Big step for Queens soccer stadium, casino plan

Plus: The time Hart Island hosted a sober music festival [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [Queens community board endorses plan to bring soccer stadium to Willets Point]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ⛅ Sunny now, cloudy later, with highs in the mid 40s. It's Tuesday in New York City, where NYCFC just got a little closer to securing its own stadium. After a lengthy debate last night, Queens Community Board 7 voted 37-2 to advance a plan to bring a $780 million soccer stadium and casino to Willets Point, fulfilling its role in the city's lengthy land-use approval process. [Here's what happens next](. And here's what else is happening: - With Rep. George Santos out, voters in the 3rd Congressional District are likely looking at [a February Special Election to pick his replacement](. - Rikers Island opened a special detention unit for [people suspected of setting fires]( — but closed the next day after a federal monitor found it lacked required fire prevention equipment. - New 60-day limits on New York City shelter stays for migrant families are [threatening to destabilize migrant students]( who've settled into their schools. - Tenants of NYCHA’s Bronx River Addition development will get to vote in the spring on whether to [unlock an alternative federal funding stream]( for repairs needed in deteriorating apartments. - New York has received roughly [$100 million for mental health services]( under a federal gun violence prevention bill passed last year. - Months before a Bronx man allegedly stabbed four relatives to death at a home in Far Rockaway on Sunday, [he refused help for severe mental health issues]( identified by his family, his aunt and cousin said Monday. - The MTA is testing out [harder-to-jump-over fare gates]( at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue subway station in Queens. - PATH stations at 33rd Street in Manhattan and Journal Square in Jersey City are piloting an OMNY-like tap payment system called ... [TAPP](. - At least four of the gold bars the FBI retrieved from New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez's house as part of a federal corruption investigation have been [traced back to a 2013 armed robbery](. - "Hell's Kitchen," the Alicia Keys musical currently running at the Public Theater, is [moving to Broadway]( in the spring. - In addition to serving as a mass burial site for nearly one million New Yorkers, Hart Island was also home to a rehab facility in the 1970s that once hosted [a sober music festival]( featuring the Velvet Underground. - The U.S.A. got [a cool logo]( for its 250th birthday. - Nicolas Cage said he's done making movies. (He's [pivoting to television/retirement]( - It's high tourist season in Pinecraft, Florida, AKA ["The Amish Las Vegas."]( - Have some time for a game? [Play]( our mini local news crossword. - Sign up for reminders when we publish new games [here](. “I[t’s been difficult for [my daughter] to make friends because of the language. This change is going to be hard because she has to start over.]( - Miryam, a parent from Ecuador whose daughter may have to switch schools [WHEN THEY LEAVE THEIR HELL’S KITCHEN SHELTER]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Rockefeller Center gets a new ride, 'The Beam,' honoring an iconic NYC photo]( "The Beam" — a ride that lasts about two minutes and involves seatbelts — gives visitors the chance to recreate the iconic "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" picture taken in 1932. [Millions in federal dollars funneled into new Governors Island hybrid-electric ferry]( The new ferry is one of several initiatives aimed at shrinking the city's carbon footprint by 80% come 2050. [We Rely On Your Support]( [Is your rizz authentic? New Yorkers weigh in on the word of the year.]( This year, 650 new words were added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, including "jorts," "grammable" and "rizz." [‘Only Rudolph should be lit’: Cheeky NJ highway signs back for holidays]( The New Jersey Department of Transportation has placed more than 220 signs across state highways with phrases including "Reckless drivers are worse than fruitcake" and "Santa's watching, put down the phone." [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.