Tag: new york

Orthodox Jews Say They’re Being Targeted by New NYC Lockdowns

A group of Orthodox Jewish men gathered Tuesday evening in Brooklyn, burning masks to protest the newest iteration of New York’s pandemic lockdown. Their anger is reasonable, because the newest lockdown—which disproportionately affects the city’s Jewish community and explicitly targets religious gatherings—is not. It is deeply stupid and unfair, exactly the sort of easily avoidable government overreach that makes even well-intended people doing their best to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 understandably skeptical of public health directives.

At issue is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Cluster Action Initiative,” implemented at the request of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and announced several hours before the fire. The program identifies infection clusters—areas with positive test rates above 3 percent for seven consecutive days—and imposes a graduated system of restrictions until the rate drops.

In the strictest rule set, the “red zone,” schools along with businesses deemed nonessential are closed. In-person dining is banned. Houses of worship are limited to gatherings of 25 percent capacity or 10 people, whichever is smaller, with $15,000 fines for violations. In fact, as Cuomo said Tuesday in a line sure to appear in forthcoming First Amendment litigation, religious gatherings are the main target: “The new rules are most impactful on houses of worship,” he declared. “This virus is not coming from nonessential business.” (Then why, one wonders, are those businesses required to close?)

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DETAILS NYPD ATTACK ON PEACEFUL PROTESTERS

NEW YORK POLICE deliberately assaulted dozens of peaceful protesters, medics, and legal observers in one of this summer’s most violently repressed protests, trapping people in the streets past a city-imposed curfew before beating and arresting them in what Police Commissioner Dermot Shea described as “a plan which was executed nearly flawlessly.”

At least 236 people were arrested at the June 4 protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, and at least 61 were injured by police, with some left with broken noses and fingers, lost teeth, and potential nerve damage, according to a detailed report released on Wednesday by Human Rights Watch. “The police response to the peaceful Mott Haven protest was intentional, planned, and unjustified,” the report concluded. “The protest was peaceful until the police responded with violence.”

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New York Indoor-Dining To Resume Sept 30th, Cuomo Urges Citizens To Snitch On Violators

So what “science” changed in the last 24 hours?

Just a day after a large group on New York restaurateurs filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Cuomo and De Blasio over the ongoing COVID lockdowns, the Governor just announced that indoor-dining will be allowed (at 25% capacity) starting on September 30th.

The restaurant owners exclaimed:

“We’ve been patient, the numbers are fantastic, the COVID statistics, we don’t know what more we could do,” said one business owner.

“This is a lawsuit. We don’t wanna do this. This is not us, we are workers. We work 100 hours a week. It’s not a luxurious lifestyle. I have waiters; none of them drove here in a Ferrari today.”

And now they can open – but who decided that 25% capacity was the right number? why not 30% or 50%?

“Because compliance is better, we can now take the next step,” the governor said.

Additional restrictions would also be placed on restaurants and their patrons, including a requirement to wear face coverings when not seated.

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Stars attending VMAs from out of state will not be subject to New York quarantine mandate

Stars will have the privilege of skipping out on New York’s 14-day quarantine mandate when they visit for the MTV Video Music Awards next week.

The awards, set for Aug. 30, will take on a different format this year as performances will be held outdoors with little to no audiences due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As the event usually serves as a who’s who of the music biz, many celebrities will be in attendance, but will not be required to adhere to the 14-day quarantine rule put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to the New York Post.

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New York University moves to implement racial segregation in student dorms

Since late June, the Office of Residential Life and Housing Services at New York University (NYU) has been working closely with a small, student-led task force to make racially segregated housing a reality in undergraduate student dorms.

On July 20, Washington Square News, the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of NYU, published an article titled “Student-Led Task Force Calls for Black Housing on Campus,” in which they reported on the university’s willingness to help implement residential communities open solely to “Black-identifying students with Black Resident Assistants.” Since then, the university has officially given the project a green light, aiming to have NYU’s first segregated residential floor established by Fall 2021.

A little over two months ago, a recently-organized advocacy group called Black Violets created an online petition demanding that the university “implement Black student housing on campus in the vein of themed engagement floors across first-year and upperclassmen residence halls.” In their petition, the group argues that “Too often in the classroom and in residential life, black students bear the brunt of educating their uninformed peers about racism.” African American students, they state, desperately require a “safe space” where they can escape from students, staff, and faculty of other races.

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‘Footloose’ Comes To Life In New York: Governor Cuomo Bans Dancing

This is not a joke. Syracuse.com reported the story.

There is no dancing allowed in New York’s bars and restaurants, even at a wedding reception, according to the New York State Liquor Authority.

