🌸 Business Spotlight: Bubbles & Mane Is Open — Astoria Has a New Luxury Wellness Destination

🦉 The Brass Owl Closes After 11 Years — Astoria Says Goodbye to a Neighborhood Icon

🚔 AG Won't Pursue Charges Against 114th Precinct Officers in 2025 Knife Incident

🏗 68 New Apartments Planned for Hoyt Avenue South — Stagg Group Files Permits

Friday · May 15 🎬

•       Frank Sinatra School of the Arts — 19th Annual Student Film Festival — 6 pm underclassmen showcase & 8 pm senior films @ Tony Bennett Concert Hall, 35-12 35th Ave. Free.

•       Sopranos Trivia Night — 6 pm @ Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave. Bada Bingo trivia and prizes. Free admission. The Sopranos exhibit runs through May 31.

Saturday · May 16 🛣

•       31st Avenue Open Street — Car-free Saturdays & Sundays through Dec 14. Maker markets, live music, local vendors, food trucks.

•       Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, 29-06 24th Ave — NYC's oldest beer garden, open for the season.

Sunday · May 17 🌱🎪

•       48th Annual Astoria Spring Festival, 11 am–6 pm on 31st St between Ditmars Blvd and 21st Ave — local vendors, makers, food, kids' rides, live music. Free.

•       31st Avenue Open Street — Car-free Sunday. All the usual good stuff.

Tuesday · May 20 🎻

•       Jackson Heights Orchestra — 7:30 pm @ Trinity Lutheran Church, 31-18 37th St., Astoria. Classical music with compositions by Mendelssohn and Lee. Free.

Wednesday · May 21 💃

•       Dancing with the Queens Stars — 6 pm @ MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City. Queens leaders trained by professional choreographers compete for prizes and bragging rights.

⭐ Coming Up / Mark Your Calendar

•       May 23–24 · Bohemian Hall Czech & Slovak Festival, noon–9:30 pm — Authentic food, traditional music & dance, raffles, and cultural programming.

•       Thu, May 28 · Astoria Film Festival Opening Night @ Heart of Gold, 7–11 pm — Kicks off a 3-day festival at Kaufman Astoria Studios, May 28–31.

•       Thu, Jun 4 · Socrates 40th Anniversary Gala @ Spacetime CC, LIC — 40 years of public art on the waterfront. Honoring Chakaia Booker.

•       Thu, Jun 4 – Mon, Jun 9 · Astoria Park Carnival — Five-day run under the RFK Bridge at Astoria Park. Free entry; ride tickets $1.50 each.

You know that feeling when you walk into a space and immediately exhale? That's what Bubbles & Mane is going for, and based on what we're hearing, they're nailing it. A curated fragrance hits you at the door. The retail gallery feels more like a boutique art exhibit than a product wall. There's a lounge with champagne, rosé, infused waters, and curated teas where you're genuinely welcome to just sit. Before your appointment, after, or honestly just because you need to decompress on a Wednesday. This isn't your typical Astoria salon.

The woman behind it, Michelle, has spent 20 years in the beauty industry. Met Gala styling, luxury brand photo shoots, work featuring Oscar de la Renta and Top Women in Fashon. She started locally with Astoria Beauty Bar, a tiny 450 sq. ft. boutique she opened during Covid for clients who needed a space that felt safe and personal. Goldman Sachs selected her for their 10K SB business program, and that's where the bigger vision took shape. Bubbles & Mane is the result: a 2,500 sq. ft. experiential wellness destination that just held its grand opening right here in the neighborhood.

Upstairs is a full-service salon with a color bar and one of the things that's earned Michelle a seriously loyal following: she specializes in curly hair. The retail gallery is stocked with local artisans, women-owned brands, small businesses and clean beauty. Downstairs is a full spa with a Zen lounge, treatment rooms for facials, massage, waxing and body wraps, plus a natural nails area doing real nail artistry. No acrylics, gel at most, old-school craft.

The number that should stop you mid-scroll: $125/month membership promotion. That gets you a 50-minute facial featuring Phytomer or massage every month, a $25 credit toward add-ons, and 10% off retail. The same facial in Manhattan runs $250 and up. Most of us spend more than that on coffee every month without thinking twice, isn’t our ‘wellness’ more crucial….

