A passenger on a recent flight tells YWN about the extremely disturbing experience she had with LOT Polish Airlines from JFK to Israel with a stopover in Poland. The woman said that she was so horrified by what she saw that she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. “Mrs. B”. said that the first leg of her flight – from JFK to Poland – was completely fine. The problems started when the passengers began checking in for the final leg of the flight from Poland to Tel Aviv. Every single non-Jew [and presumably Jews that weren’t obviously Jewish] were allowed on the plane with their hand luggage, without being required to hand it over to be checked or weighed.

A new Siena College poll released Tuesday found declining support for recent changes to New York’s bail law. The new law, which eliminates money bail for the wide majority of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, has come under intense scrutiny as courts have released people who would have remained in jail under the old rules. The bail reforms went into effect at the beginning of the year. The poll found that 49 percent of respondents said the changes were bad for New York while 37 percent said they were good for the Empire State. Those results stand in contrast to last April, when 38 percent of respondents said the law would be bad for the state, while 55 percent said it would be a positive move.

NYC Councilman Chaim Deutsch has filed paperwork to run for Congress in in New York’s 9th District. He hopes to unseat Democrat Yvette Clark, who has held the seat in 2007. Councilman Chaim Deutsch is a life-long Brooklynite, representing the diverse communities within the 48th City Council District – an office he first assumed in 2014. He is a Democrat. The district includes Brighton Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach, Marine Park, Midwood, Plum Beach, and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. His term ends in 2021. In the 2018 election Clark narrowly won a primary challenge Adam Bunkeddeko, winning by less than 2,000 votes. Bunkeddeko, a progressive activist, is running in this election as well.

An appeals court has upheld former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s corruption conviction but ordered a resentencing after reversing his conviction on some charges. The ruling Monday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the Democrat may get a fresh chance to seek a reduction of his seven-year prison sentence. He has remained free pending appeal. Silver was sentenced in 2018 after he was convicted for a second time of trading favors to collect nearly $4 million in fees to help a cancer researcher and real estate developers. His first conviction in 2015 was overturned by the appeals court. Silver served as speaker for 21 years after first being elected in 1976. His lawyer declined to comment Tuesday. (AP)

After a coordinated investigation by the NYPD and Boro Park Shomrim, the suspect who has scammed more than a dozen victims out of thousands of dollars was arrested. The suspect was taken into custody from his home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. As YWN had reported, the scammer would sit in his double-parked vehicle, and when cars would pass, he would hit your mirror and claim you hit his hand. He would then shake down his innocent victims for $50 or $500 instead of suing you for calling the police. Thanks to a wealth of information provided to Shomrim and the NYPD by more than a dozen victims, Detectives were able to identify the man, and make the arrest on Tuesday morning. YWN notes that these scammers usually continue their scam even after their release from police custody.

A fast-moving five-alarm fire severely damaged six row houses in Staten Island on Monday, displacing more than 30 people and causing minor injuries. John Sudnik, chief of the Fire Department of New York, said wood construction in the attics of the connected houses allowed flames to spread quickly through the roofs. Firefighters found “heavy fire” coming from one of the three-story buildings when they arrived just before 3 p.m., Sudnik said. It had spread to the adjacent homes before being brought under control two hours later. More than 200 firefighters and other emergency workers responded to the scene, where flames licked through holes in the roofs and heavy smoke rolled across multiple row houses in the residential neighborhood.

One person was seriously injured in a fire in a private home in Flatbush, Monday night. It happened at around 10:30PM at 757 Ocean Parkway near Foster Avenue. FDNY says they found heavy fire blowing out of the windows upon their arrival. It quickly escalated to a second alarm. One civilian was removed with serious injuries from the burning home, and was treated and transported by Flatbush Hatzolah Paramedics. One firefighter was injured as well. Photos by Heshy Rubenstein – Dee Voch (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears ready to set an April 28 special election — the same day as the state’s presidential primary — to fill a congressional seat left vacant by a western New York Republican who has since been convicted of insider trading. Republican leaders have said Cuomo wants to set the special election on a day when Democratic voters flood the polls to pick a presidential nominee. The Democratic governor has repeatedly said he prefers that date because holding it the same day as the primary would save money. The governor cannot formally declare an April 28 special election until early February under the timeline for calling a special election under state law.

Three men died in separate fires around the city, and officials say two of those fires are suspicious. A house that under construction burned in Queens Village overnight. Authorities found a body inside. The victim had been bound, police said. A fatal fire in Brooklyn has also been labeled suspicious. In that fire, the body of a man with neck and chest trauma was found in the lobby of the burning four-story apartment house on Adelphi Street in Fort Greene. In the Bronx, an 85-year-old man died in a high-rise fire in Co-Op City. His 49-year-old-daughter suffered smoke inhalation. She is listed in stable condition. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A scammer is on the loose in Boro Park, and Shomrim are warning the community to be vigilant and not fall prey. The individual seen in the attached flyer and video sits inside his car and when cars pass by he smacks their mirrors causing a loud noise and frightening the drivers. He then comes out and tells his victims that they struck his hand. Many times he has his hand wrapped in a scarf or towel. He then threatens to call police and go through your insurance (or lawsuits) if you don’t pay him cash. he usually asks for $450 or $500. Boro Park Shomrim tells YWN that there are so far more than a dozen victims that they are aware about. He has been doing this on many streets including 41st, 57th, Fort Hamilton Parkway, 16th Avenue and other areas all around Boro Park.