NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a stunning sound, emerging amid the clanging and the whooping and the banging and the honking at 7 p.m. each night as New Yorkers cheer front-line workers: the velvety, buttery baritone of Brian Stokes Mitchell. For decades, Mitchell’s voice has been one of the most celebrated in the Broadway theater, […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Subway trains, which had been disinfected at least once every 72 hours, will be cleaned once every 24 hours starting May 6, Cuomo said. Buses, vans and other alternative transportation will be provided at no charge for essential workers to get around while the system is closed, he said. Cuomo said […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz is urging the Justice Department “to closely monitor New York City” for potential religious discrimination amid the pandemic after its mayor singled out “the Jewish community” following the breakup of a large gathering of Orthodox Jews. In a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Bill Barr, […]

NEW YORK (AP) — It started with a funeral that got out of hand. It ended Wednesday with some of New York City’s Jews at odds with the mayor over his criticisms of the Orthodox community as it struggles to deal with the coronavirus. The funeral was for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, a revered Hasidic Orthodox […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Police were called to a Brooklyn neighborhood Wednesday after a funeral home overwhelmed by the coronavirus resorted to storing dozens of bodies on ice in rented trucks, and a passerby complained about the smell, officials said. Investigators who responded to a 911 call found that the home had rented four trucks […]

BROOKLYN, NY (JTA) – The images were striking, the mayor had strong words and the backlash was swift. On Tuesday night, hundreds of Orthodox Jews gathered for a rabbi’s funeral in Brooklyn, showing apparent disregard of public social distancing guidelines. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a tweet in which he addressed “the […]

NEW YORK (AP) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his tweets criticizing a large Jewish funeral on Wednesday at a press briefing. De Blasio said Wednesday that he was sorry if his words hurt anyone’s feelings but he didn’t regret calling out what he characterized as a dangerous violation of social distancing […]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City schools will implement a new grading system for the remainder of the coronavirus-disrupted school year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. Elementary school students will be graded “meeting the standards” or “needing improvement” while high school students will have a pass-fail grading option, de Blasio said. Acknowledging that […]

MOHEGAN LAKE, N.Y. (AP) — A New York woman who was born during the Spanish Flu pandemic has survived COVID-19. Angelina Friedman, who lives in a nursing home in Lake Mohegan, was taken to a hospital for a minor medical procedure on March 21. But her procedure was postponed after she tested positive for COVID-19. […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Jets from Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds flew over New York City on Tuesday in a tribute to the medical personnel, first responders and other essential workers involved in fighting the pandemic. The planes from the two demonstration squadrons flew in formation over New York and Newark beginning […]