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FRESTA’S RESCUE FROM KABUL
WESTCHESTER’S OWN AFGHANISTAN RESCUE —
JOHN BAILEY’S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HER COUSIN SOPHIA ABOVE
ON HOW FRESTA IS DOING AFTER BEING FLOWN TO GERMANY AND THE SITUATION IN KABUL TODAY AFTER AMERICA HAS LEFT
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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor Katherine Hockul Press Office. September 2, 202(EDITED)1:
Early this morning, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a new moratorium on COVID-related residential and commercial evictions for New York State which is in effect until January 15, 2022.
Under the new law, all protections of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act for residential tenants who are suffering financial hardship as a result of the pandemic will remain in place, along with new protections on commercial evictions.
The law establishes a new $250 million Supplemental Emergency Rental Assistance program to serve additional households and to better support landlords. Through this program, $125 million will be made available to provide assistance to households with income that exceeds 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), and up to 120% of AMI.
Additionally, $125 million will be made available for assistance to landlords whose tenants refuse to participate or have vacated the residence with arrears.
Under New York’s enacted moratorium, tenants must submit a hardship declaration, or a document explaining the source of the hardship, to prevent an eviction proceeding from moving forward.
Landlords who believe that their tenant has not suffered a financial hardship will now be permitted to request a hearing in court.
Landlords can also evict tenants that are creating safety or health hazards for other tenants, intentionally damaging property, and where a tenant did not submit a hardship declaration.
The legislation places a moratorium on residential foreclosure proceedings so that homeowners and small landlords who own 10 or fewer residential dwellings can file hardship declarations with their mortgage lender, other foreclosing party, or a court that would prevent a foreclosure.
“The pandemic has created unimaginable anxiety for families and business owners who have lost income and are struggling to pay the rent every month,” Governor Hochul said. “To help remedy the Supreme Court’s heartless decisions striking down the New York and the Biden administration’s moratoriums on evictions, we are enacting a new moratorium on residential and commercial evictions and extending the protections of New York’s Safe Harbor Act to January 15. These steps will alleviate the crisis facing vulnerable New Yorkers who are suffering through no fault of their own.”
Governor Hochul urges New Yorkers who are struggling to pay their rent to apply for assistance through the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or ERAP. Applicants to this program are automatically protected from eviction while their application is pending and will receive a year of eviction protections if they qualify for assistance. The application is available here.
The legislation’s moratorium on commercial evictions and commercial foreclosure proceedings apply to small businesses with 100 or fewer employees that demonstrate a financial hardship. Tenants must submit a hardship declaration, or a document explaining the source of the hardship, to prevent evictions.
As of August 31, more than $1.2 billion in funding has either been obligated or distributed through ERAP, including more than $300 million in direct payments to more than 23,000 landlords.
Senator Brian Kavanagh said, “From the very beginning of the pandemic, we have been committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers — including renters and homeowners — are protected from losing their homes because of the hardships wrought by COVID-19. We’ve also worked hard to ensure that the financial burden on tenants and landlords is lifted, through generously funded, effective relief programs, and to protect small businesses. Today, as COVID-19 continues to be a threat to the health and wellbeing of New Yorkers throughout the state, we are taking decisive, comprehensive steps to extend and strengthen the pillars of our legislative strategy to keep all New Yorkers safe. I thank Governor Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assembly bill sponsor Jeffrey Dinowitz for their partnership in getting this critical legislation enacted.”
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said, “This legislation is as much health policy as it is economic policy, and we must do everything we possibly can to keep New Yorkers safe amidst a surge in the Delta variant. This law will help thousands of families keep a roof over their heads and doors open for small businesses as the state works to improve and streamline the ERAP program and we all work together on a recovery from this deadly pandemic. I thank Speaker Carl Heastie for his steadfast support of tenants and Governor Hochul for hitting the ground running on this crucial issue, as well as Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and State Senate sponsor Brian Kavanagh for their leadership.”
The new law will permit anyone who resides in a locality that opted out of the state’s program to administer their own rental assistance program, to apply to the state program when local funds are exhausted. People applying directly to their local programs will now also automatically benefit from the state’s more expansive eviction protections.
