In accordance with our daas Torah, Hagaon HaRav Yechezkel Roth shlita, aveilim should continue to sit separately, and nichum aveilim should continue to be by phone. However, Misaskim will be providing shiva chairs only, with the following guidelines. 1. All shiva chairs will need to be picked up Motzei Yom Tov between the hours of 9:15 PM and 11:00 PM, and brought back after shiva. 2. All neighborhoods will have a designated spot to pick up and drop off the shiva chairs, where representatives of aveilim will be able to pick up the shiva chairs. 3. If your neighborhood is not listed below, and you are in need of shiva chairs, please call the Misaskim hotline after Yom Tov at 718-854-4548. 4.

A dangerous virus has transformed New York as it has claimed the lives of 10,000 people, but one thing hasn’t changed: the contentious relationship between the state’s two most prominent politicians, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. A weekend dust-up over which of the two Democrats gets to say when New York City students can return to school was just the latest example of Cuomo tussling with de Blasio over who is in charge of the state’s and nation’s most populous city. De Blasio, who closed school buildings a month ago, announced Saturday that they wouldn’t reopen for the remainder of the school year, saying it was neither safe nor logistically possible.

New Jersey and five other states will work together to reopen their economies once the coronavirus outbreak begins to subside, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. It’s not clear yet when the region would begin to reopen, and Murphy stressed that the public health crisis first has to be under control before the states begin relaxing stay-at-home and other orders. “The house is still on fire. We still have to put the fire out, but we do have to begin putting in the pieces of the puzzle that we know we’re going to need … to make sure this doesn’t reignite,” Murphy said. Murphy, a Democrat, announced the regional cooperation effort on a conference call with fellow Democratic Govs.

New York’s coronavirus death toll topped 10,000 only about a month after the state recorded its first fatality, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. The state tallied 671 new deaths on Sunday. It was the first time in a week the daily toll dipped below 700. But Cuomo said the count has been “basically flat at a horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow.” New York has now reported 10,056 deaths since early March, with more than half of them in the past week. The first reported fatality was an 82-year-old New York City woman with emphysema who died March 11. Officials initially said she died March 13, but the city’s health department on Monday confirmed that she died on the earlier date. “This virus is very good at what it does.

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of Morah Rochel (Felice) Blau A”H. Morah Blau, who helped found BYA elementary school, was an Ishah Chashuvah who always greeted everyone with a sever panim yafos, and שם ה’ היה שגור בפיה. In her capacity as principal, she used her talents as a songwriter (most notably of the well-known song about Sarah Schenirer), playwright, and artist. Her innovations have been implemented in schools throughout the Jewish community. Morah Blau A”H has been an icon in Chinuch Habonos in Brooklyn and beyond. There are Moros throughout the world today that have been trained by Morah Blau, widening her legacy. Generations of mothers have been taught by Morah Blau. And in BYA today, she was the much admired Principal of the current talmidos.

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of R’ Yaakov Radin Z”L of Flatbush. He was Niftar on Sunday. His Levaya was held on Sunday and kevura was held with a “tnai”, since it was his wish to be buried in Eretz Yisroel. Yaakov was an active, outstanding member of Kehillas Young Israel of Avenue K / Congregation Ahavath Israel – for many, many years. He was a Member of the Va’ad Ha’Kohol of the SHul for over twenty years, and served for a number of years as one of the “Zayin Tuvei Ho’ir” / an Officer on the Executive of the Kehilla. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes… (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Admorim of Satmar had a phone conversation on Sunday night, to discuss the medical conditions of their family members who have the Coronavirus. Sources tell YWN that the Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg, HaRav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum called his older brother the Satmar Rebbe of Kirays Yoel, HaRav Aharon Teitelbaum on Sunday night. As YWN has reported, their brother, HaRav Lipa Teitelbaum, known as the Zenta Rov, has COVID-19 and is in critical condition on a respirator for nearly three weeks. Additionally, the wife of the Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Yoel, Rebbitzen Sasha Teitelbaum is in a Manhattan Hospital with COVID -19. Her condition has Bichasdei Hashem been improving.

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira HaRav Yaakov Yitzchok Eichorn ZT”L. He was 98. He was a close Talmid of Hagaon HaRav Shlomo Heiman ZT”L in Torah Vodaath, who was his Mesader Kiddushin. Known as the Poilishe Ilui & a Masmid, his Shiur notes were used in the publication of Chiddushei R’ Shloma. Rabbi Eichorn served as a Magid Shiur in Torah Vodaath for many years and was a beloved Rebbe to hundreds of Talmidim. Together with his Rebbetzin Feile Yocheved Z”L, they established a beautiful Torahdige family spanning 5 generations. יהי זכרו ברוך. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled down Sunday on his plan to close schools in the nation’s largest district for the remainder of the academic year, but Governor Andrew Cuomo says ultimately the decision lies with him. De Blasio announced Saturday that the public schools serving in the city’s 1.1 million-students would close for the rest of the academic year to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “It’s the moral question,” de Blasio said on Sunday. “What’s the right thing to do for our parents, our kids, our teachers.” But Cuomo reiterated that school closings must be coordinated with districts surrounding the city and the Tri-State area. “We are not going to open any school until it’s safe from a public health point of view.

Despite the positive drops in several key figures, New Yorkers continue to die at an alarming rate. Over the last 24 hours, a staggering 758 individuals lost their lives, marking the sixth day that the state death toll has been over 700. Cuomo said the death toll could go over 10,000 on Monday. However, he added that the total rate of hospitalizations is the best indicator that the state is flattening the curve, reiterating that in reality, the apex that had been spoken about so often, is actually a plateau. “The apex isn’t just an apex, it’s a plateau. You see that line flattening, and that’s what the experts were talking about, that it might have been a straight up and then rapid down, or it might be up to an apex, and the apex becomes a plateau,” Cuomo said.