Courtesy Freepik

Trump Doubles Travel Ban List, With Major Implications for NYC

By MOHAMED FARGHALY

mfarghaly@queensledger.com

A sweeping expansion of President Donald Trump’s travel ban is expected to have an outsized impact on New York City, particularly in Queens, home to some of the nation’s largest immigrant communities from the affected countries.

Under a presidential proclamation signed last week, the Trump administration will impose full or partial travel restrictions on nationals from 39 countries and people traveling on Palestinian Authority–issued documents, doubling the scope of a ban announced earlier this year. The restrictions take effect Jan. 1, 2026, and apply to travelers seeking to visit, immigrate to or reunite with family members in the United States.

Advocates estimate that about 420,000 New Yorkers come from countries now subject to the ban, according to the New York Immigration Coalition. Many live in Queens neighborhoods such as Astoria, Jamaica, Woodside and Ozone Park, where families often rely on travel for work, education and reunification.

“This discriminatory proclamation, the largest race- and religion-based ban on immigration in contemporary U.S. history, continues the Trump Administration’s unjust assault on immigrant communities. By expanding the Travel Ban, the administration is slamming the door on vulnerable people in a way that is certain to cause widespread harm, including prolonged family separation. Students will be denied from pursuing their education, workers will be blocked from contributing to the economy, and families will be forced to remain separated across borders,” said Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition.

The proclamation bars entry for most travelers from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria and Palestine for those who do not already hold valid U.S. visas. An additional 15 countries, including Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Tanzania, face partial restrictions that limit access to tourist, business and family-based visas.

The administration said the restrictions are necessary because of what it described as unreliable civil documents, weak vetting systems, visa overstay rates and national security concerns in the affected countries. It also cited a recent shooting involving an Afghan national as part of its justification for tightening immigration controls.

People who already hold valid visas, lawful permanent residents, diplomats, athletes and individuals deemed to be traveling in the U.S. interest are exempt. Still, immigration advocates say the changes will disrupt families and create uncertainty even for those with legal status.

“This proclamation will separate families and destabilize communities that are deeply rooted in New York,” the New York Immigration Coalition said in a statement, calling the ban discriminatory and disproportionately targeted at African and Muslim-majority countries.

Queens is particularly vulnerable because of its high concentration of residents from countries now affected. New Yorkers from Haiti, Yemen, Togo and Venezuela already represent some of the largest such populations in the United States, and community leaders say the expanded ban will further strain households that rely on relatives abroad for caregiving, financial support and emotional ties.

The new restrictions also eliminate several humanitarian and family-based exemptions that existed under earlier versions of the travel ban, including exceptions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and some refugee and special immigrant visa applicants, according to advocates.

The ban applies to anyone outside the United States when it goes into effect and limits visa renewals and extensions, raising concerns that New Yorkers could become stranded abroad or unable to bring relatives to the city.

“The Trump Administration’s expanded travel ban advances his quest to shut down any pathway to citizenship for Black and Brown immigrants. This policy further isolates the United States and deprives our nation of the expertise, culture, and humanity that immigrants bring. We must continue to resist policies rooted in fear and fight for our families, our freedoms, and our future,” said Diana Konaté, Deputy Executive Director of Policy & Advocacy, African Communities Together.

Critics say the policy revives one of the most controversial immigration measures of Trump’s first term and expands it to one of the largest race- and religion-concentrated mobility restrictions in modern U.S. history. The affected countries represent more than 1 billion people, roughly one-eighth of the global population.

The administration said it could revise the list of countries in the future, depending on whether governments improve cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities. For now, immigrant advocates warn that New York’s diverse neighborhoods, particularly in Queens, are likely to feel the effects first and most acutely.

“This expanded travel ban is a discriminatory policy that treats entire nations as suspect and deepens the othering of Muslim, African, and immigrant communities. At Muslim Community Network, roughly 75% of our staff have family members who will be directly affected, and our clients and allies across New York will feel the harm through separation, delayed reunification, lost study and work opportunities, and anxiety for thousands of New Yorkers. New York’s future depends on people being able to move, learn, contribute, and live with their loved ones, not on blanket restrictions that punish families for their passports,” said Husein Yatabarry, Executive Director, Muslim Community Network.

