Dear YWN, After seeing the letter from a Chosson last week, here’s a letter from a “Father of a Kallah”. Sitting in Quarantine under very trying circumstances, I have been made aware of this new Simcha Initiative that you are bringing to the fore. I laud you for it! I was delighted to read about it and happily affixed my signature to the myriad of names already signed on. You see, to me this has particularly hit home. I believe there’s a lot more to do in curbing the extravagance that has become the norm, but this is definitely a good start. Let me give you a little background about myself and why this is so personal to me. I live in my own home in Brooklyn NY.

Three hours before mealtime, a line begins to form on the sidewalk outside St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, facing Park Avenue in one of New York City’s poshest neighborhoods. By 5:30 p.m., when plastic bags of carry-away suppers are unloaded from a van and ready for pick-up on a folding table, the line will have twisted around two corners to the opposite side of the block — nearly 300 homeless people waiting patiently, roughly 6 feet apart, some neatly dressed, some heartbreakingly bedraggled. Listening to some of them, and to the staff who operate the daily meal program, this much is clear: However difficult it’s always been to be homeless in New York, it’s tougher and scarier now amid the coronavirus pandemic.

All New Jersey schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Monday. The announcement means the state’s 1.4 million grade school students will finish the academic year via remote instruction from their homes. The move follows Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement Friday that New York schools would remain closed for the year, with plans for beyond that still in the works. Murphy had promised an announcement on schools by May 15. He said Thursday he didn’t envision shortening the school year, except to account for a few snow days that weren’t needed. “We’re not going to shorten the school year,” he said. “The only question is, is it going to be remote or physical?”

NYC PBA President Patrick Lynch blasted “the cowards” who run NYC, and claimed that police officers were “once again being thrown under the bus”. Lynch says cops should not be the ones enforcing social distancing. Read the strong statement given to YWN moments ago: “This situation is untenable: the NYPD needs to get cops out of the social distancing enforcement business altogether. The cowards who run this city have given us nothing but vague guidelines and mixed messages, leaving the cops on the street corners to fend for ourselves. Nobody has a right to interfere with a police action. But now that the inevitable backlash has arrived, they are once again throwing us under the bus.

To all parents of children in yeshivos and girls schools, Like many of you, I am the father of children who attend yeshivos and Bais Yaakov schools in New York, and I have been shocked at the response – or rather – the lack of response – from parents. I’m not here to argue about the use of Zoom for teaching or not – everyone has heard enough of that. But how it could it be that principals could tell me that they haven’t heard much from parents on the issue?! In the past week, I’ve spoken to quite a few principals, some of whom allow the use of Zoom to teach, and some who are strongly against using it.

In this exclusive interview, NYC Councilman Kalman Yeger discusses the NYPD’s double standard in its treatment of frum Jews. He speaks about Mayor DeBlasio’s tweet singling out the Jews, Commissioner Dermot Shea’s claim that the police did not approve last week’s Levaya. “Lies, lies, lies”, Yeger said about Dermot. He also discussed when he believes shuls and camps should reopen, and much more. Listen and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app, including iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and Podbean. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A New York City police officer who was caught on video Saturday pointing a stun gun at a man and violently taking him to the ground over an alleged social distancing violation has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty pending an internal investigation. Bystander video showed the plainclothes officer, who was not wearing a protective face mask, slapping 33-year-old Donni Wright in the face, punching him in the shoulder and dragging him to a sidewalk after leveling him in a crosswalk in Manhattan’s East Village. “The behavior I saw in that video is simply not acceptable,” Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Sunday. He said earlier in the day that there will be a careful look into what happened. Police spokeswoman Sgt.

A Colorado paramedic who came to New York City to save lives before losing his own to the coronavirus will be forever honored in a memorial to medical workers who answered the city’s 911 call to the rest of America, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday. De Blasio said at his daily news briefing that he learned of Paul Cary’s death the previous day, and “it really hit me.” “There’s something particularly painful when someone does the right thing, a fellow American comes from across the country to try and help the people of New York City and while working to save lives here gives his own life. It’s very painful. It’s heroic,” the Democrat said.

A man found a decomposed body in his dead mother’s freezer as he was clearing out her Manhattan apartment, police said. He found the body this week in a chest freezer that had been sealed with duct tape, the Daily News reported. Investigators said the body appeared to have been stored for over 10 years, building superintendent Asmir Basim told the newspaper in Friday’s article. The body was so decayed that authorities couldn’t determine its gender, Basim said. Authorities are investigating, and an autopsy is planned, city officials said in a written statement. The deceased tenant never gave permission for work to be done in the Hamilton Heights apartment, Basim said, adding that she “seemed like a lovely lady, always very pleasant.” (AP)

New Yorkers were mostly adhering to social distancing rules while outside enjoying the warmest weekend in a spring clouded by the coronavirus crisis, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. “The big story here is what New Yorkers have done right,” de Blasio said. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the city’s parks and public spaces Saturday as temperatures hit the low-70s (about 23 degrees Celsius). Police commissioner Dermot Shea said officers issued 51 summonses on Saturday, including 43 in parks. Shea said he was aware of three arrests.