Journalist attacked at NYC protest against virus restrictions
Unrest continues in city's COVID 'hot spots'
Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter for Jewish Insider, is escorted through a crowd Wednesday night. Credit: Craig Ruttle
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio both criticized the attack on Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter for Jewish Insider.
"I was just brutally assaulted, hit in the head and kicked at by an angry crowd of hundreds of community members of the Boro Park protest," Kornbluh tweeted, saying a protester recognized him and told the crowd to chase him.
Video posted to Twitter depicted a second night of unrest, including a mob chasing Kornbluh and the police struggling, and then abandoning attempts, to corral the crowd.
Other video showed men, many unmasked, marching in the street with large "TRUMP" flags.
De Blasio called the attack on Kornbluh "disgusting" and said that "from tonight on," he expects "a much clearer approach" by the NYPD.
The number of new positives reported today: 140 in Nassau, 107 in Suffolk, 696 in New York City and 1,836 statewide.
Travel advisory list: View a map of the current states and territories on the list.
The chart below shows the daily totals of new cases on Long Island in recent days. Search a map and view charts showing the latest local trends in testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
Union: 'There is no quarantine' for teachers after student tests positive
Tony Felicio, president of the Connetquot Teachers Association, says all seven teachers exposed to a student who has COVID-19 should be sent home to quarantine. Credit: John Roca
Six of seven teachers at a Connetquot middle school have been told by the district to return to their classrooms — against the union's advice — after one of their students last week tested positive for COVID-19, local officials said.
The school district stands by its decision, while the local teachers union disputes the action, saying it is inconsistent, and that all seven staffers should be sent home as a precaution. The union adds that 12 to 15 students from Oakdale-Bohemia Middle School have been quarantined.
"We know these teachers have been in close or proximate contact with someone who has tested positive, and there is no quarantine, only for students," said Tony Felicio, president of the 640-member Connetquot Teachers Association. "If that makes sense to anyone, I would love to hear the medical and scientific reasoning behind that."
See an updated list of COVID-19 cases reported in Long Island schools.
Lynbrook police chief: I will not be a 'mask Kaiser'
Lynbrook Police Chief Brian Paladino, seen on July 14, said he would continue to advise his officers to wear face coverings. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
The Lynbrook police chief wrote in an email that he advises his officers to wear masks, but would not be a "mask Kaiser" in enforcing masks for officers who are dealing with unmasked children and protesters.
Chief Brian Paladino was responding to a complaint about unmasked officers interacting with unmasked children while working dining enforcement detail on Atlantic Avenue last month.
Paladino said in a Sept. 28 email to Jim Burns of Long Beach that he would remind officers to wear a mask, but noted, "I pick my battles with my employees and being a mask Kaiser with them is not one I think is worth waging at this time."
He said 20% of officers previously tested positive for COVID-19 and 40% tested positive for antibodies, while they were strictly following the guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control.
"Then magically like most everywhere in this state, the virus went away," Paladino wrote.
White House adviser warns of possible increased spread in Northeast
Dr. Deborah Birx said she urged Stony Brook University students to tell their families to gather safely for holidays such as Thanksgiving. Credit: Randee Daddona
Speaking at Stony Brook University this week, Dr. Deborah Birx, head of the White House’s coronavirus response, said there are "early warning signs" in the Northeast of an increased spread of the coronavirus and she said the type of "community mitigation" being done in New York is key to containing the pandemic.
She also countered President Donald Trump’s recent statement that COVID-19 is "far less lethal" than the flu.
"You only need to look at the numbers to know it is a catastrophic type of infection for some people," she said, referring to COVID-19. "And for those people, it is worse than the flu."
Still-bustling East End inspires new business paths
Justin DeMarco, owner of Justin's Chop Shop in Westhampton Beach, said his store has added hours. Credit: Randee Daddona
Crowded East End shopping districts and traffic jams well beyond the traditional Labor Day end of summer are leading a growing contingent of Hamptons caterers, hotels, restaurants and even clothing shops to launch novel new business plans.
From a high-end grocer who’s planning to start food and wine deliveries to a chic clothing store that’s extending its hours and adding fall inventories, these resourceful East End businesses are doing what it takes to make the most of lingering summer crowds while helping to offset deep pandemic-era losses and new expenses tied to COVID-19.
More to know
President Donald Trump speaks during the first presidential debate against former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in Cleveland. Credit: Getty Images/Pool
President Donald Trump's campaign wants to delay the remaining presidential debates to ensure they can take place in-person, rather than virtually.
More New Yorkers plan to buy a house in the next six months than at any time in the past 20 years as city dwellers seek safety in less populated areas from the virus and street protests, according to a poll.
'Saturday Night Live' dropped Morgan Wallen from performing as a musical guest after he broke the show’s COVID-19 protocols.
The NFL now faces a crisis that, if not controlled, may imperil additional games as positive cases continue to crop up in the last 10 days, writes Bob Glauber in his latest column.
Filming on "Jurassic World: Dominion" has been suspended for two weeks because of COVID-19 cases on the U.K. set.
News for you
A warm lobster roll at DJ's Clam Shack in East Northport. Credit: Newsday/Corin Hirsch
Avoid the line to get clams. It's not uncommon to encounter a queue outside of DJ's Clam Shack in Wantagh, especially now that there are only three tables inside due to COVID restrictions. But those with chowder cravings now have another option: Drive a half-hour north to the newer, bigger DJ's.
Get your Broadway fix. Theaters in New York City may be dark, but there will be plenty of new online productions of some classic plays this fall starring Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Laura Linney, David Alan Grier and Northport's Patti LuPone.
Attend a Stone Temples Pilot concert. The hard-rock band will perform its multiplatinum 1994 album, "Purple," in its entirety in a livestream concert on Oct. 16. Tickets are $10.
The film festival is on. The 10th annual Gold Coast International Film Festival will be a mostly virtual but partly physical event. Here’s a sample of what’s playing and how this year's event will take place.
Drive-thru art galleries. Two new exhibitions on Long Island feature innovative, socially distant ways to see great contemporary art in person. One of them stretches 2 miles and with a downloadable map, it's part treasure hunt.
Plus: The growth in employees working remotely since COVID has created some timekeeping concerns, prompting the U.S. Department of Labor to release guidance that highlights an employer’s responsibility to compensate hours worked whether the work was requested or approved.
Sign up for text messages to get the most important coronavirus news and information.
Commentary
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/nadia_bormotova
The 'shadow pandemic' devastating Black women. Before the pandemic, intimate partner violence was already a national public health crisis, writes Bernadine Waller, a doctoral candidate and adjunct professor at Adelphi University, in a recent Newsday Opinion column.
But now, what the United Nations is calling the "shadow pandemic" is devastating our communities.
Domestic violence homicides have skyrocketed in Phoenix. Alaska is also seeing a sharp increase in femicide. By midyear, more than one third of Milwaukee’s homicides were attributed to domestic violence.
Having worked with domestic violence survivors, I know that Black women are at particular risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women bear the highest rates of femicide, although they reflect the second-highest victimization rates.
This pandemic makes it nearly impossible for Black women to escape danger.
