As New York’s lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul has spent years on the road as the friendly face of the administration, visiting the far-flung coffee shops and factory floors of each of the state’s 62 counties for countless ribbon-cutting ceremonies and civic cheerleading events. Now, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo facing possible impeachment over harassment allegations, her next stop may be the state Capitol of Albany. Hochul would become the state’s first woman governor if Cuomo were removed from office. A centrist Democrat from western New York, she has worked deep in Cuomo’s shadow for her two terms in office, but this week joined the chorus of politicians denouncing the governor after an independent investigation concluded he had harassed 11 women while in office.

As YWN reported on Wednesday, a serious crash on Route 17 left two people dead. Today, the NY State Police has provided YWN with details of the crash. Following is the NY State Police unedited statement: On August 4, 2021 at approximately 7:10 p.m. the State Police responded to a fatal crash on State Route 17 eastbound at the Sands Road Overpass near exit 119 in the Town of Wallkill. The crash involved a 2005 Ford Escape operated by Anthony K. Jones, age 24 of Walden, NY and a 2004 Toyota Sienna, operated by Nelson Vivarcampoverde age 48 of Middletown, NY. Jones was traveling alone while Vivarcampoverde’s vehicle was occupied by 7 additional passengers. The Toyota Sienna was traveling in the passing lane of State Route 17 parallel to the Ford Escape that was in the driving lane.

Staff members and students from kindergarten to 12th grade will be required to wear masks in New Jersey schools when the new year begins in a few weeks, Gov. Phil Murphy is set to announce Friday as COVID-19 cases rise in the state. The decision to require masks is an about-face from just a few weeks ago when Murphy said it would take a “deterioration” of COVID-19 data to require masks. Murphy’s spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna confirmed that the governor planned to announce the requirement. The state’s figures, like many across the country, have been trending up in recent weeks. The seven-day rolling average of new cases climbed over the past two weeks from 512 on July 20 to 1,104 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

A woman who accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of inappropriate behavior at the governor’s state residence filed a criminal complaint against him, the Albany County Sheriff’s office said Friday. The complaint, filed Thursday with the sheriff’s office, is the first known instance where a woman has made an official report with a law enforcement agency over alleged misconduct by Cuomo. “We take every complaint seriously,” Albany County Undersheriff William Rice said Friday. It’s possible the Democratic governor could be arrested if investigators or the county district attorney determine he committed a crime, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple told the New York Post.

Michael Musto can’t bring himself to ask his regulars at his Staten Island restaurant, Cargo Cafe, to prove they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus. So if New York City presses on with its plans to require eateries, bars, gyms and many other public gathering places to require patrons to show proof of vaccination before coming indoors, he will again shutter his dining room and move operations outside. “I just don’t see myself doing that, asking for proof,” Musto said. Barely half of his neighborhood’s residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to city statistics. Some remain defiant about getting vaccinated, even amid a new surge in infections in the city. “But now do I have to turn my customers away? Do I have to turn business away?” Musto asked.

A New Jersey gym owner and a Washington state man on Friday became the first people charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to plead guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the deadly siege. The pair of plea deals with federal prosecutors could be a benchmark for dozens of other cases in which Capitol rioters are charged with attacking police. An attorney for Scott Kevin Fairlamb, a former mixed martial arts fighter who owned Fairlamb Fit gym in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, said prosecutors are seeking a sentencing guideline range of about 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 years in prison. But the judge isn’t bound by that recommendation.

At 1:30AM Friday morning, Hatzolah Air was making their third emergency transport in just six hours. Sources tell YWN that a flight crew with Hatzolah Paramedics departed from Westchester Airport to New Hampshire, to transport a couple involved in a serious car crash back to a Manhattan hospital. One of the victims sustained multi-system trauma including spinal injuries in the crash. Tehillim is needed for נעכא יענטא בת רבקה רחל. Just hours earlier, Hatzolah Air did a flight to North Carolina and Cleveland, and another flight to Chicago.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, buffeted by harassment allegations, is increasingly looking like he could be impeached and removed from office – something that hasn’t happened to the state’s governor in nearly 108 years. A majority of members of the state Assembly, the legislative body that has the power to start impeachment proceedings, have already said they favor removing Cuomo if he won’t resign. Pressure has built since a team of independent investigators hired by the state attorney general concluded that Cuomo harassed 11 women. Cuomo, a Democrat, has vowed to stay in office, rejecting the allegations against him as either fabricated or a misunderstanding of gestures and comments meant to convey warmth.

State lawmakers told Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday that their ongoing impeachment investigation is almost done and gave him a deadline of Aug. 13 to provide additional evidence. Since March, the Assembly’s judiciary committee has been investigating whether there are grounds to impeach the Democratic governor over harassment allegations, misleading the public about COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes and using state resources and staff for his $5 million book deal. In a letter sent Thursday, the law firm leading the investigation, Davis Polk & Wardwell, reminded Cuomo’s legal team that it has subpoenaed certain documents and expects “full compliance from the governor,” but that his time to respond was almost up.

Andrew Cuomo was once an ally of the Orthodox Jewish community or so we thought. Yes community leaders had access and a perceived relationship with top Cuomo administration officials until everyone realized the relationship was all just one of political convenience and political control. “Tzedokah” the Governor once famously pontificated to a crowd in Flatbush, means Justice and “it is justice and not a hand out to help communities like the Orthodox who do so much for the State.” Yet, despite the emotional heart tugging, he failed to deliver EITC then & never brought the issue of tuition relief back up again. Leaving struggling Yeshiva parents and leaders to fight for the scraps of the NYS Budget like they always had. The big ugly as they call in Albany. Ugly indeed.