✨ Business Spotlight: More Today Skincare & Wellness Studio — Four Years In, Still Growing

🏖️ Beach Season Opens — Rip Current Warning in Effect

🚌 New Bus Lane Coming to Jackson Heights for World Cup

🏘️ 12,000 Apartments Could Rise Over Sunnyside's Rail Yard

🗳️ VoteFest Comes to Queens This Saturday — Live Music & Democracy

MONDAY, MAY 25 — Memorial Day

🍺 Czech & Slovak Heritage Festival (Day 2)

Noon–9:30 PM  •  Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, 29-19 24th Ave.  •  Free  •  Czech & Slovak food, beer, music, dance.  •  More info

🏛️ Socrates Sculpture Park

Open daily, free  •  32-01 Vernon Blvd, LIC  •  Chakaia Booker's 'Serendipity' and 'Gridlock' on view all season.  •  Plan your visit

TUESDAY, MAY 26

🎭 Q.E.D. Astoria nightly events — comedy, trivia, workshops  •  Full calendar

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

🎭 Q.E.D. Astoria nightly events  •  Full calendar

THURSDAY, MAY 28

🎬 Astoria Film Festival — Opening Night Party

7–11 PM  •  Heart of Gold, Astoria  •  Screenings, filmmakers, networking.  •  Festival info

FRIDAY, MAY 29

🎬 Astoria Film Festival — Youth Festival

4–9 PM  •  Zukor Theater, Kaufman Astoria Studios  •  Films by filmmakers under 24.  •  Get tickets

SATURDAY, MAY 30

🎬 Astoria Film Festival — Student Showcase

9 AM–6:30 PM  •  Zukor Theater, Kaufman Astoria Studios.  •  Festival info

🗳️ VoteFest Open Air — Queens Says No Kings

2–4 PM  •  MacDonald Park, Forest Hills  •  Live music, voter registration, NYCLU speakers. Free!  •  More info

SUNDAY, MAY 31

🎬 Astoria Film Festival — Main Festival + Awards Ceremony

Noon–7 PM  •  Zukor Theater, Kaufman Astoria Studios  •  Short films + workshops from 9 AM.  •  Get tickets

🗓️ COMING UP / MARK YOUR CALENDAR

🎡 Astoria Park Carnival  •  June 3–7  •  Rides, games, fair food at Astoria Park

🥂 Socrates Sculpture Park 40th Anniversary Gala  •  June 4  •  Sunset dinner, dancing, cocktails at Spacetime CC  •  Tickets

🎭 Eco Art Workshops at Socrates  •  June 6–8 & 13–14, 11 AM–1 PM  •  Bilingual, family-friendly  •  Free

🎵 Free Met Opera Recital at Socrates Sculpture Park  •  June 8, 7–8 PM  •  Outdoor and free

You walk in and there’s no robe waiting for you. No flute music, no hushed voices, no one making you feel like you’ve done something wrong by showing up in jeans. The vibe is colorful, the music is something you’d actually want to listen to, and nobody’s trying to upsell you on anything the moment you sit down. For a lot of people, that alone is enough reason to come back.

More Today Skincare & Wellness Studio is a facial spa in Astoria owned by Becca, an aesthetician who built the place she wished had existed when she was dealing with her own acne. She spent years feeling let down by dermatologists who handed her prescriptions without ever explaining how to actually take care of her skin. When she eventually made the switch into aesthetics, she knew exactly what the space needed to be: approachable, honest, and built around education. Not around upsells. The studio just celebrated its fourth anniversary, and what started as Becca working alone has grown into a team of three.

The core service is their customized facial, offered in three lengths: 45, 60, and 90 minutes. Every treatment is fully inclusive, meaning no add-ons, no surprises, no moment where someone suggests five more things while you’re in a relaxed state and can’t really say no. Their most popular option is the 60-minute “Level Up” facial. After every appointment, clients leave with a personalized written recap of what was done and what they should do at home. It sounds like a small thing. It’s actually the kind of detail that makes people come back. They also have treatment rooms for back treatments, so ahead of summer, keep that in mind.

If consistency is your thing, and it should be because skin care actually works like working out, More Today offers monthly memberships designed to make that easier and more affordable. You get your treatment built into a routine, you see real results, and you spend less than you would booking one-offs.

The new space has also opened the door to something beyond the treatment room. More Today hosts seasonal community events designed around self-care in a broader sense. They’ve partnered with PlanetSis for a Candle Making and Skincare night, and with InnerPttrn for a Vision Board and Reiki night. These are the kinds of evenings that are easy to show up to and hard to forget. And if you’ve got a bachelorette party or baby shower to plan, they do private facial parties for those too. It’s a genuinely fun way to do something different with a group.

More Today just expanded into a larger space this past October, adding treatment rooms and bringing on new aestheticians. They’re in a real growth phase right now, building out clientele for the new team, and the momentum is clear.

