Check Out Some Great Lunar New Year Celebrations Around Queens In The Weeks Ahead

 

Chinese New Year 2019

Tuesday, Feb. 5, marks the beginning of the the Lunar New Year and Year of the Pig, which means Queens will be exploding with lively events celebrating this ancient Asian tradition.

Lunar New Year signifies the start of the Chinese calendar year. Each year is defined by a specific animal. These 12 zodiac signs include rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

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StreetEasy’s New Program Wasn’t A Surprise. But Brokers Still Aren’t Happy About t.

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As predicted, some brokers aren’t buying into this Agent Spotlight business. StreetEasy plans to launch the new service next month, which will allow brokers — who pay $333 per month per listing — to avoid Premier Agent and appear as the exclusive rep on a listing. StreetEasy is also simultaneously rolling out a back-end listing platform called Listing Tools, which is supposed to encourage brokers to manually input listing info (which is required when participating in Agent Spotlight).

Several top brokerages, including Stribling & Associates and Warburg Realty, have already said that they don’t plan to switch to Listing Tools, E.B. Solomont reported. They feel like it will pit agents, who’ve already competed to get the exclusive on a listing, against each other. StreetEasy’s parent, Zillow Group, stresses that all listings still feature the pictures and contact info for brokers. They just have to pay up if they want to have their face be the only face potential buyers see.

But brokers feel like they are being shook-down, forced to pay StreetEasy to get rid of a feature the company foisted on them in the first place.

“It just reeks of blackmail to me,” said Jed Garfield of townhouse brokerage Leslie J. Garfield. “It’s a blatantly horrendous choice they’re forcing brokers to choose between.”

Sellers market in Queens: Report Finds Spike In Residential Listings In Queens At The End Of 2018

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The number homes that were on the market in Queens took a sharp increase at the end of the year, according to a recent report.

StreetEasy recently released their Q4 2018 Market Report, which tracks the real estate trends throughout the city. According to their findings, the number of homes for sale in New York City as a whole grew at double-digit rates, particularly in Queens, which saw a 30.8 percent annual increase in 2018. Continue Reading ›

Get to Know Greta Van Fleet: Forest Hills Stadium’s Next Band

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On May 25th Greta Van Fleet will be performing at the Forest Hills Stadium. Get to know the band before they rock the stage this summer!

The band is comprised of four musicians twin brothers Josh (vocals) and Jake Kiszka (guitar), both 22, younger brother Sam (bass/keys, 19), and longtime friend Danny Wagner (drums, 19). Although they are young, the boys were raised on their parents vinyl albums which influenced their high-energy hybrid of rock’n’roll, blues, and soul.

“Our parents had a lot of vinyls laying around,” recalls Josh, so we grew up listening to that and really liked playing with the vinyl albums – putting them on the turntable and speeding them up and slowing them down. But, yeah, I really liked the blues and the soul and the funk – Wilson Pickett is the big one, and Joe Cocker, those kinds of things”.

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CON BRIO ENSEMBLE PRESENTING TWILIGHT CONCERT AT THE CHURCH IN THE GARDENS IN FOREST HILLS

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Members of the Con Brio Ensemble will be performing works by Handel, Brahms, Schubert, Shostakovich,and Paganini,on Sunday, January 6, 2019at 4:30 PM at The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Avenue in Forest Hills, NY.
Critically acclaimed violinist, Alexander Meshibovsky, Osceola Davis, coloratura soprano, (please see attached photo), clarinetist, Gary Dranch, and pianist, Diana Mittler-Battipaglia  will perform German arias by Handel, Schubert’s The Shepherd on the Rock, and Duos by Shostakovich. The program will also include Brahms-Sonata in G Major opus 78 and variations by Paganini for violin and piano. Alexander Meshibovsky, a student of Heifetz, and clarinetist, Gary Dranch perform internationally as concerto soloists. Osceola Davis has appeared as soloist with the Metropolitan Opera and major European opera houses, Diana Mittler-Battipaglia is Professor of Music and Choral Director at Lehman College-CUNY.
 Celebrating its 40th season, the Con Brio Ensemble performs annual series in Queens, and Manhattan, and is currently in residence at Lehman College-CUNY in the Bronx.
Admission to the concert will be $12.00 ($10.00 for students and senior citizens)
TDF vouchers are accepted. For further information please call the Con Brio Ensemble at: 718 459-1277

Here’s How To Get Rid Of A Christmas Tree In NYC

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NEW YORK — Oh, post-Christmas tree, how dry and flaky are your branches. New Yorkers may find their indoor evergreens less charming this week, with the presents gone and needles covering their floors.

The city makes it fairly straightforward to get rid of unwanted Christmas trees. But those eager to do so have to wait until the new year before their trees can be recycled and reincarnated. Continue Reading ›

Happy New Year! Time To Mark Your Calendars With The Biggest Dates In Queens In 2019

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Now that the confetti has settled and the buzz from new year’s parties has worn off, it’s time to start looking ahead to many important events in Queens in 2019.

Jan. 1 marks the start of new terms in government for statewide offices. Governor Andrew Cuomo begins his third term in office today; joining him are incoming Attorney General Letitia James,  the first African-American woman to hold statewide office, and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who also starts his third term in the post. Continue Reading ›