An NYPD Traffic enforcement vehicle was captured on camera driving on a sidewalk in Boro Park. The video, provided to YWN by BP24, shows the marked police cruiser on 14th Avenue and 49th Street driving on the sidewalk. The police car does not have his emergency lights and sirens on. Last year YWN reported about a Boro Park resident that took the sidewalk and was arrested for doing so. [EPIC VIDEO: NYPD ‘Smart-Car’ Takes Sidewalk To Get Down Boro Park Street] (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

First New York gave drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, and now the next step. Individuals facing deportation would have a statutory right to a lawyer if they can’t afford one under legislation introduced Wednesday. State Sen. Brad Hoylman, who is sponsoring the legislation, said immigrants with attorneys are more likely to win their case compared to those without. Under the current system, his office says people facing deportation must depend on nonprofit attorneys or go up against the judicial system by themselves. “For an immigrant facing deportation, having an attorney on their case can be the difference between staying in New York or being separated from their family,” the Manhattan Democrat said in a statement.

Jewish congregations opting to deploy armed security personnel in the wake of deadly attacks on synagogues should — if possible — use uniformed law enforcement officers rather than private guards or volunteers from the community, a group of security experts recommended Wednesday. The advice came in a detailed, first-of-its-kind report compiled by the Secure Community Network in response to questions from Jewish communities nationwide as to whether and how they should make use of armed security. The network, founded in 2004 by a coalition of Jewish organizations, describes itself as “”the official safety and security organization” of the Jewish community in North America.

The NYPD has released additional footage in an anti-Semitic attack on Chanukah i9n Boro Park. As YWN had reported, on Wednesday, December 25, at approximately 1:00AM, a 40-year-old Hasidic man was walking in front of 4723 13th Avenue, when an unknown individual approached him and blocked his path. The victim attempted to let the suspect pass and proceeded to walk around the suspect, when the suspect punched him in the face before fleeing on foot, eastbound towards the intersection of 13 Avenue and 48 Street. The victim sustained a laceration to his lip but refused medical attention. The suspect met up with two of his friends who were waiting and who were watching the attack.

New York state says it’s seeing more reported cases of influenza so far this season than in recent years. The state’s online flu tracker shows the state has seen over 10,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza as of Jan. 4. That’s up from roughly 3,000 in 2017. The state’s data do not represent all influenza illnesses, but officials consider it a useful indicator of influenza trends. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, ordered state health officials this month to work with hospitals to make sure they’re equipped to meet a rising number of hospitalizations. Nearly 2,000 New Yorkers were hospitalized with lab-confirmed influenza in the first week of January, up 34% from the previous week.

Three police officers who have been credited with preventing further bloodshed during last month’s fatal attack on a kosher market in Jersey City were promoted Wednesday. Mayor Steven Fulop appointed Officers Kendric Jackson, Mariela Fernandez and Raymond Sanchez to the rank of detective at a ceremony at City Hall on Wednesday. “That day was an example in action of the law enforcement heroes we have serving the city,” Fulop tweeted Tuesday. “We are starting w/these 3 promotions tomorrow but truthfully there are many more heroes we intend on recognizing in the coming weeks – #JerseyCity.” Sanchez and Fernandez were among the first to respond after David Anderson and Francine Graham stormed the market and killed three people in an anti-Semitic attack.

The man accused of raping and murdering a 92-year-old woman is believed to be in the country illegally. Reeaz Khan, a 21-year-old Guyanese national, is believed to be behind the brutal slaying of Maria Fuertes in Richmond Hill. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the NYPD released Khan in November after he attacked his father with a broken coffee cup, ignoring a federal request to turn him over for deportation. The officials blamed New York’s sanctuary city policies for Fuertes’ rape and murder. Under the policy, the city only hands over undocumented people convicted of a violent crime.

At a time when security and safety is at the forefront of conversations and consciousness in the Jewish community, a special moment occurred at the Yeshiva Darchei Torah dinner in Far Rockaway this week, making waves well beyond the yeshiva neighborhood. Early in the dinner program, Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva of Darchei Torah, approached the podium and made a surprise award presentation to Mr. Everett Fortune, the Yeshiva’s veteran chief of security. Mr. Fortune, who is not Jewish, has over the last 30 years earned the trust and friendship of the Yeshiva’s students, staff, and parent body as he has devotedly overseen its growing security needs. Visibly surprised and moved, Mr. Fortune was at a loss for words.

New York City will install 100 new security cameras in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in an effort to prevent anti-Semitic attacks, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday. Fear has gripped the city’s Orthodox Jewish community since the the fatal Dec. 10 attack at a kosher grocery store across the Hudson River in Jersey City and the Dec. 29 stabbings at a Hanukkah celebration in suburban Monsey. The new cameras will be installed in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Borough Park, where Hasidic Jewish residents have reported attacks ranging from someone pulling off a wig or hat to more violent assaults. “An attack on the Jewish community is an attack on all New Yorkers,” de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a statement.

A 19-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl was the latest victim of an anti-Semitic incident in New York, and once again, the suspects were members of the black community – not Trump supporters as NY elected officials continue to blame. According to BoroPark24, the incident occurred on a packed F train in Manhattan, and the vicious abuse lasted nearly 10 minutes. What might be as bad as the actual incident – or maybe even worse – was the fact that only one person came to her aid and sat down next to her. Among the expletives & obscenities hurled at the Midwood resident was “you people vote for Trump” and “I would hurt you but you people go straight to the police”. The NYPD is investigating the incident. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)