Check out their full menu and book at moretodayskincare.com, and follow along on Instagram at @moretodayskincare to stay up on any upcoming promotions and events, including a summer skin package currently in the works.

Four years in, still growing, still treating every client like the space was built specifically for them. That’s what good local business looks like.

👉 Book online: moretodayskincare.com

📸 Follow on Instagram: @moretodayskincare

New York City officially opened its beach season this Memorial Day weekend, with 370 lifeguards taking their posts at city beaches on Saturday — up from 280 last year. For Astoria and Western Queens residents, that means Astoria Park and the nearby Rockaway beaches are alive again. But before you pack your beach bag, read this: the National Weather Service issued a High Rip Current Risk and High Surf Advisory through Sunday, with waves up to 10 feet crashing along Atlantic Ocean beaches in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island.

The NYC Office of Emergency Management issued a beach warning flagging life-threatening rip currents all weekend. Inexperienced swimmers were advised to stay out of the water entirely, and anyone venturing into the surf zone was told to stay close to lifeguards and swim parallel to the shore if caught in a current. Lifeguards are on duty daily from 10 AM to 6 PM through September 13.

The good news: Monday afternoon should see clearing skies and a drop in the rain that dominated the weekend. As the waves settle down over the coming days, it will be prime time for a stroll along the Astoria Park waterfront, even if a dip isn’t on the cards just yet. Welcome to summer, Astoria — just check the flags first.

👉 Read more: CBS New York

👉 Read more: PIX11

If you’ve ever groaned watching your Q70-SBS bus inch down Broadway at what feels like a crawl, here’s some relief: Mayor Mamdani and NYC DOT have announced a new dedicated, center-running bus lane along Broadway in Jackson Heights, running between 69th Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The corridor serves roughly 9,000 daily riders connecting to LaGuardia Airport, the 7, E, F, M, and R subway lines, and the LIRR. During evening rush hour, those buses currently move at just 2.7 mph — slower than the average walking pace.

The new lane would keep dedicated bus space separate from turning vehicles and parked cars, with one travel lane in each direction remaining for other vehicles. The project is part of a broader effort to speed up transit to LGA ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off at MetLife Stadium on June 11. NYC DOT officials plan to meet with Community Board 3 and other local stakeholders this month before painting begins.

For Astoria and Western Queens residents who rely on the Q70 or M60 for airport access, this is one of the most tangible pre-World Cup improvements coming to the area. Whether you’re welcoming visiting fans this summer or commuting to work, a bus that actually moves sounds pretty good.

👉 Read more: Streetsblog NYC

👉 Read more: Queens Daily Eagle

One of New York City’s most audacious housing dreams just got a very unlikely co-signer. Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a surprise visit to the Oval Office earlier this year and pitched President Trump on decking over the massive Amtrak rail yard in Sunnyside to build 12,000 affordable apartments on top — the single largest housing development the city would have seen since 1973. The project would also include new parks, schools and healthcare clinics, sitting squarely in Western Queens.

Mamdani is seeking more than $21 billion in federal grants to build what would effectively be a platform over the world’s largest rail yard. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards called the plan exciting. But local officials aren’t all on board: Councilmember Julie Won has raised concerns that the community is being left out of the planning process, and Queens Ledger reports that residents are asking, simply, ‘huh?’ The project has been theorized for over 40 years and died once already under de Blasio when COVID hit.

The big question now is whether federal money actually materializes — and whether Sunnyside neighbors get a real seat at the table this time around. For Western Queens residents, this one’s worth watching closely. If it happens, it would reshape Sunnyside, Woodside and LIC for generations. If it doesn’t, it’ll join a long list of visionary plans that almost were.

👉 Read more: Gothamist

👉 Read more: Gothamist: Queens Dems skeptical

If you’ve been meaning to register to vote, check your polling station, or just do something good this weekend — here’s your excuse. Queens Says No Kings, the grassroots pro-democracy group that drew 1,000+ people to a Forest Hills protest in March, is hosting VoteFest on Saturday, May 30 from 2 to 4 PM at MacDonald Park in Forest Hills. The event is part civic fair, part block party: live music, voter registration help, a community story wall, and speakers from the NYCLU and civil rights community.

Performers include Gary Baker (Queens-based singer), Gabrielle Sterbenz of Disturbenz, and the debut of Singing Resistance Queens — a brand-new Queens-based group premiering at the event. Drea Herrera from the NYCLU will speak about voting rights, and locally made empanadas will be served while supplies last. Organizations joining QSNK include Common Cause New York, Hands Off NYC, the Women’s Action Group of Forest Hills, Indivisible, and HeadCount.

The event is free and open to all. Whether you’re already registered or haven’t thought about it since the last election, VoteFest is designed to make the whole thing feel a little less bureaucratic and a lot more fun. Forest Hills is a short 7-train ride from Astoria — just a reminder that democracy is always local.

👉 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!