To control the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s liquor authority has also specifically banned darts, pool, cornhole, karaoke and exotic dancing.

Bar owners are already struggling to stay open after being shut down for months. The new rules are causing a lot of anxiety as business owners are being threatened with their licensing if they don’t comply.

The intent is to reduce the number of people congregating in bars. If you go to a bar, you must sit at a table or move along, according to the liquor authority’s guidelines.

“I don’t let people dance,” said Dan Palladino, who owns Heritage Hill Brewhouse in Pompey. “I think it’s kind of sad, but I don’t want to risk my license.”

I’ve already been to an illegal wedding where there was a lot of dancing— and they’re becoming more popular. People having weddings in New York have to hide the location until the last minute and keep all signs of partying out of sight. It’s kind of exciting in a speakeasy sort of way but also extremely stupid. You cannot keep people from living their lives. And if you try to outlaw fun, they’re just going to break those laws and do it anyway.

Not only has dancing been outlawed, but pool, darts, cornhole, and karaoke are also off-limits. How much longer do the dictators in charge really think they can keep this up? I never thought I’d see the day when Democrats became pulpit-pounding puritans keeping the kids from dancing, but here we are.

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New York’s true nursing home death toll cloaked in secrecy

Riverdale Nursing Home in the Bronx appears, on paper, to have escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with an official state count of just four deaths in its 146-bed facility.

The truth, according to the home, is far worse: 21 dead, most transported to hospitals before they succumbed.

“It was a cascading effect,” administrator Emil Fuzayov recalled. “One after the other.”

New York’s coronavirus death toll in nursing homes, already among the highest in the nation, could actually be a significant undercount. Unlike every other state with major outbreaks, New York only counts residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there.

That statistic could add thousands to the state’s official care home death toll of just over 6,600. But so far the administration of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has refused to divulge the number, leading to speculation the state is manipulating the figures to make it appear it is doing better than other states and to make a tragic situation less dire.

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Evidence Is Mounting That Governor Cuomo Is Targeting Bars That Criticize Him for Suspension

A week after starting a petition calling for Governor Andrew Cuomo to reverse New York’s mandate requiring that a substantial amount of food must be served with any alcohol purchase, Abby Ehmann, the owner of East Village dive bar Lucky, found out her liquor license was suspended.

“Ehmann says that two State Liquor Authority representatives visited the bar on Monday night at 8 p.m. to observe if the bar’s eight customers had ordered food with their drinks,” according to Eater New York. “After the visit, Ehmann received her first warning from the SLA on a piece of paper that did not list out the specific violations, she says. Shortly afterward, and with no further warnings, Lucky’s liquor license was suspended.”

“No other safety measures were inspected or questioned,” Ehmann told Eater New York. “Also, no other bars or restaurants in close proximity to mine received this inspection, causing me to believe that I was intentionally targeted for selective enforcement by the Governor and State Liquor Authority.”

“I exercised my First Amendment right by petitioning my government for a redress of grievances,” Ehmann said. “I believe that this same government has selectively enforced the law I’m working to change as retaliation.”

This is now the second bar that is accusing Governor Cuomo of retaliating against it for opposing his mandate.

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Over 350 cars stopped at random NYC checkpoints to enforce quarantine rules

New York officials have stopped 353 cars at entrances to the Big Apple to warn travelers of the mandatory two-week quarantine rule.

The stops were made from Wednesday through Friday at bridges and tunnels, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, which also said that 1,100 masks were distributed.

Cars were stopped randomly and occupants asked if they spent more than 24 hours during the previous 14 days in any state on New York’s restricted list.

Anyone who answered yes had to fill out a traveler health form.

The city says the stops are “quick and educational.”

Travelers who violate the quarantine rule could face up to $10,000 in fines. There are currently 35 states plus Puerto Rico on the list.

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New York City to install checkpoints to enforce quarantine for travelers

In addition to the state’s growing travel advisory listing states that are experiencing a seven-day infection rate of over 10 cases per 100,000 people, New York City will impose checkpoints at populous entry points to the city to ensure travelers into the city will comply with the state’s 14-day quarantine mandate. 

Reuters reports that city Mayor Bill DeBlasio (D) made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that visitors from the 35 states on New York’s travel advisory must follow quarantine orders to contain the spread of the virus.

“Travelers coming in from those states will be given information about the quarantine and will be reminded that it is required, not optional,” de Blasio told a news briefing. He noted that given specific circumstances, not following the quarantine order could result in a $10,000 fine.

These checkpoint locations will be installed at high-volume bridge and tunnels leading into New York City, beginning Wednesday.

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