Cashless tolling and wider lanes have made the Goethals Bridge a safer place for motorists, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. Crashes on the span, which links Elizabeth with Staten Island, New York, have declined by 57% since the agency completed its $1.5 billion improvements, the agency said. “In 2019, the accident rate on the new Goethals Bridge was 2.29 per million vehicles, down from 5.37 per million vehicles in 2014,” the agency said. The reduction occurred despite an increase of more than 7 million vehicles annually by 2019 at the crossing since 2014. Cashless tolling allows motorists to maintain speed and lanes while overhead sensors deduct tolls for E-ZPass account holders.

New York’s governor says he believes President Donald Trump is punishing his home state for being too liberal. In the past few weeks, New York has come out on the losing end on a series of federal acts. The Army Corps of Engineers slashed funding for a study of a colossal offshore sea wall that could potentially protect New York City from major hurricanes after Trump tweeted it was “costly, foolish,” and would also “look terrible.” “Sorry, you’ll just have to get your mops & buckets ready!” the president wrote.

The New York State Health Department says 700 people in the state have been asked to voluntarily self-isolate for two weeks. It’s important to point out there are no confirmed cases here, and no one in New York City or in New Jersey is being monitored. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s not a matter of if, but when the coronavirus becomes a bigger issue in the United States. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday the state is currently monitoring at least 8,400 people for COVID-19, a day after health officials confirmed the first possible community transmission of the coronavirus in a Solano County resident. STAY UPDATED WITH BREAKING UPDATES FROM YWN VIA WHATSAPP – SIGN UP NOW Just click on this link, and you will be placed into a group.

A Jewish boy was the victim of a hate attack in Crown Heights this week. CHI reports that the victim was using a piece of exercise equipment at the “Crunch Gym” this past Tuesday, when he was suddenly attacked. The victim told the NYPD that the suspect, a black male, walked over to him, called him an “(expletive removed) Jew”, and slapped him in the face. He also pulled off the victims headphones, and stepped on them, crushing them into pieces. No words were exchanged prior to the attack. The NYPD arrested the man, who also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident. STAY UPDATED WITH BREAKING UPDATES FROM YWN VIA WHATSAPP – SIGN UP NOW Just click on this link, and you will be placed into a group.

In his budget address yesterday, Governor Phil Murphy proposed increasing the funding for the New Jersey Nonpublic Security Grant Program (NJ-NSGP), more than doubling it from its current $2 million to $5 million. Unfortunately, events over the past year have shaken the religious community’s sense of security as we witnessed terror attacks on synagogues and Jewish locations across America. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is a necessary and very much welcome resource for houses of worship, schools, community centers and other nonprofits who often lack the funds to properly secure their premises. We applaud Governor Murphy for proposing to increase the NPSG.

New York’s governor says he will ask state lawmakers in coming days to approve $40 million to help state health officials respond to the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, told reporters Wednesday that the funding will help hire additional staff and purchase supplies including protective masks and gloves. He said the state has no confirmed cases of the virus, but officials are waiting for test results regarding one sick person in Nassau County. “Yes, we’re preparing, but this situation is not a situation that should cause undue fear among people,” Cuomo said. A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 81,000 people globally and caused 2,700 deaths. U.S.

More than 100 people on Long Island are being monitored for coronavirus, health officials said Wednesday, as Nassau County awaits test results on one person who showed symptoms of the virus. There are no confirmed cases of the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, in New York State, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said. But a Nassau County resident is quarantined at home until the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention complete testing on a sample from that individual, according to state Health Department Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. The residents have been asked to undergo voluntary isolation, removing themselves from people, including their family members, for 14 days from the last time they were in mainland China or may have been exposed to the virus.

A police officer from a Long Island department shot and killed a man in New York City after chasing him across the border into the city, police said. The Nassau County Police Department released few details of the shooting that occurred at about 5 p.m. Tuesday in southeastern Queens. The department said in a statement late Tuesday that its officers “were involved in a shooting incident with a subject who was fatally wounded.” New York City police referred questions to the Nassau police. Witnesses told Newsday that the shooting happened on a busy street during rush hour. Laron Josephs, 32, said he was leaving a nearby McDonald’s with his 4-year-old daughter when he heard shots and saw a crowd move toward the loud bangs. “I seen a bullet in the door,” Josephs said.

New York City drivers who get five camera-issued red light tickets or 15 camera-issued speeding tickets in a 12-month period will have to take a traffic safety course or risk losing their vehicles under a bill signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday. “We are putting all drivers on notice that if you behave recklessly behind the wheel, there will be real consequences,” said de Blasio, who joined other city officials and traffic safety advocates at a bill-signing ceremony. “The dangerous vehicle abatement program will ensure that only the safest drivers remain on the road and will create a deterrent for drivers who refuse to correct their actions,” said City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, chairman of the council’s transportation committee. The law will take effect on Feb.

The driver of a school bus who veered across Interstate 80 in New Jersey after missing an exit and crashed into a dump truck, killing a teacher and a student and injuring dozens of others, faced sentencing Wednesday. Hudy Muldrow, 79, was to appear in state Superior Court in Morristown. He pleaded guilty in December to reckless vehicular homicide, assault by auto and child endangerment. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a 10-year sentence as part of an agreement that included dismissal of 20 additional charges of assault by auto in the May 2018 crash. The bus carrying students and teachers from a Paramus middle school merged onto the highway and then headed across three lanes toward a median turnaround limited to official vehicles.