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WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT From Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. September 2, 2021 9:45 A.M. EDT:
I have declared a State of Emergency for the Town of Greenburgh.
These powers enable me to issue 1) executive orders; 2)implement public protective measures; 3) suspend local laws and 4) request supplemental assistance. I am taking these actions at the urging of Police Chief Chris McNerney.
Garbage to be collected today according to Commissioner Rich Fon…
PARKING REGULATIONS SUSPENDED East Hartsdale AVe (Rockledge to Central and Columbia).. The back parking lot at 100 E Hartsdale AVe had some problems last night. The back parking lot flooded and water reached the hoods of the cars that were left in the back. The back wall in one of the garages broke and cars were totalled. Water reached the roof of some cars. Parking ticketing will be waived for today and tomorrow in the residential area of E Hartsdale Ave (not the merchant section).
Pool info –We are unable to get enough staff to work today due to the storm. POOL CLOSED today.
FROM FAIRVIEW FIRE CHIEF Howard Reiss: The Fire Chief in Fairview has advised that his department is helping residents unflood their basements in the Fairview section of town which they serve. There are many requests and they are working as quickly as we can.
Due to last night’s storm the Greenburgh Parks and Recreation nutrition program, registration office and scheduled programming at the AFV Park Multipurpose Center are closed today, according to Commissioner Gerry Byrne. The basketball court and playgrounds at Old Tarrytown Road Park were flooded for the second time in three weeks and will be temporarily closed until storm cleanup can be completed.
1,275 Greenburgh residents out of power. According to the Con Ed municipal liaison Luigi Vingo our town was hit hard with outages. Con Ed is aware of the outages and working hard to restore customers.
Building department inspecting 100, 90 Manhattan Ave and 33 Oak Street. There was flooding in the lobby and residents were nervous. No structural issues. The boiler room at 90 Manhattan was flooded and the building does not have hot water. They have a team of contractors who will respond according to Building Inspector Steve Fraietta.
Will continue to provide updates. Significant flooding all over town. Many streets are closed. Getting numerous complaints about flooding in their basements, other problems. Please be patient. Everyone is trying as hard as possible to address problems impacting the entire northeast corridor of our nation.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor
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“Earlier tonight I declared a State of Emergency in New York State within the counties of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester in response to major flooding due to Tropical Depression Ida.
“Torrential rainfall has resulted in flash flooding, power outages, travel disruptions and damage in impacted areas posing a threat to public health and safety. I am directing State agencies, including the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the Department of Transportation, Thruway Authority, and others to take appropriate and immediate action to help respond and recover from this disaster.
“This State of Emergency eliminates potential hurdles for local response activities and provides the necessary tools to make sure New Yorkers can quickly and safely recover. I encourage New Yorkers in these affected areas to please pay attention to local weather reports, stay off the roads and avoid all unnecessary travel during this time.”
Westchester County Executive George Latimer declared a State of Emergency in Westchester County. Beeline Bus service is suspended due to major county roads being flooded. Metro North Service is suspended. Subways in New York City are flooded.
National Weather Service report 7.1 inches of rain fell in 6 hours. An all time New York City record.
Official rainfall in White Plains: 6.15 inches according to Accuweather.
There is severe flooding in Queens, Brooklyn.
New Jersey received 8 inches of rain.
Just observing television reports this morning on channels 2, 4, 7 I have to say this is the most weather damage and loss of property I have seen in the New York Metropolitan area. The television coverage is chilling. Westchester, New Jersey, Queens, the water has turned streets into rivers. Eight persons are dead in New York from the flooding. Water was turning entrances and exits from the subways into waterfalls.
New York television media has stepped up professionally showing in minutes why citizens need to stay inside.
I was fortunate. I kept my basement from flooding. But thousands have lost homes, belongings, This is a major disaster.
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Speaking at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine, the Governor announced she will be working with localities, the state health department and the Public Health and Health Planning Council in the days ahead to put in place mandatory weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated public and charter school employees, and to establish a vaccination requirement for all staff at state-regulated facilities and congregate settings.
