NYC Ferry launched its Astoria, Queens, route on Aug. 29, continuing a rollout of service around the city. Ferry service has surpassed 1.5 million rides since its May 1 debut, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

There will be a break until the next expansion of two routes, the Lower East Side and the Soundview neighborhood in the Bronx, which are expected to launch next summer.

Malcolm G. McLaren, president and CEO of McLaren Engineering Group, says the New York City-based firm helped develop the floating landing concept in New York Harbor “and has been improving on it for more than 30 years."

Teams of high school students from across the U.S. and around the world recently displayed award-winning projects and solutions at the 2017 Spellman High Voltage Electronics Clean Tech Competition. The theme of the competition, held for the first time this year on Long Island at Stony Brook University, was “Creating a Greener Future.” The nine finalist teams presented their STEM-based approaches for mitigating environmental challenges. Winners, selected after several rounds of judging. received awards totaling $30,000. The Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School team from Long Island won first place and a $10,000 prize.