Jay: The Art Classes Astoria Families Didn't Know They Needed

🏚️ Queens Tenants Sue NYC's 'Worst Landlord'

🗳️ Mamdani Backs Three Western Queens Candidates for June 23 Primary

🍽️ Over 1,000 Astorians Broke Bread Together on 31st Avenue

🚴 Bronx Driver Arraigned for Critically Injuring Cyclist in Astoria

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3

Astoria Park Carnival Opens | 4-10pm | Hoyt Ave N & 19th St, Astoria Park

Five days of rides, games, and carnival food under the RFK Bridge. Free admission; rides require tickets. No unaccompanied minors.

NYC Parks Event Page

THURSDAY, JUNE 4

Astoria Park Carnival | 4-10pm | Hoyt Ave N & 19th St

Q.E.D. Spotlight: Joe Mac & Eric Gonzalez | Evening | Q.E.D. Astoria, 27-16 23rd Ave

Stand-up comedy showcase. Tickets via Q.E.D.'s website.

Q.E.D. Calendar

Socrates Sculpture Park 40th Anniversary Gala | Evening | Spacetime CC, LIC

Cocktails, dinner, and dancing marking 40 years of public art at your waterfront — Manhattan skyline included.

Socrates 40th Gala Info

FRIDAY, JUNE 5

Astoria Park Carnival | 4-11pm | Hoyt Ave N & 19th St

Governors Ball — Day 1 | 11:30am-10pm | Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Tonight's headliner: Lorde. Take the 7 to Mets-Willets Point.

Gov Ball Tickets & Info

SATURDAY, JUNE 6

Astoria Park Carnival | 12pm-11:59pm | Hoyt Ave N & 19th St

Governors Ball — Day 2 | 11:30am-10pm | Flushing Meadows (Headliner: A$AP Rocky)

SUNDAY, JUNE 7

Astoria Park Carnival — LAST DAY | 12-11pm | Hoyt Ave N & 19th St

Governors Ball — Day 3 | 11:30am-10pm | Flushing Meadows (Headliner: Stray Kids)

Astoria Farmers Market | 8am-3pm | 31st Ave & 34th St — every Sunday on the Open Street

Astoria Farmers Market

Picture this: it's a Saturday afternoon, you walk into a local spot, and there are kids at stations covered in paint, clay, and who knows what else, fully locked in, not a screen in sight. Meanwhile you're sitting nearby with a drink in hand, actually relaxed, watching your child do something real with their hands. Nobody is crying. Nobody is bored. The whole room has this loose, easy energy that you didn't know you needed until you were already in it. That's a Miss Jay event, and once you've been to one, you'll be checking the calendar for the next one.

Miss Jay is a New York native who has called Astoria home for over 10 years. She came up as a preschool teacher, always sneaking art into whatever she was doing. Then the world shut down. She spent that summer with three kids building an outdoor classroom in Central Park, and she described it in a way that's hard to shake: dancing through the Ramble during rainstorms, painting in the grass, playing hide-and-seek in Belvedere Castle. Away from everything. Just kids being kids. What she watched happen in those moments, children following their own curiosity, no rubrics, no right answers, just process, became the philosophy behind everything she's built since. It took six years and a few names to get here. "Jaid's House" became "Pixie Paints" became simply "Miss Jay." She'll tell you that finding the name was part of finding herself.

Here's the thing about Miss Jay's setup: she doesn't have a studio. She has a dining room full of supplies and a mission to bring art directly into the community. Over the past year she's shown up at Raising Astoria, The Ditty, Focal Point Beer Co., Access Oasis Community Garden, and Greats of Craft. At Greats of Craft, she hosts a monthly Crafts & Drafts for kids ages 2 to 10, four rotating art and sensory stations built around a new theme each month. She brings everything. Kids create freely. Parents get to actually sit down, eat something, and have a drink like a human being. It's one of those events that sounds nice in theory and then in practice makes you wonder why this isn't everywhere.

The Miss Frizzle comparisons are earned. She's not just teaching kids how to hold a paintbrush. She's building the kind of room where a shy kid makes something they're proud of and a loud kid finds focus and everyone goes home a little more themselves than when they walked in. That's the value, and it doesn't really have a price tag on it.

And it's not just for kids. Miss Jay also runs events for adults who want to remember what it feels like to make something without worrying about whether it's good. Beyond the events, she offers private one-on-one art lessons for children of all ages, and literacy classes for kids ages 3 to 5. If you're interested in a private lesson, her website has an interest survey so she can build a personalized program for your child. Her next Crafts & Drafts event will be June 28th at Greats of Crafts Warehouse & her kids "Little Artists" event coming up at The Ditty on June 14th.