The governor announced $65 million will be available to local health departments across the state to support the quick and reliable distribution of booster shots.
“Last year every community across the state came together in a profound way to say, ‘we can do this’,” Governor Hochul said. “This war is not over and the Delta variant is a serious threat, especially for people who are still unvaccinated. We all need to remain vigilant to protect each other – and that means coming in to get your shot and booster shot, wearing masks in indoor spaces, and exercising basic safety measures that we are all familiar with by now.”
Getting children back to school where they can learn most effectively and protecting the students, teachers and staff are top priorities for Governor Hochul.
Building on the state department of health’s directive requiring universal masking for anyone entering schools, the governor will be working with localities, the department of health and the Public Health and Health Planning Council in the days ahead to implement a mandatory weekly COVID testing for school staff who are not vaccinated.
Following the department of health’s announcement last week that all staff in health care facilities need to be vaccinated, the state is exploring how to expand this requirement to include staff at all state-regulated facilities.
Local health departments will be supporting the distribution of booster shots in New York, enabling them to use their knowledge and workforce to quickly deliver booster shots to their communities. The governor is making $65 million available to local health departments to build the infrastructure for these efforts.
COVID-19 Numbers for New York as of August 30:
• Test Results Reported – 95,579
• Total Positive – 3,789
• Percent Positive – 3.96%
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 3.35%
• Patient Hospitalization – 2,234 (+48)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 232
• Patients in ICU – 484 (+16)
• Patients in ICU with Intubation – 247 (+18)
• Total Discharges – 192,839 (+185)
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 22
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 43,573
• Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC – 55,602
COVID-19 Vaccination Data for New York as of August 31, 11 a.m.:
• Total vaccine doses administered – 23,665,694
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 46,143
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 367,128
• Ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose – 77.0%
• Ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 69.9%
• Ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 79.7%
• Ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 71.6%
• New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 64.9%
• New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 58.5%
• New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 67.3%
• New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 60.0%
COVID-19 Numbers for Western New York as of August 30:
• Test Results Reported – 4,320
• Total Positive – 244
• Percent Positive – 5.6%
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 4.11%
• Patient Hospitalization – 135 (+8)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 15 (+1)
• Patients in ICU – 39 (+2)
• Patients in ICU with Intubation – 33 (+1)
• Total Discharges – 9,233 (+6)
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 2
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 2,586
• Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC – N/A
COVID-19 Vaccination Data for Western New York as of August 29:
• Total vaccine doses administered – 1,548,815
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 1,636
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 15,439
• Ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose – 72.3%
• Ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 67.7%
• New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 61.3%
• New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 57.1%
Note that the CDC does not provide Western New York or other region’s numbers for the following fields: ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose; ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series; New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose; New Yorkers with completed vaccine series.
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” GOOD MORNING DENNIS AND TONNY FROM WHITE PLAINS NY USA WHERE ITS 72 CLOUDY WPCNR DEGREES.
“WHITE PLAINS IS READY, POISED FOR OPENING OUR SCHOOLS SEPTEMBER 9,.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS DR. JOSEPH RICCA TOLD ME THIS WILL BE A FULL TILT OPENING WITH MASK WEARING REQUIRED BY ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES K THROUGH 12 WITH CAREFUL ACCESS TO SCHOOLS BY NON STUDENTS AND STAFF.
IF YOU’RE A PARENT OR PERSON WANTING TO VISIT THE SCHOOLS YOU HAVE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT IN ADVANCE AND OF COURSE MASK-UP. SOCIAL DISTANCING WILL BE OBSERVED IN THE SCHOOLS AND THERE WILL BE EXTENSIVE TESTING AS NEEDED.
STUDENTS WILL NOT BE TESTED ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. HE REPORTED THAT PARENTS ARE (WITHOUT BEING ASKED) ADVISING THEIR SCHOOLS THAT THEIR CHILDREN HAVE BEEN VACCINATED. THIS, (RICCA SAID IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE TO THE SCHOOL BECAUSE SHOULD A STUDENT BE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID IN A CLASS THE SCHOOLS WOULD KNOW WHICH STUDENTS (UNVACCINATED) TO TEST FOR COVID FIRST SHOULD AN INFECTION DEVELOP.