New Forest Hills Blood Center Expands Donation Access

By MOHAMED FARGHALY

mfarghaly@queensledger.com

New York Blood Center (NYBC) celebrated the grand opening of its first permanent Queens donor center on December 10, expanding access to blood donations in the borough and addressing ongoing shortages in the region. The ceremony, held at 107-10 Queens Blvd, included Deputy Queens Borough President Ebony Young, New York City Council Member Lynn Schulman, Dr. Toni Eyssallenne of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and other community partners.

“Queens is known as the World’s Borough for a reason – its diversity is unmatched,” said Jeannie Mascolino, Vice President, Divisional Blood Operations at New York Blood Center. “That diversity is essential to a strong blood supply, especially for patients who need closely matched blood, such as those with sickle cell disease or thalassemia. We’re thrilled to open our first donor center in Queens and grateful to the local leaders who helped make this day possible.”

The Queens donor center marks NYBC’s sixth facility in New York City and the first in the borough. It comes as part of a broader effort to make blood donation more convenient and community-centered. “The Queens donor Center is our sixth in New York City, so we’re super excited to be in Queens. Our opening there really was a direct response to community demand for more accessible donation options in the borough,” said Jeanne D’Agostino, NYBC’s manager of public relations. “We’re stoked to be there, and we’re looking ahead to the beginning of 2026 when we’ll open a donor Center in the Bronx.”

The facility features 10 donation beds, private medical screening rooms, and a modern cafe area designed to create a welcoming environment for donors. “Our goal would be to get you in and out in, you know, 40 minutes to an hour. So we try to make it really easy peasy,” D’Agostino said. Donors can relax in the cafe area post-donation, complete with Wi-Fi and snacks, before resuming their day. The center operates five days a week, including one weekend day, aiming to fit into the schedules of working residents and students alike.

NYBC said the timing of the center’s opening is critical. Blood supplies across the region are currently at about half of what is needed, with critical types like O positive and O negative down to a one-day supply. The week of Thanksgiving saw donations drop roughly 20%, leaving the region about 1,500 units short. “Blood shortages like this directly impact hospitals’ ability to perform surgeries, treat trauma patients, [and] take care of those with chronic illnesses like cancer,” D’Agostino said. She stressed the importance of a diverse donor base to meet the needs of patients with specific blood-related conditions such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease.

Blood donors can give every 56 days, while platelet donors can donate twice per month. Recent updates to FDA guidelines have expanded eligibility, allowing more people to contribute. NYBC also encourages financial support through its End of Year Campaign, which funds lifesaving research, mobile blood drives, and upgrades to donor centers.

Founded in 1964, NYBC provides 500,000 blood products annually to more than 150 hospitals in the tri-state area and serves as a primary blood supplier in 17 states. The organization also operates the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, dedicated to research on bloodborne and blood-related diseases, and provides cellular therapies and specialty pharmacy services to hospitals and research organizations nationwide.

“I’m so glad to see New York Blood Center has opened a new permanent Queens Donor Center in Forest Hills,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “We’ve happily hosted NYBC at Queens Borough Hall in the past, and now they have a permanent location in our borough for all to use. I encourage everyone to pay them a visit and give the gift of life this holiday season.”

For more information on donation eligibility or to schedule an appointment, visit nybc.org or call 800-933-2566.

By COLE SINANIAN  | news@queensledger.com

Bargoers packed into Willow’s Tavern in Ridgewood last Thursday evening for Ridgewood History Night, the Queens edition of a popular Greenpoint series that has locals give often humorous, always lighthearted presentations about an interesting aspect of their neighborhood’s past.

The evening featured presentations on the historic Ridgewood Theater, which was the oldest continuously open theater in America when it closed in 2008, and the influential architect who  designed it, Thomas W. Lamb, as well as world-famous magician and one-time Ridgewoodian Harry Houdini,  the ancient Fresh Pond trail once used by the indigenous Mespeatches people, and the neighborhood’s own wacky hyperlocal newspaper, the Ridgewood Times.