Find upcoming events and classes on Instagram at @missjailenn, visit her site at MissJailenn.com, or reach out directly at [email protected]. 

Astoria has a lot going on for families, but Miss Jay is doing something a little different. She's out here reminding kids, and honestly adults too, that the point was never the finished product.

The 41-25 Case Street Tenant Union marched to Queens Civil Court on Monday with a clear demand: fix our building or face legal consequences. The residents of this Elmhurst building — owned by A&E Realty, ranked NYC's worst landlord in 2025 by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — brought their case over more than 360 open HPD violations: mold infestations, chronic elevator breakdowns, rats, crumbling ceilings, and extended lapses in heat and hot water.

Tenant Amber Gill put a human face on the numbers. Her apartment's untreated mold left her immunocompromised son repeatedly sick and missing school — and landed her in the ICU last November when the mold made her septic. She also paid $3,000 out of pocket to fix a broken gas stove her landlord ignored for 32 days. "The only thing I received was broken promises from A&E that 'we will fix it tomorrow,'" she said. "Tomorrow never came."

Queens Judge Shorab Ibrahim adjourned the case to today — and indicated he was strongly inclined to grant the tenants' request for court-ordered repairs. Assemblymember González-Rojas, who rallied with tenants outside, put it plainly: "This is not just one building. This is about whether working-class New Yorkers, immigrant families, seniors, and long-time residents can remain in the communities they helped build." A&E says it has invested $4.5 million in the building and closed 2,000 work orders.

Read more: Queens Daily Eagle

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has entered the June 23 state primary with a trio of endorsements in Western Queens. He threw his support behind Brian Romero (Assembly District 34), Samantha Kattan (Assembly District 37), and Aber Kawas (State Senate District 12) — all progressives and DSA members.

Romero is running to succeed his former boss, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, in the district covering much of Astoria and Jackson Heights — backed also by González-Rojas, AOC, and Borough President Richards. Kattan is running for the open AD37 seat in Sunnyside and Woodside. The sharpest race is Kawas vs. Assemblymember Steven Raga in SD12, who backed Mamdani for mayor last year. Both have solid war chests and the outcome is genuinely unpredictable.

"I am extremely proud to endorse a slate of candidates who will advance our affordability agenda in Albany," the mayor said. Three weeks out. June 23 is primary day — put it in your calendar.

Read more: Queens Daily Eagle

Nearly a thousand residents — maybe more — showed up for the latest edition of "The Longest Table," the community potluck that turns the 31st Avenue Open Street between 33rd and 34th Streets into one long shared dining room. Neighbors brought dishes from every corner of the world. A strip of pavement became a neighborhood living room.

The Longest Table asks so little and gives so much — bring food, pull up a chair, meet your neighbors. In a city where it's dangerously easy to live next to someone for years without exchanging a word, it's a deliberate, joyful antidote. The fact that nearly a thousand people showed up is a testament to how much this community wants to connect.

The 31st Avenue Open Street runs every Sunday through October, and the Farmers Market is there Sunday mornings. This is Astoria's town square — and this week it earned the title.

Read more: QNS

TA Bronx motorist has been arraigned by the Queens DA's office after leading police on a high-speed chase through Astoria that ended with a cyclist critically injured. Details on charges and the victim's condition were still developing at press time, but the DA moved quickly following the incident.

Astoria's streets have been at the center of some of the city's sharpest transportation debates — the 31st Street bike lane battle, Vision Zero goals, speeding near schools and parks. A chase that tears through neighborhood streets and puts a cyclist in critical condition isn't a policy abstraction. It's a real person in a hospital. If you have information, contact the NYPD tip line at 1-800-577-TIPS.

We'll have more details as they become available.

Read more: QNS

Astoria Insider is inviting local businesses and organizations to be featured in its growing community newsletter.

The platform highlights local news, events and community stories, providing businesses with an opportunity to reach a highly engaged local audience and showcase what they offer.

From restaurants and shops to services and community groups, all are encouraged to participate and share their story with readers across the Astoria and surrounding areas. Don’t own a business? That’s ok… Know of one that should be featured?

Those interested in being featured can reach out to learn more about available opportunities and upcoming editions. Click the button below to feature your business or send an email to [email protected] with your business details and we’ll reach out!