A federal judge has ordered a hearing to decide whether to civilly commit the man charged with stabbing five people with a machete at a Chanukah part in Rabbi Rottenberg’s Shul in Monseyin 2019. A recent psychiatric evaluation found Grafton Thomas remains mentally unfit to stand trial despite months of hospitalization at a federal facility in Missouri, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. A hearing this month will determine Thomas’ prognosis for rehabilitation — and whether he should be civilly committed rather than tried in federal court. Thomas, 38, is charged in an attack at a rabbi’s home in December 2019 that left five people wounded in Monsey. The most critically injured victim, Josef Neumann, 72, died three months after the attack. U.S.

One man was fatally shot and two others were wounded at a Queens hotel early Friday, marking New York City’s first reported homicide of 2021, police said. Police responded to a 911 call just after 1 a.m. and found the victims outside the Umbrella Hotel in Kew Gardens. Two 20-year-old men and one 40-year-old man were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, police said. One of the 20-year-olds was pronounced dead. His name was not immediately released. The 40-year-old victim was in critical condition and the second 20-year-old was in stable condition, police said. Police have made no arrests. Neighborhood residents have campaigned for the shutdown of the hotel, which has been the scene of shootings in the past.

New York state has recorded more than 1 million positive COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, according to figures released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday. The roughly 15,000 new positive tests reported statewide on Friday bring the total number of cases over 1 million, according to the state’s data. Experts say the official number of coronavirus cases represents a significant undercount, since many people in the New York City area were infected with the coronavirus last spring when testing was largely unavailable. New York is the fourth state to report more than 1 million positive COVID-19 tests after California, Texas and Florida. New York reported 128 COVID-19 deaths on Friday. (AP)

Former Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang appears to be nearing an announcement to run for mayor of New York City. A video posted to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon appeared to show Yang shooting footage for an announcement to run for the top spot of the big Apple. In the video, Yang – who turns 46 in January – states to the camera, “I’m Andrew Yang, and I’m running for Mayor of New York City!” In an interesting twist, Yang can be heard saying at the end of the take, “Can we dig it?

New York City police turned to familiar tactics ahead of Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks intended to guard against explosions. But the department’s playbook included an unusual mandate this year: preventing crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square. Citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19, police closed the Crossroads of the World to vehicles and pedestrians at midnight and dispersed onlookers venturing into a so-called “frozen zone” — the blocks surrounding the ball that historically draw shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. The result, in the waning hours of 2020, was a Times Square that felt eerily empty.

A great friend of the Jewish community in Brooklyn is leaving his position as NYPD Executive Officer of Patrol Boro Brooklyn South. After 41 years of dedicated service to the NYPD and the people of NYC, Deputy Chief Charles Scholl has departed the job he loved so much, to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Chief Scholl has spent his time with the NYPD patrolling the streets of Brooklyn and has received over 60 departmental recognitions. Throughout his illustrious career he not only enforced the law, but has made life long connections with the people in the communities he served. He is the epitome of what a leader and an NYPD officer should be.

This New Year’s Eve is being celebrated like no other in most of the world, with many bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget. From the South Pacific to New York City, pandemic restrictions on open air gatherings saw people turning to made-for-TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or carousing strangers. As midnight rolled from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some countries and cities canceled or scaled back their festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year. Australia was among the first to ring in 2021.

Minimum wage is getting a bump in the new year for workers in New York State and New Jersey. New York’s minimum hourly wage goes up to $12.50 statewide Thursday. It rises to $14 an hour on Long Island and in Westchester County. There’s no increase in New York City, where it’s already at $15 an hour. Then on Friday, minimum wage rises to $12 an hour for most workers across New Jersey. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The post New York, New Jersey Raising Minimum Wage In 2020 appeared first on The Yeshiva World.

NYPD officers were involved in two shootings Wednesday night in Brooklyn and the Bronx – the third and fourth police-involved shootings in as many days – but no one was struck by bullets. The first shooting unfolded in Brownsville around 10:40PM when police said a driver in an SUV reported stolen in Manhattan struck an officer with the vehicle during a traffic stop. The driver of the Acura MDX with New Jersey license plates put the SUV in reverse and struck the officer. The other officer fired one round as the driver who sped away. Nobody was struck by the gunfire, police said. The driver was being sought early Thursday. The officer who struck by the vehicle was treated for torso and ankle injuries.

A 15-year-old is facing charges following a shocking bike attack that was caught on camera Tuesday in Midtown. The suspect, whose name has not been released, was arrested Wednesday on charges of rioting and criminal mischief. Because he was charged as a juvenile, he has not been identified. Meanwhile, the search continues for the others involved. Police said a man was driving his mother in his SUV when a group of men on bicycles jumped on the vehicle, beating the windows and yelling for them to get out. As the footage shows, it was a terrifying afternoon sight. A group of young bicyclists surround an SUV and throw their bodies and bikes onto vehicle as its driver freezes in fear. The attackers finally retreat after one jumps onto the hood and smashes the windshield.