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Jonathan Forgash

@jonathanforgash

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Community advocate and organizer. Queenstogether.org.

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Last night, in Times Square, there was a candlelight vigil honoring the memory of Pawo Lobga Rangzen, who was serving as President of the Tibetan National Congress at the time of his ultimate sacrifice. Lobga self immolated for Tibet’s Independence. He called for International attention to the cause of Tibet in his final message. He did this final act outside the United Nations Headquarters one day after China’s new “Ethnic Unity Law” took effect.

Queens Together attended the vigil and stood in peaceful protest with our Tibetan friends and neighbors, New Yorkers, and leaders of resistance from Hong Kong, South Mongolia, and the Uyghur community.

“Lobga was a tireless advocate for Tibet who devoted himself to peacefully raising awareness of the human rights crisis and independence of Tibet and he will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to justice and the Tibetan cause,” said ICT President Tencho Gyatso.

The Dalai Lama famously said, “My religion is kindness.” I heard this for the first time last night and it resonated with me.

Learn more and take action. Visit @savetibetorg.

- Jonathan Forgash, Queens Together

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Today, Queens Together hosted a meeting with NYC Comptroller Mark Levine and some of our restaurant partners. We discussed issues with Con Edison, commercial rents, outdoor dining, liability insurance, sanitation, street safety, DOT, and more.

Small business is the backbone of our city and we need to be heard. Queens together thanks the Comptroller for listening and spending time with us. Shout out to Lester, Peter, and the team at Elm Roastery for providing a meeting space.

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DELICIOUS SANDWICH ALERT! 🥪

We’re on a bit of a sandwich kick this summer, and why not? They’re endlessly creative, delicious, and perfect summer eats. But some of them are more than that, like the inspired, thoughtfully made creations at @sosassandwichshop, where every sandwich has a story behind it (and also gets built on different types of house-made bread, incredibly).

📍EDIT/UPDATE: Sosa’s is no longer at Sala! Follow @sosassandwichshop to see where he lands next.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Eddie Sosa, and trying several of his 11 sandwiches, for a recent dispatch of Eats in Queens (link in bio). His passion is contagious, his stories are engaging, and the sandwiches are excellent. But Eddie hopes his customers connect the dots between his food and humanity itself. Get here before this place gets overrun!

⬆️ Read the full article at the link in bio.
👩‍💻 Subscribe to @qns_together’s Eats in Queens newsletter at the link in bio, for more stories like this.

#eatsinqueens #queensfood #queenseats #astoriafood #eatyourworld

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Congrats Jonathan Forgash and the Queens Together team on their first-ever Elmhurst Day, celebrating the diverse food and culture throughout the neighborhood.

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Join us Thursday, June 25 as @jeffneckonoff brings the music to London Lennie’s for a night of dancing, cocktails, seafood, and good vibes in the heart of Queens.

Enjoy our regular dinner menu from 7PM–9PM, then stick around as we transition into late-night happy hour specials and celebrate the start of summer the right way.

Grab your friends, order another round, and let’s welcome the season together.

📍 Rego Park, Queens
🎧 DJ Jeff Nec @jeffneckonoff
🗓️ June 25
⏰ Starting at 7PM

#QueensEvents #QueensNightlife #LondonLennies #RegoPark #NYCEat

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Rain or Shine...
ELMHURST DAY IS HERE

*Wow… summer is coming and the heat is starting to hit!* ☀️
But don’t worry — our next culinary adventure is *INDOORS* 😎

This time, *NY Indonesian Food Bazaar * is teaming up with *Queens Together* & *Next Stop Elmhurst (NSE)* to celebrate our home base: *Elmhurst Day*!

📅 *Saturday, June 6, 2026*
📍 *8407 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373*
🍛 *Indonesian Food + Dance + Community*
🌦️ *Rain or shine — we’re indoors, so enjoy without worry!*

Come celebrate Elmhurst with us. Bring your family, bring your appetite, and let’s show love to the neighborhood we call home.

More info: DM us or text 347-615-2003
Tag your Elmhurst crew below 👇

#ElmhurstDay #nytimes #QueensTogether #NextStopElmhurst #IndonesianFoodNYC IndoorEvent

Calling Elmhurst vendors! Want to join us indoors for Elmhurst Day on June 6? Limited spots. DM us to apply.

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ELMHURST DAY IS HERE

*Wow… summer is coming and the heat is starting to hit!* ☀️
But don’t worry — our next culinary adventure is *INDOORS* 😎

This time, *Pasar Malam NY* is Collaboration with *Queens Together* & *Next Stop Elmhurst (NSE)* to celebrate our home base: *Elmhurst Day*!

📅 *Saturday, June 6, 2026*
📍 *8407 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373*
🍛 *Indonesian Food + Dance + Community*
🌦️ *Rain or shine — we’re indoors, so enjoy without worry!*

Come celebrate Elmhurst with us. Bring your family, bring your appetite, and let’s show love to the neighborhood we call home.

