🏇 Aqueduct's Last Race: 130 Years of Queens History Signs Off

🗳️ DSA Dominates: Western Queens Sends a Political Shockwave to Albany

🚶‍♀️ Grief on 34th Avenue: A Woman Struck and Killed Steps From Her Front Door

🎇 July 4th Is Almost Here — and This Year's Fireworks Will Be Legendary

🎨 Sonia Boyce's "Demonstrate" Just Opened at the Queens Museum — Go See It

After 130 years of thundering hooves, boisterous crowds, and more than a little heartache, Aqueduct Racetrack held its final live races this past weekend — June 27 and 28 — and just like that, the Big A became history. The New York Racing Association has moved its downstate thoroughbred operations north to the rebuilt Belmont Park, which opens in September, and Aqueduct's gates will no longer swing open for live racing. The track will stay open for simulcast wagering through September 7 before transitioning entirely.

What this means for South Ozone Park is the real story: approximately 100 acres of prime Queens land is now in play. State officials say the site could eventually host a mix of housing, retail, community facilities, and open space. Nothing is finalized — the redevelopment process will take years — but it's rare that a piece of land this large opens up in a borough where every square foot is contested. For a borough that's been having urgent conversations about affordability, the Aqueduct site could become something genuinely significant.

The final weekend was part celebration, part mourning. Each $5 ticket came with a commemorative program, and the first 1,000 guests on Sunday received a container of authentic track-used dirt — a fitting sendoff for a place that hosted legends, welcomed a pope, and gave Queens its own mythic identity for generations. Whatever comes next, the Big A left a serious mark.

👉 Read more: CBS New York

👉 Also: Casino.org

The June 23 Democratic primary results are in, and western Queens made itself very clear: the Democratic Socialists of America now own this corner of the city. Aber Kawas cruised to a 60-17% win over Steven Raga in State Senate District 12, flipping the seat that Michael Gianaris held for years. Samantha Kattan nearly lapped the field in Assembly District 37 with close to 67% of the vote. And Claire Valdez, running for the 7th Congressional District seat vacated by the retiring Nydia Velázquez, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso 56% to 36% — a decisive statement about who speaks for this district now.

The sweep extends beyond western Queens. David Orkin ousted incumbent Jenifer Rajkumar in a district spanning Forest Hills and adjacent neighborhoods by 18 points. Diana Moreno, who already won the AD36 special election earlier this year, rolled again. In all, five DSA-aligned candidates posted commanding wins — every one of them by at least 18 percentage points. It's the kind of night that tends to reshape how local politics gets played for a decade.

For Astoria, LIC, Woodside, and Sunnyside residents, the shift is real. You now have elected officials in state legislature seats who ran explicitly on rent stabilization, free transit, housing expansion, and progressive taxation. Whether Albany translates those promises into results is a different question — but the voters here said what they wanted, loudly.

👉 Read more: QNS

👉 Also: Queens Daily Eagle

Two big anniversaries collide this Saturday: America turns 250, and the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks celebrate their 50th anniversary. The result is what Macy's is calling the most spectacular show in the event's half-century history — 85,000 shells in 30 colors launched simultaneously from three locations: the Lower East River near the Seaport, the Hudson River by Jersey City, and from the Brooklyn Bridge itself. There's also a new laser display firing directly off the bridge. You haven't seen July 4th look like this before.

For Astorians, the good news is you're sitting in one of the best free viewing zones in the city. The LIC waterfront delivers clear sightlines across the East River with the Manhattan skyline as your backdrop. And Astoria Park is hosting its own 42nd Annual Independence Day Celebration on the Great Lawn: live music kicks off at 7:30 PM, with fireworks around 9 PM. It's free, it's community-run, and it's exactly the kind of neighborhood Fourth of July you'll remember. Bring a blanket, get there early, and don't be surprised by the crowd.

Heads up: Socrates Sculpture Park closes at 1 PM on both July 3 and July 4. If you're planning a holiday weekend trip to the park, go in the morning. For the main event, stake out your spot on the Ditmars Lawn or along Shore Boulevard early — this year more than ever, everyone's going to want a waterfront view.

👉 Read more: Macy's Fireworks

👉 Also: NYC Parks — Astoria Park Events

If you made it to the Queens Museum this past Saturday, you got to be part of the opening of Sonia Boyce: Demonstrate — a major new exhibition from the Turner Prize-winning British artist. The opening included music, art workshops, tours, food, and a proper community celebration anchored by the unveiling of the show itself. Boyce's work centers on participation, Black British experience, and the way sound and community performance can transform a space.

The Queens Museum is one of the most underrated cultural gems in our borough, sitting right inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park. And with the World Cup fan zone operating nearby at the USTA's Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, a visit to the museum makes for a natural pairing — art in the afternoon, soccer on the big screens in the evening. The museum is at the NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

The exhibition runs through the summer, so there's no rush — but don't sleep on it either. Shows of this caliber don't come to Queens every month. Admission info and hours are at queensmuseum.org. No Metrocard required: the 7 train drops you at Mets–Willets Point, a short walk to the park.

👉 Read more: Queens Museum

A 55-year-old Astoria woman named Jihang Ortega was killed last week while crossing 34th Avenue at 38th Street — just steps from her home on 37th Street. According to NYPD's 114th Precinct, it happened just after 9 PM: Ortega was crossing in the marked southern crosswalk when a 58-year-old driver making a right turn onto 38th Street struck her. The driver was traveling eastbound on 34th Avenue and stopped at the red light at 38th Street; when the light turned green, she turned — and hit Ortega, who was mid-crossing. EMS rushed the critically injured woman to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The Collision Investigation Squad is handling the case. No arrests had been made as of the time of this writing, and the incident is an ongoing investigation. 34th Avenue has long been a focus of pedestrian safety advocacy in western Queens — the stretch between Astoria and Jackson Heights handles significant foot traffic, and crosswalk conflicts are not rare. This tragedy serves as a stark reminder of how quickly and senselessly a life can end at an intersection most of us cross without a second thought.

If you witnessed anything or have information, contact the NYPD's Crimestoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS or submit a tip online. For Ortega's family and neighbors on 37th Street, this is an unimaginable loss. Astoria feels it.

👉 Read more: QNS

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