HE SAID THE TESTING THE SCHOOLS WOULD USE IS THE SALIVA TEST WHICH IS A FAST READ TEST AND NON-EVASIVE
. HE SAID INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS WOULD BE PLAYED WITH MASKING. HE SAID THE SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL AND THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF PARENTS SENT STUDENTS TO SUMMER SCHOOL FOR REMEDIAL WORK WHO WERE NOT REQUIRED TO GO. RICCA SAID IT IS POSSIBLE WHITE PLAINS WOULD CONTINUE THIS VOLUNTARY SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM NEXT YEAR.
WHITE PLAINS WILL RUN ATHLETICS THIS FALL AS USUAL WITH MASKING FOR THE CONTACT SPORTS OUTSIDE. HE SAID A FEW ATHLETES COMPETING LAST YEAR DID TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID BUT VERY FEW IN NUMBER.
DRAMATICS. PERFORMING ARTS AND AUDIENCE ACTIVITY PROTOCOLS FOR SEATING ARE STILL BEING WORKED OUT.
HE COMPLIMENTED THE ENTIRE TEACHING, ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF AND THE PARENTS OF WHITE PLAINS FOR MAKING THE REOPENING PROGRAM OF LAST SPRING SUCCESSFUL. LAST YEAR 439 STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND STAFF CAUGHT COVID, 4-1/2% OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL POPULATION OF STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF OF APPROXIMATELY 8,400 .
HE SAID STUDENTS WERE VERY COOPERATIVE IN WEARING MASKS ALL YEAR LONG, AND SAID THE MAJORITY OF POSITIVE COVID CASES WERE ENCOUNTERED IN SOCIAL GATHERINGS OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL.
HE SAID THERE WOULD BE MORE TESTING OF STAFF AND FACULTY THIS YEAR THAN LAST. HE SAID 80% OF THE FACULTY AND STAFF WERE VACCINATED BY THE SPRING REOPENING LAST YEAR FOR ALL STUDENTS AND SAID THERE ARE MORE THAN THAT VACCINATED NOW GOING INTO THE OPENING.
TOMORROW ON SEPTEMBER 1 THERE WILL BE A PANEL WITH DOCTOR RICCA AND DR. RACHEL GOLDMAN AND DR. PETER RICHEL ON ISSUES AND QUESTIONS VIA ZOOM SPONSORED BY THE NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL AT 7 PM. FOR THE LINK GO TO THE WHITE PLAINS LIBRARY WEBSITE.
THERE WERE 1,517 NEW CASES FOR THE LAST 7 DAYS SUNDAY THROUGH SUNDAY IN WESTCHESTER 217 NEW PERSONS A DAY TESTED POSITIVE OF 48,454 TESTED AN INFECTION RATE FOR THE 7 DAYS OF 3.5%.
HOSPITALIZATIONS SATURDAY ACCORDING TO THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE GEORGE LATIMER IN HIS COVID BRIEFING, WERE UP TO 108 COMPARED TO 84 LAST WEEK. THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE SAID THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES WERE EVEN LAST WEEK. HE SAID VACCINATIONS LAST WEEK WERE 1,100 AT THE COUNTY CENTER WHICH MR. LATIMER EXPECTS WILL BE GOING UP. HE ENCOURAGED VACCINATIONS. WITH THE GREAT WEATHER JUST FORECAST FOR THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND.
WE ENCOURAGE TO SOCIALIZE AND BEACH RESPONSIBLY. COVID’S OUT THERE BUT THE BIG POSITIVE OF THE TALE COVID STATS TELL THIS WEEK IS THE WESTCHESTER SPREAD RATE HAS RETURNED BELOW 1 PERSON INFECTED FOR EVERY 1 PERSON INFECTED TWO WEEKS AGO. JUST ABOUT 1:1 SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. IT WAS A TIE WITH COVID LAST WEEK. NOT GROWING NOT DECREASING IN CASES WHICH IS A GOOD THING BUT IT’S UP TO YOU MR. AND MRS. AND MS. WESTCHESTER.”
