A pair of vandals tossed paint-filled balloons at the Washington Square Arch early Monday morning, dousing two statues of President George Washington with red paint, the NYPD said. The two men were caught on surveillance tape throwing the balloons at the statues on the arch in Washington Square Park around 3:20 a.m. on Monday, police said. A woman on a Citi Bike may have acted as a lookout for the two men, according to police. Workers from the city’s Parks Department could be seen power-washing the statues several hours later. Meanwhile, President Trump announced Tuesday morning his intent to prosecute two individuals who allegedly threw the paint on the statue. “We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent George Washington Statue in Manhattan.

Police arrested 3 demonstrators as officials clashed with some protesters calling for the defunding of the NYPD at City Hall Park Tuesday morning hours before the city’s budget is due. NYPD Chief of police Terence Monahan told the media that one of the arrests was a graffiti attempt. One officer was also assaulted but suffered minor injuries, Monahan said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The post CLASH AT CITY HALL: NYPD Arrests Protesters As Council Votes To Defund Police By $1 Billion appeared first on The Yeshiva World.

At least 285 U.S. children have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus and while most recovered, the potential for long-term or permanent damage is unknown, two new studies suggest. The papers, published online Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine, provide the fullest report yet on the condition. The condition is known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. It is considered uncommon and deaths are rare; six children died among the 285 in the new studies. Including cases in Europe, where it was first reported, about 1,000 children worldwide have been affected, a journal editorial said.

New York Democrats Eliot Engel and Carolyn Maloney have cruised to reelection through most of their decades in Congress. Now, both must wait for mail-in ballots to be counted — a process that begins Wednesday — to learn whether they will serve an additional term. Voting in New York’s primary election concluded June 23, but an unknown number of ballots have continued to trickle in by mail over the past week. With potentially as much as 50% of the vote being cast by mail this year because of the coronavirus, absentee ballots could decide the primary election. Under state law, counting may begin Wednesday, but it could take several days to complete in some counties. The most closely watched contest in New York is the one involving Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday called on President Donald Trump to sign an executive order requiring people to wear a mask in public and to “lead by example” by wearing one himself. “We did it two months ago in this state,” said Cuomo, a Democrat, adding that other states that initially resisted mask mandates are now requiring them. “Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing is difficult. Trump has said mask-wearing was fine, but not for him.

As strong thunderstorms moved through the area on Monday evening, there were trees down and flooding all over Brooklyn. The latest storm cells come after weekend storms sent damaging wind, hail, booming lightning and downpours coursing through the region Saturday and Sunday. The powerful thunderstorms arrived in NYC, dropping slightly smaller pellets of hail over Manhattan and leading to shockingly loud clashes of thunder in Brooklyn, along with strong wind gusts. In Boro Park a massive tree fell on a vehicle while driving on 47 Street and 13 Ave. Hatzolah raced to the scene fearing the worst, but Bichasdei Hashem, no one was hurt. In Marine Park (Flatbush) trees also fell on multiple vehicle driving, but no one was injured.

Video taken in Harlem on Sunday morning shows NYPD officers retreating as a crowd yells and throws bottles at their vehicles, prompting police unions to slam city leaders for “surrendering our city.” Police were responding to a report of shots fired at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 132nd Street around 3:45 a.m. when dozens of people confronted them, according to the Daily News. The crowd began jeering at the officers and throwing objects, including bottles, the five-minute video posted to Instagram shows. The NYPD vehicles eventually backed up and started leaving as some people began running after them down the street.

At Thursday’s regularly scheduled Stated Meeting of the City Council, Councilman Kalman Yeger introduced four surprise amendments on the floor, in a bid to force a debate and bring attention to the need for property tax relief for middle-class New Yorkers. Councilman Yeger’s four surprise amendments brought the Council proceedings to a standstill and sparked a nearly two-hour unscheduled debate about property tax fairness in New York. Yeger was ultimately joined by 12 Council Members in his efforts to reduce the interest charged to taxpayers unable to make timely property tax payments due to the COVID-19 crisis. Yeger’s proposals would have waived interest on all properties assessed at less than $250,000, which represents nearly all New York City residences.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday he may tweak the Phase III reopening process for New York City as it relates to indoor dining, while New Jersey’s governor said he would postpone that step indefinitely as cases surge across the U.S. Both governors, who lead the two hardest-hit COVID states in America, cited evidence of heightened risk in other states from enclosed spaces. Both Cuomo and Gov. Phil Murphy also pointed to people flaunting social distancing in various restaurants and bars in their own states as reasons to reevaluate the process. New Jersey had been set to reopen indoor dining on Thursday; that will no longer happen and no new timeline has been set. New York City had been scheduled to start limited indoor dining next Monday when it enters Phase III.

On Friday, June 26th, New York State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein and New York City Councilman Kalman Yeger sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio demanding that the city’s public schoolyards be opened so children will have plenty of space to play. Back on April 1st, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all playgrounds statewide to be shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But on June 11th, as the state began to reopen, the Governor authorized local governments to open playgrounds at their discretion. Still, Mayor de Blasio was determined to keep the city’s playgrounds closed, causing Senator Simcha Felder, Assemblyman Eichenstein, and Councilman Yeger to demand that the Mayor take action.