A fire broke out in the basement of a home in Chestnut Ridge, Wednesday morning. The fire department was on the scene at around 10:00AM at 4 Wannamaker Court, after receiving calls of a working structure fire. The basement of the home has a Shul inside. All the Sifrei Torah were B”H saved, and the fire was brought under control thanks to the fast response by the fire department. There were no injuries reported. The homeowner is Rabbi Benzion Klatzko, a well-known individual in the Kiruv movement. He is also the founder of Shabbat.com,  the world’s largest Jewish social network, helping people find Shabbos meals.

The doctor treating Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky has released a statement that the Gadol Hador has recovered from COVID-19. As YWN had reported, his symptoms were B”H never severe and remained at home learning 20 hours each day since he was diagnosed on Erev Sukkos. His name for Tehillim is Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim ben Pesha Miriam. JOIN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO ALREADY ARE ALERTED OF BREAKING NEWS LIKE THIS IN LIVE TIME: YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be added to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Protests over the death of Walter Wallace Jr. turned violent in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. In Downtown Brooklyn, protesters broke windows and started small fires. About 200 people marched from Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn on Tuesday. There are reports of vandalism, including glass shattered at a bus stop and an American flag that was set on fire. At one point, a car ended up driving through some police officers who were trying to stop them. The protests started over the death of Wallace Jr., who was killed in Philadelphia. Arrests at Atlantic Avenue after protests in Brooklyn. One protestor told me I couldn’t shoot video and grabbed my phone. pic.twitter.com/0jnHpJCgTJ —

New York is reinstating restrictions on visits to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons in its coronavirus “red zones” as the state tries to reverse a slow but steady increase in the number of infections. The state Department of Health told facility administrators Friday the state is also banning most visits to adult care facilities, pediatric skilled nursing facilities, state-run homes for individuals with disabilities, mental health and substance use treatment facilities and juvenile justice facilities in designated red zones as of Sunday, Oct. 25, with exceptions.

It is with much regret we inform you of the Petirah of longtime Lakewood Askan and community activist Reb Pinchos Gershon (PG) Waxman Z”L. After contracting COVID-19, Reb PG suffered other complications, and was unfortunately Niftar this afternoon at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Reb PG was renowned for his Chesed and Tzedakah in a quiet way, and was a beloved friend to thousands around Lakewood and beyond. He resided in the 14th Street area. “PG was brilliant, with a heart of gold. His love was his Divrei Torah he wrote every week, and he was a real example of what it means to serve the Tzibuur,” a neighbor and longtime friend of Reb PG told TLS.

Early this morning the Muslim Public Affairs Council filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief with the Second Circuit in support of Agudah’s lawsuit challenging the executive order targeting our community. They explained that they “believe that the Islamic faith teaches Muslims to want for others what they want for themselves, and that supporting the Jewish community in this case is in the interest of the common good.” YWN can exclusively bring you the opening pages of their brief. “Since ancient times, peoples around the world have symbolically vested the perceived wrongdoings of their community onto “scapegoats,” who are sacrificed in the hope that those wrongdoings will be expiated, and the hard times will pass.

Emergency personnel were on the scene of a crash in the shopping center at Airmont Rd & Rt 59, Tuesday afternoon. Ramapo Police says a vehicle went through the window & into “Drug Mart Pharmacy”. Thankfully, there are no injuries reported. The Tallman FD & Airmont Building Department have been called to scene for structural concerns. Ramapo Valley Ambulance & Rockland Paramedics also responded. JOIN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO ALREADY ARE ALERTED OF BREAKING NEWS LIKE THIS IN LIVE TIME: YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be added to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Two civil rights organizations are suing New York City on behalf of protesters who say they were assaulted and abused by police officers because they expressed anti-police views during nightly demonstrations in the spring in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, also accuses city leadership of doing little to curtail police conduct that included trapping protesters with a technique called kettling, hitting them with pepper spray, inflicting violence and detaining them for hours. One plaintiff suffered a broken arm as a result of the police department’s conduct, the lawsuit said.

Councilman Yeger minced no words in a tweet Tuesday morning, as he called out Mayor DeBlasio. “Good morning Mr. @NYCMayor”, the tweet begins. “While your Quota Agents are busy stalking the Jews, maybe they don’t block the fire hydrants in my district? Or does the law only apply to *some* people?” YWN spoke to Councilman Yeger who told us this vehicle was parked in Boro Park near a Yeshiva on Tuesday morning. “It’s just sickening that City Hall has quota agents terrorizing our store-owners, businesses, Yeshivas and Shuls, but they flaunt the law in the process,” Yeger said. Good morning Mr. @NYCMayor:While your Quota Agents are busy stalking the Jews, maybe they don't block the fire hydrants in my district? Or does the law only apply to *some* people?

A hacker attack against an upstate New York county’s computer system raised concern that some emailed absentee ballot applications may not be processed, but the state Board of Elections said voting won’t be affected overall. The cyber attack on Oct. 18 encrypted about 200 computers operated by Chenango County and hackers demanded ransom of $450 per computer to unlock the files, Herman Ericksen, the county’s information technology director, said Monday. “We are not paying the ransom,” he said. Last week, the county board of elections released a public statement urging anyone who had sent an absentee ballot application by email since Oct. 15 to call the board to verify it had been received.