After beating the Hornets, Celtics intently watch TV coverage of Caitlin Clark leading Iowa past LSU
After the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night, the focus of the NBA’s best team quickly turned to something else: watching Caitlin Clark and the final minutes of Iowa’s victory over LSU in the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
New York governor backs suspension of 'right to shelter' as migrant influx strains city
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is supporting the city’s effort to suspend a unique legal agreement that requires it to provide emergency housing to homeless people, as a large influx of migrants overwhelms the city’s shelter system.
New York Times: Current aide accuses Cuomo of sex harassment
(AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File )ALBANY, N.Y. – A woman who currently works in the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide, according to a newspaper report published Friday. Alyssa McGrath told The New York Times that Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian, referred to her and her female colleague as “mingle mamas,” asked why she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and inquired about her divorce. “I put my head down waiting for him to start speaking, and he didn’t start speaking,” she told The Times. AdBennett and several other women who have accused Cuomo of harassment have already been interviewed by attorneys working for Attorney General Letitia James.
Critics: Cuomo apology 'tone-deaf,' ignores power imbalance
FILE In this Jan. 28, 2019 file photo, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, D-Manhattan, speaks in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol, in Albany, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomos response to accusations that he sexually harassed women on the job is being viewed as a tone-deaf faux-pology by critics and victim's advocates. Cuomo said in a statement that he only meant to joke with staff to add levity to their serious work. Yuh-Line Niou calls sexual harassment at the statehouse rampant. __This story has been updated to correct the age of Yuh-Line Niou.
Ex-cop charged with making false 911 call about Black youths
ALBANY, N.Y. – A white former police officer has been charged with falsely reporting a gunfight with a group of Black youths at his lakeside camp in the Adirondacks while he was off duty last summer, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday. “The charges filed stem from allegedly false reports of an incident (which did not occur) that were allegedly made to 911 by Sean McKown,” Sprague said in a statement. McKown pleaded not guilty and was released without bail to await a court date in February, his lawyer George LaMarche said. McKown initially told state police he had been confronted by eight to 10 Black youths outside his camp and had exchanged gunfire. Details about the incident have not been released by State Police, who closed their investigation without filing charges.
NY's Cuomo to receive International Emmy for virus briefings
Andrew Cuomo is set to soon receive an International Emmy award for his once-daily televised briefings on the coronavirus pandemic that killed tens of thousands of New Yorkers this spring. International Academy President & CEO Bruce L. Paisner said Cuomo is being honored with the academy's Founders Award for using his briefings to inform and calm the public. "The governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” he said. And at least 6,600 residents have died in nursing homes, according to state data, which doesn't state how many nursing home residents died in hospitals. Still, the state's daily average of COVID-19 cases over the past seven days has more than doubled in two weeks as cases surge nationwide.
Jewish family's painting looted by Nazis in 1933 is returned
The painting, discovered in an upstate New York museum, was part of a cache of art seized by the Nazis from the Mosse family in Berlin in 1933. (AP Photo/Michael Hill)ALBANY, N.Y. – A painting of two young, 19th-century skaters that was looted by Nazis from a Jewish family in 1933 and recently discovered at a small museum in upstate New York was returned Thursday after 87 years. “The Mosse family lost nearly everything because they were Jews. Hoffmann heads the Mosse Art Research Initiative, a university-based collaboration involving Mosse heirs and German public cultural institutions. Federal authorities were contacted as Mosse Art Restitution Project manager J. Eric Bartko was working to get the painting returned from the museum.
Cuomo warns scofflaw schools, seeks Chainsmokers gig fine
The Democrat also threatened to take away state funding from schools in coronavirus hot spots that are ignoring orders to shut their doors, saying their defiance was endangering public health. Cuomo called the concert, attended by more than 2,150 people, “an egregious violation” of the rules. Cuomo said the letter would go to New York City, Orange County, Rockland County, the Town of Ramapo and the Village of Spring Valley. Cuomo didn't immediately say exactly how much money could would be withheld or name schools that were breaking the rules. “I guarantee if a yeshiva gets closed down and they’re not going to get state funding, you’re going to see compliance,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo book on NY pandemic outbreak short on state missteps
The Democrat's book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” delivers a retelling of his efforts to contain the virus as it ravaged his state in spring. In it, Cuomo describes trying to placate President Donald Trump in order to get needed hospital beds, ventilators and other supplies for New York. Other problems with New York’s virus response get less ink, including the state’s struggles to help nursing homes acquire enough protective gear or staff. Cuomo hasn't disclosed how much he was paid to write the book, which was published by Crown. Citing a spike in new infections, Cuomo last week reinstated restrictions on businesses, schools and religious gatherings in certain virus hot spots.
