Alvin Bragg, who would be Manhattan’s first Black district attorney, has officially been declared the winner of the Democratic primary race for the role. The New York City Board of Elections on Tuesday announced certified results for the June 22 primary, after absentee ballots had been counted. Bragg, a former top deputy to New York’s attorney general, had been considered the presumptive winner of the primary since earlier this month when his closest opponent conceded, but without the information from the elections board, The Associated Press was unable to call the race. A former federal prosecutor who now teaches at New York Law School, Bragg worked as a civil rights lawyer before entering government service.

New York City will require workers in city-run hospitals and health clinics to either get vaccinated or get tested weekly as officials battle a rise in COVID-19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. De Blasio’s order will not apply to teachers, police officers and other city employees, but it dovetails into the city’s intense focus on vaccinations amid an increase in delta variant infections. “We need our health care workers to be vaccinated and it’s getting dangerous with the delta variant,” de Blasio said on CNN. The number of vaccine doses being given out daily in the city has dropped to less than 18,000, down from a peak of more than 100,000 in early April. About 65% of all adults are fully vaccinated, but the inoculation rate is around 25% among Black adults under age 45.

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of Hagaon HaRav Yitzchok Feigelstock ZATZAL, Rosh Hayeshiva of Mesivta of Long Beach and member this the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Yisroel of America. It is well known that Hagaon HaRav Aharon Kotler consulted very often with Rav Feigelstock, whom he considered as one of his closest students. The Levaya will take place in Long Beach, with Kevura in Lakewood. Details will be published when confirmed. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday issued final approval for a monorail connecting trains from Manhattan to LaGuardia Airport, giving the go-ahead for the roughly $2 billion project to pursue federal funding. The elevated 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) link would connect the airport to a train stop next to Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, that is served by the Long Island Rail Road and the No. 7 subway line. Critics had opposed the plan, saying it would negatively impact the Queens neighborhoods it traverses and wouldn’t be appreciably faster than driving. Public and transit officials have sought for years to build a rail link to LaGuardia, which opened more than 80 years ago and remains one of the few major U.S. airports without rail service.

Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to six miles high. Skies over New York City were hazy Tuesday as strong winds blew smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana and other states. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 606 square miles (1,569 square kilometers) — half the size of Rhode Island. Fires also grew on both sides of California’s Sierra Nevada. In Alpine County, the so-called California Alps, the Tamarack Fire caused evacuations of several communities and grew to 61 square miles (158 square kilometers) with no containment.

A tiny fraction of vaccinated New Yorkers have tested positive for COVID-19 as infections and hospitalizations rise, the state Department of Health told The Associated Press Tuesday. At least 8,700 vaccinated people have tested positive for COVID-19, according to department spokesperson Abigail Barker. That’s out of the nearly 11 million New York residents who are fully vaccinated. And it’s also a fraction of the 244,000 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in New York since April 1. State health officials didn’t immediately provide Tuesday the date of New York’s first breakthrough case, or an estimate of how many of those people were hospitalized or died.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday he does not plan to reinstate a citywide mask mandate even as COVID-19 cases increase, opting instead to focus on vaccinating more residents. There have been calls for New York City to follow the lead of Los Angeles County, which announced last week that it will require masks be worn indoors amid a sharp increase in virus cases. But De Blasio insisted vaccinations are a better strategy for the nation’s most populous city. “Masks have value, unquestionably, but masks are not going at the root of the problem. Vaccination is,” the mayor said during an livestreamed press briefing. “So we do not intend a mask mandate.

ENGLEWOOD, New Jersey – Bergen Hatzalah, the communally organized Chevra Hatzalah affiliate launching this year in Bergen County has announced that the group will hold a community awareness event on August 5, 2021, in the parking lot of Congregation Ahavath Torah, at 240 Broad Avenue, in Englewood. The event will run from 5:00 P.M. through 7:30 P.M. and will serve as a way for the community to learn more about the organization, meet many of Bergen Hatzalah’s responders, and learn about the group’s state of the art vehicles and equipment. “When we initially announced our formation earlier this year, the communal excitement was palpable,” said Bergen Hatzalah Chief Steven Kirschner.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is upping the pressure on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make progress on congestion pricing. The mayor presented the MTA with a fake $15 billion check Tuesday, saying that implementing congestion pricing would effectively invest that same amount into the city’s mass transit. “If we want to fix the horrible flooding that we saw last week, if we want to make sure the signals are fixed so the trains actually can move, if you want modern stations, here it is, staring us in the face,” de Blasio said. The mayor said congestion pricing, which would charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street, would also free Midtown from gridlock and help the planet.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that three Brooklyn men have been charged in a 30-count indictment in connection with two incidents in which they allegedly targeted Jewish individuals. The defendants allegedly stated, “Kill all the Jews,” demanded that a Jewish man say, “Free Palestine,” punched him when he refused, and then chased him and a friend while holding a cricket bat. District Attorney Gonzalez said, “All members of Brooklyn’s diverse communities should feel free to go about their day and observe their religion without fear of being targeted.