A outdoor dining structure and a newsstand in Manhattan were destroyed Friday morning after a van and sedan collided and plowed into them, police said. At least seven people were injured. The incident happened around 8:40 a.m. at 50th Street and 2nd Avenue, the fire department said. The dining structure was unoccupied, but flying debris struck two children ages 5 and 7, causing minor injuries, police said. Photos of the scene showed wreckage strewn along the street, a smashed up black sedan and a damaged white van. Police say the van was heading southbound on 2nd Avenue when it hit the sedan, sending both vehicles out of control. The sedan obliterated the dining structure and the van hopped a sidewalk and crashed into the newsstand. Two people were in the sedan.

Former President Donald Trump is set to return to New York City for the first time since leaving office in January. Trump will visit the city sometime in the next few days, and could arrive as soon as Sunday night, according to WABC and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. Sources also confirmed the trip to the Daily News. Security will be ramped up again at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan for the visit after security was reduced earlier this year, WABC reported. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Some New York lawmakers are calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s impeachment after reports late Thursday that his top aides altered a state Health Department report to omit the true number of people killed by COVID-19 in the state’s nursing homes. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, citing documents and people with knowledge of the administration’s internal discussions, reported that aides including secretary to the governor Melissa DeRosa pushed state health officials to edit the July report so only residents who died inside long-term care facilities, and not those who became ill there and later died at a hospital, were counted.

Kirsten Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call for her colleague Al Franken’s resignation in 2017 as he faced allegations of misconduct, building a profile as a leading advocate for women that became the centerpiece of her 2020 presidential bid. But the New York senator is taking a different approach when it comes to harassment allegations hitting closer to home, those against her state’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo.

The NYPD on Thursday announced that for the month of February, New York City saw continued reductions in almost every major index crime category. The overall index crime fell 26.5 percent compared with February 2020, according to the NYPD. There was a 40.4 percent decrease in grand larceny and a 32.7 percent decrease in robbery. There was also one less murder in February 2021 compared to the previous year, while felonious assault saw a 7.9 percent reduction compared to February 2020. Shooting incidents however, increased to 77 v. 44 in February 2020.

New York will loosen restrictions on private gatherings and clear the way for some public performances that have been banned for nearly a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. Arts and entertainment venues will be allowed to open at a third of their capacity and welcome up to 100 people indoors and up to 200 people outdoors starting April 2, an increase that won’t be enough to open closed Broadway theaters but could allow some small plays and concerts to resume. Limits would be slightly higher — 150 people indoors and 500 outdoors — if venues can implement a system in which attendees show proof of a recent, negative COVID-19 test before entering.

Besieged by harassment allegations, a somber New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologized Wednesday, saying he “learned an important lesson” about his own behavior around women, but he said he intended to remain in office. “I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable,” Cuomo said at a Wednesday press conference. “It was unintentional and I truly and deeply apologize for it.” Cuomo said he will “fully cooperate” with the state attorney general’s investigation into sexual harassment allegations. Attorney General Letitia James is in the process of selecting an outside law firm to conduct an investigation into the allegations and produce a report that will be made publicly.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has avoided public appearances for days as some members of his own party call for him to resign over harassment allegations. The governor hasn’t taken questions from reporters since a Feb. 19 briefing, an unusually long gap for a Democrat whose daily, televised updates on the coronavirus pandemic were must-see TV last spring. He was last before video cameras Thursday, when he introduced President Joe Biden at a virtual meeting of the National Governor’s Association, which he chairs. He also participated Tuesday in the group’s conference call, which was off-limits to reporters. The public absence was more glaring after legislative leaders announced Tuesday they were limiting the governor’s broad powers to unilaterally set state policy during the pandemic.

In the next shocking abuse of power by an airline, a family has been banned from flying three weeks after their flight. A family member tells YWN that they flew from a NY area airport to Florida in mid-January in a noneventful flight. The mom, dad, and their five children were masked as required by law, and had no altercation with any of the flight crew. They never left their seats, and sat in their assigned seats the entire flight. Not a word was said to the family about any mask issue or any other issues during the entire duration of the flight. Shockingly, three weeks after their flight, the mother and father received two certified letters via FedEx stating that they since they were not in compliance with the mask mandate, they were now banned from using the airline.

Shulem (Sholam) Weiss, who just two months ago had his prison sentence commuted by outgoing President Trump, suffered a stroke on Tuesday night. Sources tell YWN that Weiss suffered the stroke while at his Monsey home, and was rushed by Hatzolah to the hospital where is being treated for the stroke, which appears to be serious. As YWN had reported, former President Trump commuted the sentence of Shalom Weiss the night before he left the Whitehouse. He had already served over 18 years and paid substantial restitution of what is believed to have been the longest-ever white-collar prison sentence: A whopping 835 years. Trump said he commuted his sentence because he is 66 years old and suffers from chronic health conditions. Please say Tehillim for Sholom ben Leah.