They're just getting started, too. Coming soon: Wellness Sundays with meditation, sound bath therapy, and DIY mini facials and other Beauty, plus Wind Down Wednesdays with yoga and local practitioners. The vision is bigger than beauty. It's about giving Astoria a space that takes care of the whole person.

The Bubbles & Mane team invites you to stay in the loop on new offerings, specials, and last-minute openings by following them on Instagram and Facebook, or reach them by email at [email protected]. You can also book directly through their website at bubblesandmane.com.

Join us in celebrating Bubbles & Mane, a local business making real self-care accessible to our community. Michelle's growth from a home studio to a full wellness destination is the kind of story that makes this neighborhood special.

After more than 11 years at 36-19 Ditmars Blvd., The Brass Owl officially closed its doors on May 9. Owner Nicole Panettieri first opened the boutique in 2014, when the Ditmars strip had only a handful of retail shops, driven by her love for fashion and her belief that the neighborhood deserved a real gathering place for local makers, entrepreneurs, and longtime residents. The store was known for its curated mix of clothing, jewelry, gifts, and accessories — and for being a launchpad for up-and-coming small brands that needed a physical presence to grow.

Panettieri became far more than a shopkeeper over those years. She co-directed the Ditmars Merchant Association, organized the Shop Small Astoria retail crawl, led the beloved Ditmars Halloween Parade, and taught small business at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Last fall, the community rallied to help when The Brass Owl posted a call for support amid rising costs. But skyrocketing rent, inflation, tariffs, and the earlier closure of the children's spinoff The Tiny Owl proved to be too much. She announced the closure via Instagram, thanking the Astoria community for over a decade of support.

The Brass Owl represented something specific about what made this neighborhood tick — a locally owned, community-rooted retail space that prioritized people over profit. Its closing is a gut-punch reminder of the very real pressures squeezing independent businesses in western Queens. If you haven't already, give your remaining local shops some extra love this weekend.

👉 Full story on QNS

👉 The Brass Owl on Instagram

New York Attorney General Letitia James will not pursue criminal charges against three NYPD officers from Astoria's 114th Precinct who fatally shot a knife-wielding man in 2025. The AG's office announced its determination this week after reviewing body camera footage and witness accounts from the incident.

According to the AG's findings, officers responded to a call and encountered the man, identified as Wong. Officer Acosta deployed a Taser with no effect. When Officers LaMonica and Taverez arrived and Officer Coissy also fired a Taser — also ineffective — the situation escalated. When Wong turned and lunged toward Officer LaMonica with the knife, three of the officers discharged their service weapons. Wong fell to the ground and later died. Officer Taverez did not fire.

The AG's office reviewed the incident under New York's law requiring independent review of police-involved deaths. All three officers who fired remain assigned to the 114th Precinct. The decision closes the formal investigation, though questions about police response to individuals in mental health crises — a recurring issue in use-of-force cases across the city — continue to shape calls for expanded training and alternative response protocols.

👉 Full story on QNS

The Bronx-based Stagg Group has filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for a 68-unit residential tower at 29-12 Hoyt Avenue South in Astoria. The plans, filed May 11, call for a nine-story, 94-foot building spanning approximately 59,822 square feet. The project has not yet been permitted, but the filing marks the latest addition to Astoria's ongoing development pipeline.

Stagg Group is no stranger to the neighborhood — the developer previously completed Astoria Point, a well-known building at 21-07 Astoria Blvd. The Hoyt Avenue South site sits in a block that has seen growing interest from developers as land values in northern Astoria continue to rise. Unit mix and pricing have not yet been disclosed, and the timeline to construction will depend on DOB approval.

The filing is part of a broader development surge in Astoria, where a steady stream of mid- and high-rise projects have been filed or broken ground over the last two years. For residents, more supply can be a double-edged sword — it adds housing stock, but it also drives pressure on rents and neighborhood character. Whether these 68 units will include any affordable component remains to be seen.

👉 Full story at Commercial Observer

👉 More at Crain's New York Business

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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?

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