The tavern was dressed with holiday lights and packed to the brim with patrons sipping Guinnesses and Peronis, a warm respite from the frigid gusts of the December evening. Talking through her Google Slides presentation to a packed tavern, Ridgewoodian Courtney Howard traced the history of the Ridgewood Times, a once-beloved hyperlocal newspaper. An article from the 1920s, for example, documented how residents of Middle Village wanted  to change the neighborhood’s name to “Middle Town,” since it had grown too large to be referred to as a village.

Under the editorship of Carl Clemens in the 1940s, the Ridgewood Times became the largest weekly newspaper in the country. The offices were located at the intersection of Cypress, Myrtle and Cornelia streets, an area now known as the Clemens Triangle.

“If you can guess what the Ridgewood Times building is now, I might just buy you a shot,” Howard said. The answer, perhaps unexpectedly, is a dollar store. But Howard explained that she could find few archives of the Ridgewood Times from the 1930s, which she revealed was likely because the neighborhood had by that point become a hotbed of Nazi activity. She quoted a New York Times article from April 1934 headlined “Fists Fly at Rally of 9,000 Nazis,” about an event that had taken place at the Ridgewood Grove Arena. Counterprotesters included a mix of communists and Jewish-American war veterans.

The “history night” series is the brainchild of Greenpointer Rick Paulas, who, as a bartender at Oak and Iron Tavern in Greenpoint, began hosting Greenpoint History Night as a way to get people into his bar. The series has since garnered a cult following, with Greenpoint locals as well as wayward travelers from distant lands such as Maspeth, Ridgewood, Bushwick, and Bed-Stuy packing into Oak and Iron on history nights (usually held on Wednesdays), getting tipsy as they listen to wacky stories about their neighborhood told in a register somewhere between lecture and stand-up comedy.

So popular is the series that Paulas decided to take it on tour. History Night made stops in Bushwick on November 13, Astoria on November 20, and finally Ridgewood on Thursday, the last stop on the tour. Paulas, however, urged spectators to steal his idea.

“This is a concept that somebody besides me should run with,” Paulas said. “I do not live in Ridgewood, I live in Greenpoint. But this should hopefully give you an example of what something like this is.”

Courtesy Freepik 

Cole Sinanian

Attorney General Letitia James announced December 10 that five people had been indicted for bribery and money laundering schemes they had used at JFK airport to manipulate Delta Airlines into signing contracts with the cargo companies they owned.

James revealed in a press release that a major investigation by her office and the Port Authority of New York had led to an array of charges against Raymond Kayume, Joseph Puzzo, Irfan Syed, Beau Baer, and a fifth unnamed co-conspirator, including commercial bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, and scheme to defraud.

The accused allegedly bribed high-ranking Delta employees at JFK using  fraudulent invoices and cash payments. In one scheme, Syed — Chief Executive Officer of Jet Way Security and Investigations and Jet Way Aviation Services — Baer, who also works for Jet Way, and an unnamed executive at the air cargo company Alliance Ground International (AGI) allegedly paid a Delta employee $8,000 every quarter in exchange for ensuring continued contracts with Delta. James’ office reported that the three created a false $25,000 invoice to make it appear that there was a legitimate payment from AGI to Jet Way, then split the money three ways. This went on from January 2018 to January 2023, and culminated in a total of $375,000  in fraudulent invoice payments.

In another scheme, Joseph Puzzo, manager of gas canister company American Compressed Gases, allegedly paid two-three dollars per canister sold to a JFK Delta employee in order to ensure continued business for his company. Puzzo would send the payments to a third-party company, which would keep half the money, then send the rest to the Delta employee through rent checks for office space that didn’t exist.

“When businesses bribe their way into lucrative contracts, everyday New Yorkers can suffer the consequences of worse service and higher costs,” said Attorney General James. “These bribery schemes impacted critical shipping services at one of the busiest airports in the nation. These individuals repeatedly broke the law, but today we are shutting down their pay-to-play schemes and holding them accountable.”