A New York City police officer and two other men were arrested on drug charges after an investigation that was sparked by a fatal overdose on Long Island. Joseph Recca, 28, was arrested Tuesday on charges of drug possession and sales, official misconduct and unauthorized use of a computer, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said. Recca resigned from the New York Police Department shortly after his arraignment Wednesday. “This is an NYPD officer who, along with two co-conspirators, was allegedly involved in operating a local drug distribution network in our community, which is very disturbing,” Sini said.

The New York State Senate and Assembly have passed a bill to end the suspension of driver’s licenses based on the failure to pay traffic ticket fines or fees. The legislation also creates a payment plan system for drivers. The bill must be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to become law. The new legislation creates a payment plan for drivers. If a person doesn’t pay for a ticket or fine due to traffic debt, the plan consists of 2% of a person’s monthly income or $10 a month, whichever option is greater. The reform also reinstates licenses to those who currently have a suspended license due to traffic debt.

A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for writing a book about Trump. Michael Cohen’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after probation authorities said he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating publicly in other manners, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said. Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison by 2 p.m. on Friday. Cohen, 53, sued federal prison officials and Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because he was writing a book to be released before the November presidential election.

The Crown Heights community was host to an historic plasma drive on Wednesday, the first ever held in a location other than an official blood center. The drive was organized New York Blood Center in conjunction with the COVID Plasma Initiative, an organization dedicated to coordinating plasma drives in frum communities throughout the Tri States. During the recent months, the COVID Plasma Initiative, founded by Mordechai Serle, ran tens of drives which saw thousands from the frum community line up to donate plasma in an effort to save the lives of those suffering from COVID-19. Previous drives only tested the volunteers for antibodies and then had then travel to various locations to donate plasma.

Fare and toll increases, wage freezes, service cuts and even a state gas tax were discussed Wednesday as the nation’s largest transit agency stared down a gaping budget hole caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority painted a bleak financial picture at its monthly board meeting as it gave a preliminary look at its budgeting for the next few years amid the fallout from the pandemic, which has decimated revenues from subways, buses and rail lines. A final proposed budget is expected to be presented in November, with a vote to follow in December.

A massive fire broke out in Camp Agudah in Ferndale on Thursday morning, leaving at least one building destroyed. The fire department was called to the camp at around 7:00AM, reporting fire in a building known as “The Ranch”, which houses a game room, two class rooms, among other uses. The fast-moving fire left the structure totally destroyed, before spreading to a second building, which houses arts and crafts, and the canteen. At 8:45AM, firefighters were still trying to get the blaze under control, and the second structure had already suffered significant damage. A fire investigator was on the scene trying to determine the cause of the blaze. Due to COVID-19, the camp had relocated to New Hampshire for this summer. Unfortunately, this is the second fire this year to hit the camp.

A New Jersey Starbucks employee has been accused of spitting in the coffee of police officers. Kevin Trejo, a 21-year-old from Westwood, faces a number of charges, including subjecting a law enforcement officer to contact with a bodily fluid, creating a hazardous or physically dangerous condition and knowingly tampering with a cup of coffee knowing it was ordered by a law enforcement officer. It’s unclear how many officers may have had their drinks tampered with, but police said it “appears to be an isolated incident with this sole individual” at a Starbucks in Park Ridge. “We believe it happened more than once, but we can prove it happened at least once on May 25,” Park Ridge Police Capt. Joseph Rampolla told NBC News.

California’s confirmed coronavirus cases have topped 409,000, surpassing New York for most in the nation, according to data from John’s Hopkins University showing Wednesday that California now has about 1,200 more cases than New York. However, New York’s 32,520 deaths are by far the highest total in the country and four times more than California’s tally, and its rate of confirmed infections of about 2,100 per 100,000 people is twice California’s rate. California is by far the most populous U.S. state, with nearly 40 million people, while New York has about 19.5 million. U.S. government data published Tuesday found that reported and confirmed coronavirus cases vastly underestimate the true number of infections, echoing results from a smaller study last month. The U.S.

Police in riot gear moved in early Wednesday to clear a month-long encampment of protesters and homeless people from a park near New York’s City Hall. A line of officers with helmets and shields entered City Hall Park shortly before 4 a.m. and forced the remaining people who were camped there out. At least seven people were arrested, officials said. Officers moved through the camp taking down tents and other temporary structures and tossing them into garbage trucks to be hauled away. Cleaning crews arrived later to scrub graffiti from buildings in the area. The encampment in City Hall Park started in late June following weeks of protests sparked by the May death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

On Tuesday July 21, 2020, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office responded to an ATV accident on State Route 17B, just west of Kaufman Road in the Town of Thompson. At the location deputies found that a 2012 Yamaha 250 had been traveling westbound when the driver lost control and crossed into the eastbound lane, striking a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. The ATV operator was ejected and suffered fatal injuries. The operator was identified as Jeffery Savage, age 29, of East Stroudsburg, PA. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Sullivan County Coroner Alan Kesten. The investigation by Sheriff’s detectives revealed that Savage had left his home in East Stroudsburg early in the morning on Tuesday and drove 66 miles on his ATV to Monticello to pick up a car part that he needed.