Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that gyms in New York state will be able to open as soon as August 24 at 33% capacity. Masks are required to be worn at all times, Cuomo said. Cuomo says the localities must open the gyms by September 2. “They have to inspect the gyms before they open or within two weeks of their opening to make sure they are meeting all of the requirements,” Cuomo said. “So the variation is to give the locality time. If the locality can get the inspections done or be ready to inspect, they can open August 24. If the locality cannot get ready to do inspections, then they get another week. They can do it September 2.” Cuomo says the locality can also decide if the gym can have classes inside. “Some gyms have classes,” he said.

Over 50 people were shot across the city over the weekend, police said as an increase in gun violence continues. From midnight on Friday to midnight Monday morning 51 people were shot in at least 39 shootings NYPD data shows. President Donald Trump tweeted at NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio about the uptick in gun violence, Sunday night. “Law and Order. If @NYCMayor can’t do it, we will!” The crime wave caps a bloody week of 62 total shootings, up from 26 gun incidents over the same one-week period last year. STAY WITH YWN WHATSAPP FOR BREAKING UPDATES IN LIVE TIME!  YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be dded to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The number of New York coronavirus tests coming back positive remained below 1% for a ninth consecutive day as the total number of tests conducted statewide during the pandemic hit 7 million, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. Six people died Saturday, he said, and more than 520 were in the hospital. “Our numbers reflect the hard work of New Yorkers, and as other states across the nation see surging cases, our numbers remain steadily low,” Cuomo said in a news release. He called the testing milestones “remarkable accomplishments.” The governor on Monday is expected to released long-awaited reopening guidance for indoor gyms. Bowling alleys can reopen statewide Monday but must limit occupancy to 50% and establish disinfection protocols for shared and rented equipment.

It’s been a particularly violent weekend during a historically violent summer in New York City. There were at least nine shootings in the city overnight, from Prospect Park in Brooklyn to the Lower East Side. At least 40 people have been hurt and six people were killed in the dozens of shootings this weekend. According to the NY Post, New York City’s latest bloody week of gunfire saw 76 people injured, including 14 murdered – with almost two-and-a-half times more shootings than the same week last year. STAY WITH YWN WHATSAPP FOR BREAKING UPDATES IN LIVE TIME!  YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be dded to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Police charged a 40-year-old man with cutting down a flagpole at a Sept. 11 memorial in upstate New York, an act of vandalism that prompted local and national outrage. Andre Narbonne was arraigned Friday on charges related to a vandalized church sign and three severed flagpoles 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New York City, including one at a memorial honoring five New York City firefighters from Washingtonville who died in the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, according to the Times Herald-Record.The memorial desecration on July 8 spurred a spate of media coverage, with some conservatives implying it was the work of radicals. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, warned on Twitter that it showed what will “come to your home town” if Democrats win in November.

An early-morning crash in the Catskills left one person dead, and two others injured, Sunday morning. Sources tell YWN that emergency personnel received calls at round 3:40AM, reporting a vehicle that crashed on Old Glen Wild Road near Marsh Road. Upon arrival, Catskills Hatzolah found a severely damaged vehicle in a ditch, with the occupants pinned inside. One of them was in traumatic arrest. Rock Hill Fire Department performed an extended extrication of the victims, where Catskills Hatzolah Paramedics and MobileMedics began treating the victims. One of the victims was pronounced dead on the scene, and two additional victims were transported by ambulance. A chopper was requested, but was unable to fly due to the weather in the area.

A fighter jet and helicopter from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a small plane flying near President Trump’s New Jersey golf course Saturday, officials said. The F-15 fighter and MH-6 helicopter were deployed after the pilot of a single-engine RV-7 failed to respond to radio communication while entering the temporary no-flight zone around 1 p.m., NORAD spokesman Cameron Hillier told the Bridgewater Courier News. The military aircraft fired flares to get the pilot’s attention and made radio contact before escorting it to a nearby airport, Hillier said. He said the Secret Service will decide whether to charge the pilot. (AP)

A stolen SUV crashed into an MTA bus, sparking a chain-reaction crash that injured 14 people in Brooklyn Thursday evening, police said. The tan Toyota Highlander slammed into the occupied MTA bus after driving through a stop sign near East 87th Street and Avenue M in Canarsie around 6 p.m., the New York Post reported. Watch the footage below of the accident happen, and then the second video taken at the scene seconds after the crash happened. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The annual light display honoring victims of 9/11 is back on, officials announced Saturday, saying New York health officials will supervise this year’s tribute to ensure workers’ safety amid concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. “This year it is especially important that we all appreciate and commemorate 9/11, the lives lost and the heroism displayed ‎as New Yorkers are once again called upon to face a common enemy,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. The announcement came days after the National September 11 Memorial & Museum canceled the Tribute in Light over concerns the coronavirus might spread among crews creating twin columns of light to represent the World Trade Center in the Manhattan sky.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) union faced blowback from local Democrats after it endorsed President Trump’s reelection amid budget cuts and tensions between police and city lawmakers. On Friday night, Trump spoke to members of the New York City Police Benevolent Association (PBA), an organization that represents 24,000 officers, at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. Trump was formally endorsed by the group. PBA President Pat Lynch said it was the first time he could recall the group ever endorsing a president. “I have 36 years on this job, 21 as the president of this fine organization. I cannot remember when we’ve ever endorsed for Office of the President of the United States, until now. That’s how important this is,” Lynch said. “NYPD union endorsed Trump.