Get The Scoop On Tapping Into Business Growth With The Southeast Queens Business Incubator With RDRC

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

TAP Into Business Growth with the
Southeast Queens Business Incubator

RDRC Launches Southeast Queens Business Incubator Winter 2026 Program to Scale Local Black-Owned and Developing Businesses

Entrepreneurs across Southeast Queens — especially those building from the Rockaway Peninsula — have a powerful new opportunity to grow, scale, and access major procurement pipelines as the Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation (RDRC) prepares to launch its Southeast Queens Business Incubator (SEQBI) – Winter 2026 session.

Based in Far Rockaway at 1920 Mott Avenue, RDRC is once again stepping forward as a major driver of Black and community-centered economic development in Southeast Queens, offering a 10-week intensive incubator program designed to position local businesses for serious growth.

Program Dates & Structure

According to the official SEQBI flyer, the Winter 2026 session will run from February 4th through April 8th, 2026

Entrepreneurs interested in applying can also attend one of the program’s upcoming Information Sessions, scheduled for:

January 14th, 11AM–12PM

January 21st, 11AM–12PM

January 28th, 11AM–12PM

These sessions will be held virtually via Zoom at: https://zoom.us/j/95324580124.

Registration Form: Click Here

Registration Form: Click Here 

Get The Scoop On Why Queens Residents Are Fired Up About a Lithium-ion Battery Plant in Historic Addisleigh Park in St. Albans

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

Proposed Lithium-ion Battery Plant in Southeast Queens Spurs Community Concern

Southeast Queens NY — A proposal by NineDot Energy to build a lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in the St. Albans/ Addisleigh Park area of Southeast Queens has sparked ongoing protests and vocal opposition from local residents and civic leaders.

NineDot Energy, a Brooklyn-based clean energy developer, is planning to build a community-scale battery storage facility — part of a wave of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects the company says will help the region’s energy grid store renewable power, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and meet New York’s climate goals.

Community Safety and Fire Risk Concerns

Many Southeast Queens residents, including members of the Addisleigh Park Civic Association, and Southeast Queens environmental justice groups, are concerned about the plant’s proposed location in a primarily residential area that is rich in history and home to families, seniors, and community institutions.

Critics point specifically to the risk of lithium-ion battery fires, which have drawn national attention because of their intensity and difficulty to extinguish once they ignite. A high-profile fire at a large battery storage facility in California burned for days and forced evacuations — a reminder of the safety challenges associated with the technology.

In St. Albans, residents fear that any such incident near homes, schools, senior centers, and healthcare facilities could have devastating consequences — particularly in a historic neighborhood like Addisleigh Park, known as “Black Hollywood East” for attracting jazz legends, sports icons and cultural figures throughout the 20th century. “One of the biggest concerns is fire,” a community member told local media this summer, noting that once lithium batteries enter thermal runaway — a chain reaction of overheating — the blaze can be nearly impossible to extinguish and release dangerous gases that imperil nearby homes and residents.

Dr. Gerald Deas: Honoring a Southeast Queens Legend, Healer, and Cultural Light

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

Dr. Gerald Deas: Honoring a Southeast Queens Legend, Healer, and Cultural Light

Southeast Queens is mourning the reported passing of one of its most respected men, Dr. Gerald Deas — a brilliant physician, community servant, cultural worker, and elder whose life embodied healing in every sense of the word.

Dr. Deas, reportedly in his 90s, represented a generation of Black physicians who practiced medicine when access to quality healthcare for our people was neither equal nor guaranteed. His work helped lay the foundation for today’s fight for health equity in our communities.

Though major media outlets have yet to formally report his transition, word within the community is that Dr. Deas has become an Ancestor. For those who knew him, worked alongside him, or were healed by his hands and spirit, the loss is deeply felt.

Dr. Deas was far more than a medical doctor. He was a community institution.

Get the Scoop On MLK Holiday Events In Southeast Queens

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

MLK Holiday Events In Southeast Queens

------------

------------

------------

Before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin Refused to Give Up Her Bus Seat: The Lesser-Known Civil Rights Pioneer Dies at 86

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

Claudette Colvin: The
15-Year-Old Who Refused to
Move — and Helped Blacks To
Create A Movement Against
Jim Crow Segregation

History has a way of turning whole movements into a single, familiar moment. For the Montgomery bus struggle, that moment is usually Rosa Parks. But nine months before Parks’ arrest, a 15-year-old Black girl named Claudette Colvin sat down on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama—and refused to give her seat to a white passenger.

