Three brothers from Monsey will spend time behind bars after they were sentenced in federal court yesterday to more than a decade each in prison. That’s according to The Journal News. Yoil Weingarten got twelve years while his brothers Yakov and Shmiel, each got 14 years, after they were found guilty back in March of the 2018 kidnapping of a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said they took the girl outside the United States to continue a sexual relationship with her adult ‘husband.’ Williams said the brothers were part of a fringe sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism called Lev Tahor, which forced child marriages, physical beatings, and family separations, causing “irreparable harm to children in their formative years.” The Weingartens had said they were following their Jewish faith by “rescuing” the children. One of the victims had read a statement in court supporting the brothers and urging leniency.
Report: Two Rockland Malls Getting Tax Money Back in Settlement
Two local malls are getting big bucks back from local governments and school districts as part of a settlement to tax challenges. That’s according to The Journal News. Palisades Center in West Nyack will get $27.5 million on property taxes paid to the town, the Clarkstown school district and Rockland County, while the Shops of Nanuet will reportedly get an estimated two million dollars, the bulk of the money coming from the Nanuet and Clarkstown school districts. Palisades Center has been in court for years with the town challenging their taxes. Palisades Center claimed they were valued at $160 million while the town put it at $392 million. The settlement pegs it at $300 million, for at least the next three years. Both settlements were reportedly approved by the town board at a special meeting Tuesday morning with a 4-0 vote. They also voted to bond up to $8.7 million to cover tax settlement costs.
Nanuet Residents Accused of Using 3D Printer to Manufacture Guns in Their Home
The two Nanuet residents arrested last week on gun charges were allegedly using a 3D-printer to manufacture un-serialized and untraceable so-called “ghost guns” right in their home. Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann told “The Morning Show” Monday that these days, some things just don’t surprise him any more…
Hoehmann puts some of the blame for upticks in certain crimes on people coming north from New York City. Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh says an ongoing investigation into illegal firearms nabbed 35 year-old Vivian Wu and 35 year-old Tao Zhang after it was learned that a shipment of a firearms component was heading to their Nanuet home. Officials from numerous law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at their home and found two loaded and un-serialized semi-automatic handguns, three high-capacity magazines, five major components of a firearm, and a large number of un-serialized ghost-gun parts. Both suspects face several gun-related charges and were sent to the Rockland County Jail on $50,000 cash bail.
Report: Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Clarkstown in Death of Central Nyack Man
A federal lawsuit has been filed against the town of Clarkstown, Clarkstown police officers and other emergency responders in connection with the death of a Central Nyack man last year during a police standoff following a caseworker home visit. That’s according to News 12. They report Kevin Adams, the brother of 19 year-old Sean Harris, has filed the suit claiming he was not being combative with police but was playing video games. Harris’ mom said her son was not violent, but Clarkstown police said Harris was combative, making threats and holding a bat. When he refused to put the bat down, police shot him with a “less-than-lethal” weapon. Earlier this month, Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann told “The Morning Show” that the police response was justified…
According to News 12, the lawsuit claims police remained outside the house for almost three hours before entering with police dogs and finding Harris unconscious in a first-floor bathroom. It then allegedly took another half-hour before Harris was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. WRCR reached out to the Town of Clarkstown for comment, but we have not heard back.
Feds Kick in $6.88 Billion to Re-start Stalled Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project
State and federal officials announced yesterday that the Gateway Development Commission signed a $6.88 billion maximum full funding grant agreement with the Federal Transit Administration. The grant supports the Hudson Tunnel Project, which will build two additional tracks and modernize the existing two tracks between Penn Station and New Jersey. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said work on the long-delayed tunnels could start as early as this fall…
Senate Majority Leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, says the new deal is even better for New York and New Jersey than it was before…
The current single-track tunnels are over 110 years old and were damaged by Superstorm Sandy 12 years ago. Work on an expansion project had begun in 2010 but former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie canceled the project because he felt his state was paying too much. Former president Donald Trump also declined to fund the infrastructure project. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said he’s been working on this project since he became a Senator a decade ago…
The tunnels won’t be completed overnight, officials said don’t expect it to be completed before 2035.