In This Astoria Insider Issue…
🔥 Rogue Roofer Burns 42nd Street — Contractor Arrested After Propane Torch Fire
🛣️ 31st Ave Redesign Hits a Milestone — Phase 1 Is Done
🏙️ LIC's Hottest Condo Hits 50% Sold
🍽️ Queens Taste Is Back — And the Venue Just Got Way Better
Astoria Area Events
Friday · May 1 — May Day 🌹
Astoria Spring Retail Crawl (through May 4) — Final stretch! Visit 25 participating shops, collect passport stamps, and win prizes.
Saturday · May 2 + Sunday · May 3
31st Avenue Open Street — Car-free Saturdays & Sundays through Dec 14. Maker markets, live music, local vendors, food trucks.
Astoria Spring Retail Crawl continues through Sunday May 4 — grab your passport at any participating shop.
Sunday · May 4 — Final Day
Astoria Spring Retail Crawl — last call! Stamps due by close of business to enter for prizes.
All Week · May 1–8
Q.E.D. Astoria — NYC's #1-ranked comedy club (Time Out) has shows most nights. Check their calendar for this week's lineup.
Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden — 29-06 24th Ave. NYC's oldest beer garden is open for the season. Go. Just go.
⭐ Upcoming / Mark Your Calendar
Tue, May 12 · Queens Taste 2026, 6–9 pm @ Sound River Studios, LIC — 50+ restaurants, unlimited sips & bites, waterfront views. Tickets $125.
Sun, May 17 · 48th Annual Astoria Spring Festival, 11 am–6 pm — A full day of local vendors, makers, and community on the streets of Astoria.
Thu, May 28 · Astoria Film Festival Opening Night @ Heart of Gold, 7–11 pm — The fest kicks off with an opening night party. Full programming TBA.
GOT AN EVENT YOU WANT US TO PROMOTE?
🔥 Rogue Roofer Burns 42nd Street — Contractor Arrested
A two-alarm fire on 42nd Street near Broadway Wednesday morning didn't start the way most fires do — it started with a propane torch on somebody's roof.
FDNY received the call at 32-16 42nd St. just before 11 a.m. on April 28. The fire spread fast to neighboring attached homes, heavily damaging a row of connected buildings and forcing multiple families to evacuate. Two firefighters were hurt in the response. Within hours, investigators had their answer: a contractor had been using a propane torch on a combustible roof — the kind of hazard that building code and basic common sense both prohibit.
Luis Wilfrido Simban, 29, of Spring Valley, was arrested at the scene and charged with reckless endangerment. The displaced families are working through emergency housing. If you're hiring for home improvement work this spring, it's worth taking two minutes to verify your contractor's license on the NYC DOB portal before anyone climbs onto your roof.
🛣️ 31st Ave Gets Its Glow-Up — Phase 1 Is Done
Amid all the debate over bike lanes and street redesigns this spring, one Astoria corridor just quietly crossed the finish line.
NYC DOT has announced that the first phase of the 31st Avenue redesign is complete. The upgrades targeted safety and accessibility improvements along one of the neighborhood's most-used commercial corridors — the kind of work that doesn't always make headlines, but that pedestrians and drivers will notice immediately.
A note for context: this is the 31st Avenue project, which is distinct from the still-advancing 31st Street bike lane plan (the one CB1 voted 35-4 to support last Wednesday). Both projects are moving on their own tracks. For a neighborhood that's been watching street debates dominate community meetings all spring, a completed phase — on any street — is a welcome update.
🏙️ LIC's Newest Luxury Tower Hits 50% Sold
If you need any more evidence that Long Island City is having a moment, here it is: Radiant, the luxury condominium rising at 24-01 Queens Plaza North, announced this week that it has surpassed 50% sold — roughly 1.5 years after sales launched in October 2024.
The building's 117 residences have been moving steadily as buyers continue to bet on LIC's trajectory. Prices have ranged from studios to larger units, attracting a mix of first-time buyers and investors drawn to the neighborhood's proximity to Midtown, growing dining scene, and relative affordability compared to Manhattan.
Radiant joins a growing roster of new developments reshaping the Queens Plaza corridor. Whether you're tracking the market or just watching the skyline fill in, LIC in 2026 looks very different from LIC three years ago.
🍽️ Queens Taste Is Back — And the Venue Just Got Way Better
Queens Taste 2026 has a new address — and it's a good one. The borough's biggest culinary showcase is moving to Sound River Studios at 4-40 44th Drive in Long Island City, perched right on the East River with soaring ceilings, giant windows, and unobstructed Manhattan skyline views. Mark Tuesday, May 12 on your calendar.
More than 50 of Queens' best restaurants, food makers, breweries, and confectioners will be pouring and plating from 6 to 9 p.m. It's unlimited — all night, all in. The event is organized by QEDC (Queens Economic Development Corporation), and proceeds fund local business programs across the borough.
Early bird tickets are $125 each (two for $200), and they're partially tax-deductible since QEDC is a 501(c)(3). Queens Taste consistently sells out — if this sounds like your night, grab tickets now and plan to arrive hungry.
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