She was dragged off the bus, arrested, and charged. And in a country built to make Black girls feel small, Claudette Colvin’s courage was enormous.

Colvin—long treated as a footnote in the mainstream telling of the Civil Rights Movement—died January 13, 2026, at age 86, in Texas, according to reporting and confirmation from the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation.

Her passing is a reminder: the movement wasn’t only powered by the names we learned in school. It was also propelled by “lesser-known” heroes—young, working-class, and often overlooked—who still chose to stand tall.

Get The Scoop On Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats

By Celeste Sassine

Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats brings Handcrafted,
Plant-Based Goodness to Queens

Queens NY. Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats a black owned, family run vegan bakery in Queens, is serving up bold, handmade desserts with heart. It all started when founder Celeste Sassine, a Sign Language teacher and Interpreter, began baking and selling cookies to help fund her daughter's mission trip.

What started as a small fundraiser quickly grew into a thriving business - and a sweet way to serve the community.

From cookies to cakes, everything is 100% Plant-Based and made with love. " We wanted to create something that was meaningful, delicious, and not just for vegans" says Sassine. Every order supports our family and our community. 

As part of her commitment to accessibility and inclusion, a portion of ever sale goes towards supporting Sign Language initiatives - a cause that's close to Sassine's heart.

My vegan journey has taken me from curious home baker to creating exciting plant- based treats that are anything but ordinary.

Place your order at www.ssvtnyc.com and experience sweets with a mission and a whole lot of sass.

More Pictures and Info On
Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats
Continues After
Sponsor's Messages Below...

Get The Scoop On Ca$h Da$h On The Rock's Free Empowering Acce$$ To Capital For Local Businesses Forum

Help Us To continue to inform and empower our community please Donate. Get The Scoop Weekly On the Global Black Community and Southeast Queens, NY. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here | Reach up to 1.3 million people Promote

-------

ACCE$$ TO CAPITAL

"CONNECTING LOCAL BUSINESSES TO CASH"

Far Rockaway, NY, Saturday, January 10, 2026 (10 AM - 2 PM) Ca$H DA$H ON THE ROCK, a grassroots collective, will host a Meet the Lenders event, ACCE$$ TO CAPITAL.

Small Business owners, Micro entrepreneurs and Startup Entrepreneurs will meet at the Peninsula Preparatory Academy, located at 16 - 11 Beach 19th Street in Downtown Far Rockaway for ACCE$$ TO CAPITAL +, a free event hosted by CA$H DA$H ON THE ROCK.

Designed to support the Small Business Owners of the Rockaway Peninsula to successfully get the money and services they need for their businesses. The ACCE$$ TO CAPITAL + event will bring together Alternative Lenders, Banks, CDFIs (Community Development Funding Institutions), Credit Unions, Crowdfunding, Micro and Online Lenders, all in one place, along with attorneys, CPA's and Tax, Insurance and Marketing Professionals.

"Connecting our local business community DIRECTLY with decision-makers -- consumers, funding or professional resources, is at the heart of what we do," said Gail Johnson, co-founder of CA$H DA$H ON THE ROCK.

"A lot of the Small Businesses on the Peninsula are not aware these resources even exist, and this event is the perfect way to bridge that gap," said Aiysha Simon, co-founder of CA$H DA$H ON THE ROCK.

Thinking of launching a startup, building out a home-based business or expanding an established business, ACCE$$ TO CAPITAL, will provide invaluable primary access points to funding, financing, freemiums and lasting connections - - at no cost to the attendees.

As Kamau Austin, Founder and Co-Founder of the Southeast Queens Scoop, notes, the urgency of capital access cannot be overstated.  Austin asks “How can we talk about a fair and equitable society within a capitalist system if our community’s businesses are systematically denied access to capital?” The question underscores the core mission of Ca$h Da$H on the Rock—ensuring Black and POC entrepreneurs are not only included in economic growth, but positioned to lead it.

Come Early. Leave Late.

For more information Contact: Gail Johnson 718.608.5423 or
Aiysha Simon 347.693.1224