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.

Federal authorities are turning to a new tactic in the escalating conflict over New York City’s so-called sanctuary policies, issuing four “immigration subpoenas” to the city for information about inmates wanted for deportation. “This is not a request — it’s a demand,” Henry Lucero, a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, told The Associated Press. “This is a last resort for us. Dangerous criminals are being released every single day in New York.” Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration said Saturday the city would review the subpoenas. “New York City will not change the policies that have made us the safest big city in America,” spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said in an email.

The country’s top immigration official blamed the “sanctuary policies” of New York City on Friday for the assault and killing of a 92-year-old woman, while the mayor’s office decried such rhetoric as “fear, hate and attempts to divide.” Matthew Albence, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said at a news conference Friday that the slaying could have been prevented if city officials had complied with a federal request to turn over the assailant, a Guyanese national, for deportation. “It’s unbelievable that I have to come here and plead with the city of New York to cooperate with us to help keep this city safe,” Albence said. “Make no mistake,” he added.

On Thursday, I went to a briefing about NYS Homeland Security grants that are being made available to New York non-profit residential children’s camps. With all that is going on these days, the hall was packed with representatives from camps. We learned that the proposals are due at the end of February, and heard about all the complex forms and information that needs to be presented in order to qualify to be considered for a grant. With close to $50M being offered, you are probably relieved to hear that camps will be much more secure this summer. Well, you would be wrong. We were told that there is virtually no chance that these grants will be decided in enough time before the summer.

The Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes grant program was founded as an innovative measure by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2017. In 2019, Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein’s first year in office, he spearheaded a campaign to expand the program to include summer camps as eligible recipients. As a result, summer camps may now be eligible to receive as much as $250,000 in grant funding for security upgrades such as surveillance cameras, perimeter lighting, alarm systems, fencing and barriers, security doors, and other safety measures.

On Monday evening, over 250 packed the auditorium of Yeshiva Ahavas Torah in Flatbush, as representatives from shuls, yeshivas, camps and nonprofit institutions around the region gathered to learn how to navigate the bureaucracy of applying for federal and state security grants. Besides for the representatives of local shuls and yeshivas, dozens of people came from as far away as Lakewood, Far Rockaway, Great Neck, Waterbury and Peekskill. Josh Mehlman, chairman of the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition (FJCC) who hosted the event, provided the participants with an overview of the available resources.

A winter storm Saturday into Saturday night will likely begin as snow all across the region, then turn to ice and/or rain at times, at least in New York City and coastal areas. Even areas north and west of the city will likely see some mixing. The timing seems to favor snow arriving in New Jersey by noon Saturday, with the mixing and changeover occurring by day’s end. Once the snow arrives, it will come in fairly steady before changing to sleet and rain Saturday night. New York City will likely see 1-3 inches before the changeover with a coating to an inch in coastal areas to the south and east. Northern and western suburbs could also end up with 1″-3″, while 3″-6″ appear likely in far northwestern areas. (AP)

The man charged in an attack at a suburban New York Hanukkah celebration that left five people wounded, one critically, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges on Thursday. Grafton Thomas appeared in Rockland County Court. On Monday, he also pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges. Thomas was arrested hours after five people were stabbed at an attack at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City. His lawyer, Michael Sussman, has said Thomas suffers from mental illness and is not responsible for his actions. Prosecutor Dominic Crispino said in court on Thursday that Sussman should resign from the case because he videotaped evidence being taken out of Thomas’ cabin and therefore became a witness, the Journal News reported.

The attached video has gone viral on Thursday. The video was taken from a security camera footage in New Square, and has Wednesday’s date and time stamp on it. Watch as a woman is crossing the street (in the crosswalk), when a Rockland County Sheriff slowly drives right into the woman. Thankfully, the woman was not injured.   (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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