More info: DM us or text 347-615-2003
Tag your Elmhurst crew below 👇

#ElmhurstDay #PasarMalamNY #QueensTogether #NextStopElmhurst #IndonesianFoodNYC IndoorEvent

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The NYC Hospitality Alliance and the Queens Chamber of Commerce brought together local restaurant and bar owners to discuss regulatory challenges affecting our industry and explore new business opportunities in the World’s Borough! Big thanks to Loycent Gordon and the team at Historic Neir’s Tavern for hosting us. This is us doing our best Robert De Niro in a Goodfellas reenactment (this is the bar where the famous scene was filmed after the Lufthansa Heist).

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What an amazing turnout for the Small Business Safety Summit at Historic Neir’s Tavern.

What I thought was an isolated attempted burglary, turned out after bringing awareness, we discovered 14 other restaurants were also burglarized and a citywide “WANTED” Poster has been generated as a result.

It goes to show we are better when we come together to share issues we’re all facing. Today was a powerful session of sharing best practices and mutual support of our own experiences of being victimized.

2020-2021 saw 66,000 businesses close in nyc. 28% of businesses in nyc. During the same time 2020-2022 we saw 25,000 businesses open up. This shows a net loss of 40,000 businesses from coming back to full capacity.

40,000 is the equivalent of billions in LOST tax revenue that pays for our police officers, sanitation workers and vital city services.

We cannot get these business back unless we create the conditions for people to start and successfully operate a small business in this city. The future of this city depends on it.

We had some tactical takeaways
1- “Amber Alert” style notification for small businesses to be notified when a business has been a victim of crime and perpetrator has not been caught.

2-Fund nypd and training for Better response times
3-Thorough investigation every time an alarm is triggered, not only a drive by due to being short staffed.

We’re grateful for the amazing community based organizations, nyc agencies and business owners who showed up to share best practices and experiences dealing with crime to their businesses.

Thank you

NYC Office Of Nightlife @nycnightlifegov @nycsmallbiz
Aigner’s Chocolate @aignerchocolates ,
Metro Village of Forest Hills, @metrovillagefh
NYS Senator Joe Addabbo @senatorjoeaddabbo
Empire Security & Protection LLC @empiresecurityny
Queens Community Board 9
Woodhaven Residents Block Association
@dexterwinesnyc
Queens Together @qns_together
@pix11news please watch the recap on tonight’s news.

@nypd102 and @nypd for your continued support and trying to find these criminals that still has not been caught.

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Delightful morning at Center for an Urban Future's inspiring event, "IDEAS FOR A STRONGER AND MORE EQUITABLE QUEENS." Sharing images of my favorite ideas 💡🤩

Bonus: seeing friends old and new from across the borough 😍🥰

#QueensGetTheMoney

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SELF-GUIDED FOOD CRAWL IN ELMHURST, ANYONE?

For last week’s @nextstopelmhurst edition of Eats in Queens, we put together a roster of great food that starts just steps away from the 7 train—specifically the section of Elmhurst that runs along the south side of Roosevelt Avenue and is bordered by Broadway and Baxter Avenue. (What should we call this little triangle??)

Create your own DIY food crawl from these favorite classic spots, under-the-radar gems, and markets. (And we highly suggest ending with a show at @terraza_7!)

Foods pictured here:

• grandma slice at @louiespizza
• empanadas at @lafustanewyork
• pozole at @juquilanyc
• grilled fish taco and fish empanada at La Esquina del Camaron Mexicano
• fried flounder at Jose’s Seafood
• taco placero at @itacate83
• Terraza 7 in action 🎶

📍DM “map” for that Google Map link!

✨Subscribe to @qns_together’s Eats in Queens newsletter at the link in bio, for more stories about food + Queens!

#eatsinqueens #nextstopelmhurst #elmhurstqueens #queensfood #eatyourworld

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WARMING UP ON INTERNATIONAL MILE 🌎

What’s International Mile, you say? It’s what we’re calling the stretch of Broadway in Elmhurst between the Roosevelt Ave subway station and Queens Blvd. There’s so much good food around there, but for a recent Eats in Queens newsletter we rounded up 12 favorite hot and (often) spicy dishes we love. Don’t miss it—swipe to read. 🍜

Featured restaurants include:
@himalayan_yak
Hướng Xuân
@lafustanewyork
@hugesannyc
@eimkhaomunkai
@tastegoodmalaysiancuisine
Pho Bang
@seichou.ramen
@sourlittleseven
@happystonynoodle
@awangkitchennyc
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Which one do you want first??

⬆️ Subscribe to @qns_together’s Eats in Queens newsletter at the link in bio, for more stories about food + Queens.
📸 Thanks to @jonathanforgash, @naphime, @hugesannyc, and @awangkitchennyc for some of the included pics.

#eatsinqueens #elmhurstqueens #queensfood #hotfoods #eatyourworld

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