“DON’T FORGET THE JAZZ FESTIVAL IN ITS 10TH YEAR BEGINS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 8 WITH BRAZILIAN JAZZ DURING THE FARMERS MARKET. TO SEE THE COMPLETE SCHEDULE GO TO WESTCHESTERARTS.ORG
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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. From Paul Feiner, Greenburgh Town Supervisor. August 28, 2021:
We’re all overwhelmed with excitement and happiness. The Afghanistan woman we’ve been trying to help escape from the Taliban is now in Germany.
Professor Sheldon Malev, a Greenburgh resident, had reached out to me earlier this week asking me to try to help.
Senator Charles Schumer’s office, Congressman Mondaire Jones, the media all helped give Freshta a second chance at life.
A true team effort to save an amazing woman’s life.
Freshta is recovering from a road side bomb in Afghanistan. When I spoke with Sofia Boto during the week she told me how her cousin (who graduated law school and is a woman’s rights activist) escaped the Taliban.
Her landlord evicted her this week – mentioning that if she did not leave she would be reported to the Taliban. Before being thrown out of her house the Taliban knocked on her door repeatedly and she had to make sure they couldn’t hear her. She was beaten on the way to the Kabul airport with metal whips. And injured. She’s a brave and amazing woman.
If she chooses to move to Westchester we’re going to make sure that she has the support she needs. Her cousin, Sophia, lives in Westchester. Already – volunteers are expressing interest in helping her adjust to live in the United States. We need to ‘unofficially adopt her’ –help her find happiness, employment, housing here. Her suffering needs to end. She is a real inspiration.
Although we’re happy that Freshta is about to get a second chance, there are many other brave, smart women in Afghanistan who are still suffering and trying to escape. Let’s hope that they have successful futures.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor
Ms. Bato’s MESSAGE:
Good Morning all, I just received a call from my cousin Freshta. She is in a US Air Base in Germany. I’m so relieved to know she is safe as we had lost contact with her when she was at Kabul airport. We could not talk much as she was using someone else’s phone.
She said “God gave me a second chance in life”. She told me to please reach out to everyone and on her behalf. She wants to give her most sincere and humble thank you to all of you for saving her life.
She mentioned that they will keep her in Germany for a few days. She received medical attention for her wounds that she got from the Taliban. She is going to try to charge and fix her phone and will be in touch with me very soon. I want to thank you everyone for all your support. I hope Freshta will be in the United States very soon.
Thank You Sofia
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WPCNR COVID ADVISORY. From the NY State Covid Tracker. August 27, 2021:
The latest covid figures for new Westchester County covid CASES reports 281 persons positive for covid of 7,655 tested Thursday, an infection rate of 3.7%.
The 281 figure was the highest number of positives since April 15,2021 when 291 tested positive.
it also computed the Westchester spread rate to 1 persons infecting 4 based on infections 2 weeks ago on August 12 when 202 persons tested positive for covid.
If you assume all 202 persons that day two weeks ago each met one person then if you divide 202 into the 281 new cases Thursday the Westchester Spread Rate which had been under the 1:1 (one person infects one other person) to 1 person infecting 4 others.
The dilemma in tracking the ups and downs of daily infections is you want to discern a trend to make decisions.
If this 281 figure up 66 cases from Wednesday means more persons started relaxing and socializing two weeks ago vacationing and loosening up their guard (camps ending, persons going out to beaches it was very hot) going out to dinner— this Thursday number could be a warning of lots more infections over the Labor Day Weekend, the start of school and of course the religious holidays of Rosh Hoshanna and Yom Kippur, followed by the opening of schools in Westchester.
If the 281 people two weeks ago infect 4 persons each, this would mean 1,100 new cases from this group spreading the disease in two weeks.
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PLUS THE CUOMO DEPARTURE
THE SUNDAY STORM EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
GEORGE LATIMER COVID BRIEFING AND
MORE