Court allows NY virus restrictions ahead of Jewish holidays
ALBANY, N.Y. – A federal judge refused Friday to block New York’s plan to temporarily limit the size of religious gatherings in COVID-19 hot spots. U.S. District Judge Judge Kiyo Matsumoto issued the ruling after an emergency hearing in a lawsuit brought by rabbis and synagogues, arguing the restrictions were unconstitutional. The restrictions apply in six designated areas in parts of New York City, Rockland and Orange counties, and part of Binghamton. In their lawsuit, rabbis, leaders of synagogues and the national Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel had argued that Gov. Authorities didn’t confirm there would be an arrest, saying only they were still investigating the confrontation involving Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter for Jewish Insider who has documented the handling of the coronavirus outbreak in Orthodox Jewish communities.
US Health Department's Caputo has cancer, spokesperson says
ALBANY, N.Y. – Michael Caputo, who is on a 60-day leave from his role as spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after accusing government scientists of sedition, has metastatic cancer, a state lawmaker said Thursday. Doctors have diagnosed cancer in the head and neck, David DiPietro, a Republican state assemblyman in western New York who said he was acting as a spokesperson for Caputo, told reporters. Caputo is now home in western New York with his family, the lawmaker said. The Department of Health and Human Services had announced Sept. 16 that Caputo decided to take 60 days “to focus on his health and the well-being of his family." The loyalist of President Donald Trump was installed as assistant secretary for public affairs by the White House in April at a time of tense relations with Health Secretary Alex Azar.
John Lennon's killer denied parole for an 11th time
ALBANY, N.Y. The man who gunned down John Lennon outside his Manhattan apartment in 1980 was denied parole for an 11th time, state corrections officials said Wednesday. Mark David Chapman was denied after being interviewed by a parole board Aug. 19, according to corrections officials. Chapman shot and killed the former Beatle on the night of Dec. 8, 1980, hours after Lennon autographed an album for him. I was too far in, Chapman told a parole board in 2018. Look at this, he signed it, just go home. But there was no way I was just going to go home.Chapman's next parole hearing is scheduled for August 2022.
Appalled Cuomo to investigate crowded Chainsmokers concert
ALBANY, N.Y. New York's governor says he is appalled by videos showing crowds standing close together at a Hamptons concert featuring electronic music duo The Chainsmokers over the weekend. Andrew Cuomo said the state Department of Health will conduct an investigation into egregious social distancing violations.We have no tolerance for the illegal reckless endangerment of public health, reads the governor's Monday night tweet. Cuomo shared a social media video, which has over 6 million views, that showed crowds of people standing and swaying near the stage. The governor's criticism comes as he argues local governments largely in downstate New York have failed to enforce social distancing and mask rules. State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker chided Schneiderman in a Monday letter and questioned how Southampton could have issued a permit for an event that posed a public health threat.
New York declares Juneteenth a holiday for state employees
ALBANY, N.Y. New Yorks governor signed an executive order Wednesday recognizing Juneteenth as a paid holiday for state employees to commemorate the emancipation of slaves in the U.S.Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will propose legislation next year making June 19 a permanent state holiday. Texas was the first to make it a state holiday, in 1980. Virginia's governor proposed making Juneteenth a state holiday there earlier this week. President Abraham Lincoln first issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring all slaves free in Confederate territory on Sept. 22, 1862, but the news took time to travel.
Questions on reopening New York's economy baffle businesses
Its an insult to every business in this community that has been struggling," said Picente, a Republican. Any day after is frustrating.As New York tries to get its economy going again, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has divided the state into 10 regions that can start to reopen businesses in phases. The governors executive orders leave it up to his administration to decide when a region has met the states standards for lifting restrictions. Last week, Cuomo announced the hiring of two experts to analyze the data and consult on reopening decisions.
17-year-old arrested after threatening school shooting on Facebook
Carl Court/Getty ImagesALBANY, New York (CNN) - A 17-year-old male was arrested Monday for allegedly posting on Facebook that he would participate in a shooting at an Albany, New York, high school, police said. The lockdown lasted about an hour, City School District of Albany Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams said in a statement on the school district website. School district administrators and security teams worked "through Sunday night" to investigate the Facebook threat, Adams said in a statement. "The safety of the students, faculty and staff is of paramount importance to the City School District of Albany," Adams said. The 17-year-old, who police have not named publicly, attends a different school in the same district, according to Smith.