Police are investigating four stabbings that occurred in the New York City subway system within a 24-hour period, leaving two victims dead, authorities said. The incidents all occurred along the A subway line. At least three of the stabbings appear to be connected, and police are investigating whether the fourth is as well, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said during a press briefing Saturday afternoon. The first incident occurred Friday at approximately 11:20 a.m., when a 67-year-old man was stabbed by an unknown man at the West 181st Street station in upper Manhattan, police said. He was treated at an area hospital and is recovering.

According to a bombshell report in the NY Post, a top aide to New York Governor Cuomo told leading state Democratic lawmakers that the administration had withheld data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes to avoid federal scrutiny. Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, admitted they had hidden the COVID numbers in a Thursday call obtained by New York Post. State Democrats in August had asked for the exact figures for nursing home deaths from COVID since March 1. In the call on Thursday, DeRosa admitted they deliberately hid the data, after the Trump administration began asking questions. State Democrats asked for the data in August, ‘right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football,’ she said.

Two NYPD horses were seen running wild through the streets of Flatbush on Thursday. It happened when an NYPD Officer had a medical issue at the corner of Quentin Road and East 8th Street. Flatbush Hatzolah was called to the scene and was treating him, while another officer who was riding a second horse was holding both horses. Suddenly, something spooked the horses, prompting them both to gallop away at full speed. After a brief pursuit by NYPD, both horses were apprehended. The officer was transported by Flatbush Hatzolah to the hospital in stable condition. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Today, Andrew Yang, Democratic candidate for Mayor of NYC, announced the appointment of David Schwartz as Yang for NY’s Jewish Community Outreach Director. Schwartz, a Democratic District Leader for New York State’s 48th Assembly District, is also First Vice Chair to the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee, one of the largest Democratic committees in the country. In 2016, Schwartz became Brooklyn’s youngest District Leader after winning his election, running on a platform of getting more residents more politically engaged and building diverse coalitions within the borough. Schwartz has also been a strong voice against all hate crimes and for speaking out against anti-Semitism – priorities for a Yang administration. “I’m incredibly excited to join Andrew Yang’s campaign for mayor.

Chaim V’Chessed has been incessantly lobbying for additional emergency flights between Israel and the United States, and have just informed YWN that El Al will operate more emergency flights to and from the USA. They will operate a total of six flights between TLV and JFK. El Al is set to operate a number of flights from Ben Gurion Airport on Feb 13, Feb 15, and Feb 18th. Flights from New York to Tel Aviv are scheduled for Feb 15 & 17th, taking off at 12 noon from JFK Airport & Feb 20 at 11pm EST. TICKETS FOR THIS FLIGHT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. TO PURCHASE A TICKET CONTACT A TRAVEL AGENT OR TRY EL AL’S WHATSAPP AT: +972 3-977-1111. Enter code 15684. Book fast, as earlier flights were sold out within hours.

The NYC Sherriff is dismissing all fines levied against Houses of Worship for violating the Governors Executive Orders in red and orange zones, NYC Councilman Kalman Yeger tells YWN. The decision comes a day after a Federal Judge ruled that Cuomo’s restrictions were unconstitutional. “The United States Constitution is the true victor here”, Yeger told YWN. “From the very beginning, the Executive Orders improperly targeted religious observance and discriminated against a small group of New Yorkers. It’s a shame the fight had to go all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but religious freedom prevailed, as I was always confident it would.

Andrew Yang holds a double-digit lead in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, according to a new poll released on Wednesday by city-based lobbying group Fontas Advisors and conducted by Core Decision Analytics. Yang, a former Democratic presidential primary candidate, had the support of 28% of likely voters. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams had the support 17% of likely voters, while city Comptroller Scott Stringer had 13%. Yang, a tech entrepreneur, gained a national profile during his unsuccessful bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, during which he campaigned on the idea of a universal basic income that would involve paying all adult Americans $1,000 per month.

The New York Mets’ home, Citi Field, joined Yankee Stadium on Wednesday in offering COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible New Yorkers, but a lack of supply means that only a few hundred people a day will initially get shots there. The Citi Field vaccination hub will be reserved for taxi drivers, food service workers and vaccine-eligible residents of the borough of Queens. “This site will be for the people of Queens, it will be for folks who take care of us and protect us and serve us as taxi drivers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said after touring the vaccination site. “It’ll be the place for folks who work in food service.

STATEMENT FROM AVI SCHICK OF TROUTMAN AND PEPPER: “Earlier this morning, the district court issued a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the restrictions on attendance at houses of worship contained in Executive Order 202.68.  This decision restores the protection of religious practice that is guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution and reminds those in government that religion is not less important than business and entertainment. Another consequence of this decision is that all of the summonses issued to Shuls for violations of Executive Order 202.68 should now be dismissed by the City.

Oorah “The Zones” Camps have filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Schoharie County alleging they were targeted for their religious views. Oorah claims their camps were the victims of discrimination over the way they were treated during last summer due to COVID restrictions against them versus other camps. Oorah has a boys camp in Jefferson and a girls camp in Gilboa, both in Schoharie County. As YWN reported extensively, NY Governor Cuomo had ordered all summer camps closed for the summer of 2020 due to CIOVID-19. Many camps – including Oorah opened as “family residences” and not as “camps”. In the lawsuit, Oorah says their First and 14th Amendment protections, for freedom of religion and equal protection, were violated.