See the sights — and get a shot. New York City hopes to begin offering coronavirus inoculations to tourists by stationing vaccination vans at Times Square and other attractions, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. The city needs state approval to vaccinate visitors and hopes to get an OK as soon as this weekend. The state Health Department said it hadn’t yet received a formal plan to review. “Meanwhile, we remain focused on vaccine equity and ensuring vaccine access for vulnerable New Yorkers and continue to assess the most effective use of doses as demand stabilizes,” spokesperson Jonah Bruno said. De Blasio called the city’s idea “a positive message to tourists: ‘Come here. It’s safe, it’s a great place to be and we’re going to take care of you.’” “It’s a show of goodwill.

New York City is still using refrigerated trucks to store bodies of coronavirus victims, more than a year after they were first set up as temporary morgues as deaths surged at at the height of the pandemic. The city’s medical examiner’s office said Friday that 750 bodies are being kept in long-term storage in refrigerated trailers at a Brooklyn pier while family members sort out plans for their final resting places. Dina Maniotis, a deputy commissioner with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, told a city council committee on Wednesday that many of the bodies held at the 39th Street Pier could end up buried in the city’s potter’s field on Hart Island. In April 2020, the city shortened the amount of time it would hold unclaimed remains to 14 days before burying them on Hart Island.

A Connecticut man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at police in New York City is in federal custody and will be formally charged in a virtual court hearing on Monday, authorities said. Police said Lionel Virgile, 44, of Bridgeport, threw bleach at an officer in Brooklyn Saturday morning, then drove away and tossed a flaming Molotov cocktail at officers who were pursuing him. He later crashed his car and was arrested, they said. The officer who was splashed with bleach was treated at a hospital for skin and eye irritation. The Molotov cocktail did not go off and did not cause any injuries, police said.

Federal prosecutors are seeing lengthy prison terms for a former Long Island prosecutor and one of his top aides convicted of helping to cover up the beating of a suspect. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and Christopher McPartland were convicted in December 2019 on counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and civil rights violations. They are scheduled to be sentenced June 30.

See the sights — and get a shot. New York City hopes to begin offering coronavirus inoculations to tourists by stationing vaccination vans at Times Square and other attractions, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. The city needs state approval to vaccinate visitors and hopes to get an OK as soon as this weekend. The state Health Department said it hadn’t yet received a formal plan to review. “Meanwhile, we remain focused on vaccine equity and ensuring vaccine access for vulnerable New Yorkers and continue to assess the most effective use of doses as demand stabilizes,” spokesperson Jonah Bruno said. De Blasio called the city’s idea “a positive message to tourists: ‘Come here. It’s safe, it’s a great place to be and we’re going to take care of you.’” “It’s a show of goodwill.

A suspect has been arrested in the killing of a toddler who was shot dead when gunmen fired into a cookout in Brooklyn last summer, police said Thursday. Dashawn Austin, 25, was arrested Wednesday on charges including murder and attempted murder in the shooting that killed 1-year-old Davell Gardner and wounded three other people on July 12, 2020. It wasn’t clear whether Austin had an attorney who could comment on the charges against him. Police said two men stepped out of a sport utility vehicle and opened fire into a barbecue at a playground in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Davell was sitting in his stroller when he was fatally shot in the stomach. Three men were hit by gunshots and were treated at hospitals.

The Yankees and Mets can increase capacity from 20% to 100% at their ballparks for home games starting May 19 — as along as fans are vaccinated against COVID-19. And both teams will be giving away free tickets along with vaccinations. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement at a news conference on Wednesday with Yankees president Randy Levine and Mets president Sandy Alderson. “Theoretically if you had 100% vaccinated, you could fill the entire stadium with 100% vaccinated,” Cuomo said. “Unvaccinated, it is still the 6-foot social distancing.

Former NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is being sent back to federal prison after a request for community placement was denied, NBC is reporting. Silver is due to be returned to the federal prison in Otisville as soon as Thursday afternoon, the report said. YWN was first to report two days ago that Silver had been released to home confinement. DEVELOPING STORY – REFRESH FOR UPDATES
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Early this morning, before getting up from shiva, Senator Chuck Schumer participated in a shiva visit to the home of Mr. & Mrs. Dovid and Tova Knoblowitz whose son Pinchos Menachem Z’L tragically lost his life in Meron last week. A conversation ensued regarding the incredible power of faith that was constantly emphasized over and over by Reb Dovid Koplowitz, the father of Pinchos Menachem, which prompted Senator Schumer to share his perspective on faith and the centrality to one’s ability to go on with life saying ” there is a greater wisdom a reason we cannot understand; I have a deep faith in Hashem–I pray all the time”.

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to appoint a “special master” to review material seized by the FBI last week from Rudy Giuliani and ensure investigators aren’t able to see records protected by attorney-client privilege, according to court records unsealed Tuesday. In a letter dated Thursday, prosecutors requested the oversight, partially citing Giuliani’s work as a lawyer for former President Donald Trump. They noted it would be similar to what occurred after federal agents seized electronic devices three years ago from the home and office of Michael Cohen, who was also one of Trump’s lawyers. Cohen eventually pleaded guilty to campaign finance law violations and other crimes and was sentenced to three years in prison.