The New York state Assembly will suspend its impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo once he steps down, the chamber’s top Democrat said Friday. Cuomo announced his resignation on Tuesday over harassment allegations, days after he faced increasing pressure to resign or face the possibility of being ousted by the Democratic-controlled Legislature through the impeachment process. Cuomo said at the time that it would not take effect for 14 days, at which point he will be replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. The state attorney general last week released an independent investigation that found Cuomo harassed at least 11 women.

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked part of New York’s moratorium on evictions, put into effect because of the coronavirus pandemic, less than a month before it was supposed to expire anyway. The legal issue is distinct from those surrounding a new moratorium that applies in most of the country that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed last week. Over three dissenting votes, the court said New York could no longer enforce a provision that allows renters to stave off eviction by submitting a hardship declaration form that tells the state they lost income or had more expenses during the pandemic or that moving would harm their health. The pause on evictions expires at the end of August. The court’s ruling allows some evictions to resume.

Newly released data by the Census Bureau showed a massive jump in Frum communities in the Northeastern United States. The data released Thursday is the twenty-fourth decennial conducted by the Bureau. The data showed a residential increase of 45% in Lakewood, 20.7% in the Monsey-Spring Valley area, and a 31.7% in Kiryas Yoel. Toms River and Jackson both saw an increase of about 4,000 residents since the 2010 census. Lakewood, which according to the 2010 census had 92,843 residences, ballooned to 135,158 people who now call the Township their home. The numbers put Lakewood as the fastest-growing municipality in New Jersey in the past decade, and has now become the state’s fifth-largest city. According to the 2010 census data, Monsey and Spring Valley had 49,710 combined residents.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who will serve out the remainder of Andrew Cuomo’s term after he steps down amid harassment allegations, said Thursday she plans to run for governor in her own right next year. “Yes I will. I fully expect to,” Hochul said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” show. “I am prepared for this. I have led a life working in every level of government, from Congress to local government.

Close to 300 eager community members gathered last Thursday night at Bergen Hatzalah’s inaugural community awareness event. The event displayed much of the equipment generously sponsored by members of the community including Emergency Response Vehicles, LUCAS automatic CPR devices, and EMT responder equipment including responder bags, AEDs, and other vital lifesaving tools.

Earlier this afternoon, YWN published an article stating that the massive Gerrer wedding scheduled for next Tuesday in the Rockland County College was cancelled by the Health Department. Shortly after, Gur contacted YWN to say that these reports are false, and that the wedding would in fact be taking place. Wedding organizers told YWN “The chasunah will, be’ezras Hashem, take place at RCC. Most of the permits are in hand, and the remainder are in the process of being granted”.

Volunteers and county employees set up cots and stacked hundreds of bottles of water in an air-conditioned cooling center in a vacant building in Portland, Oregon, one of many such places being set up as the Northwest sees another stretch of sizzling temperatures. Scorching weather also hit other parts of the country this week. The weather service said heat advisories and warnings would be in effect from the Midwest to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic through at least Friday. In Portland, temperatures on Wednesday reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) — tying a record set for the day set in 1977. It’s supposed to get even hotter Thursday and Friday.

A Jewish man was the victim of a gunpoint robbery in the heart of Williamsburg’s Hasidic Community, early Thursday morning. Sources tell YWN that the victim was in front of his home on Rodney Street near Lee Avenue at around 2:00AM, when a vehicle stopped, and a man exited. The mans face was covered with a sweater, approached the victim, displayed a handgun and demanded his cellphone and wallet. The victim complied, and the suspect walked back to his vehicle and fled the area. The victim immediately called 911 and Willimsburg Shomrim, and dozens of units canvassed the area. Unfortunately, Police and Shomrim were unable to locate the suspect or the vehicle used.

We, the undersigned organizations of Achiezer, Chaveirim, Chevra Hatzalah, Misaskim, and Shomrim, would like to publicly thank the New York Police Department and their Deputy Chief Ruel Stephenson as well as Deputy Inspector Richie Taylor for their help, guidance, and leadership in ensuring a safe, seamless and successful rescue of Yosef Shapiro last night. The Talmud relates: “Anyone who saves a life, saves an entire world.” Last night the NYPD helped us save a world.

As we have reported, the historic wedding in the court of Ger had been scheduled to take place at the Bell Works arena in New Jersey, but had been moved to Rockland Community College due to logistical reasons. Thursday, an article in a Hudson Valley area website reported that the college was cancelling large events due to a spike in covid cases from the Delta variant. They cited officials from the area who made this recommendation. However, organizers of the massive event were quick to clear this up. “The chasunah will, be’ezras Hashem, take place at RCC. Most of the permits are in hand, and the remainder are in the process of being granted,” he said. “The entire community is invited to participate in the Simcha,” he added with a smile. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)