Breaking News

New York’s governor could be closing schools, shutting down businesses and limiting religious gatherings as early as today in areas across the state that have become clusters for COVID, including Rockland and Orange Counties. Andrew Cuomo says hot spots in Monsey, Spring Valley and elsewhere, some zones considered worse than others, have to be addressed and handled by local governments better…

Depending on the severity of infection in the different zones, labeled red, orange or yellow depending on the numbers of COVID cases, will dictate the restrictions put on schools, businesses and gatherings in those zones, and they could go into effect today and last for at least two weeks. East Ramapo schools have been virtual since school began, and the current plan is to begin hybrid learning October 13th. Yeshivas have been off this week for the holiday of Sukkot. The fine for mass gathering violations has been upped to $15,000. Rockland County Executive Ed Day says he discussed possible strategies that could slow and stop COVID spread and praised the governor for the so-called Cluster Action Initiative…

Rockland state senator David Carlucci says he’s glad the governor is focused on the problem, but people also need to take the time to understand how to be safe …

Ramapo supervisor Michael Specht was unable to comment as he was waiting for specific plans from the governor’s office beyond yesterday’s press conference. COVID-19 is also now restricting residents’ access to town hall. Ramapo’s website said yesterday that in-person visits to town hall would be by appointment only until further notice. To make an appointment call 845-357-5100. There is one exception, if you’re going to town hall to vote early you will NOT need to make an appointment.

COVID-19 by the numbers now, here in Rockland, the death toll ticked up again yesterday, adding one for a total of 679. We’ve got 18 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the hospital, and a total of 1,409 active cases. The state says since the crisis began, we’ve had a total of 16,190 reported cases, 119 more than yesterday.

Rockland’s County Executive handed off his 2021 budget proposal to the legislature last week. Ed Day said he was disappointed the legislature turned down, along party lines, his suggestion for a tentative half percent sales tax increase…

Rockland Business Association CEO Al Samuels says the legislature let politics get in the way of a good fiscal roadmap…

The $729 million budget proposal would raise county property taxes by about $34 per homeowner and 154 jobs will go unfilled, though there wouldn’t be any layoffs. The legislature will start to review the proposal, hold a public hearing and then vote on it in December.

New York’s governor spoke with leaders in the Orthodox community here in Rockland, as well as Orange County and Brooklyn, with his concerns over the recent spike in COVID-19 numbers. Andrew Cuomo said in his press conference yesterday they had a good conversation, and he’s worked closely with the Orthodox community on many unique issues over the years…

The governor also said local police need to do more to make sure social distancing and mask-wearing protocols are followed, particularly in hot-spot areas. You can contact the New York State “Pause Enforcement Task Force” if you have a complaint regarding large gatherings or social distancing violations. The number is 833-789-0470.

COVID-19 by the numbers now, here in Rockland, we’ve got three in the hospital being examined, another 17 have been confirmed with coronavirus, and a total of 813 active cases. The state says since the crisis began, we’ve had a total of 15,452 reported cases, 110 more than Wednesday, and the Rockland Health Department says we’ve added anoher fatality, the total now at 677.

New York’s governor will be meeting with Orthodox Jewish community leaders in Rockland, Orange, Brooklyn and elsewhere about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in those areas. Governor Andrew Cuomo says the lack of compliance at religious ceremonies, which are only supposed to be at 50 percent capacity, is helping to create clusters that he’s concerned could lead to “community spread.”

Cuomo emphasized the more aggressive stance in those communities is done out of “love” for the Orthodox Jewish community and to keep the infection rate down so fewer people get sick and die. On Twitter, his advice was simple: “Wear a mask. Wash hands. No big gatherings. Get tested.”

Palisades Center says pent-up demand and feedback from both tenants and guests have convinced the mall operator to return to normal hours of operation this Friday. Starting Friday hours will be 10am to 9:30pm Monday through Saturday and 11am to 7pm on Sunday.

COVID-19 by the numbers now, here in Rockland, we’ve got seven in the hospital being examined, another 15 have been confirmed with coronavirus, and a total of 672 active cases. The state says since the crisis began, we’ve had a total of 15,342 reported cases, 65 more than Tuesday (15,277), and the Rockland Health Department says we have 676 total fatalities, the first since September 9th.

Rockland and Orange counties are among the areas in New York being sent rapid COVID testing machines from the state due to an uptick in positive cases. Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday urged private schools in several zip codes to start using them to test their students immediately…

Those zip codes represent Spring Valley, Monsey and Kiryas Joel in Orange County. The 10901 area code which covers Suffern came in with an 18% positive rate. Ramapo supervisor Michael Specht says the private schools in the Monsey and Spring Valley areas have to do better…

Specht says a Federal court case has put limitations on what police can do with regard to outdoor religious events, but Specht does encourage people to call police if they see a lack of social distancing or mask-wearing where there should be.

COVID-19 by the numbers now, here in Rockland, we’ve got nine in the hospital being examined, another ten have been confirmed with coronavirus, and a total of 672 active cases. The state says since the crisis began, we’ve had a total of 15,277 reported cases, 232 more than Monday, and the Rockland Health Department says we have 675 total fatalities, no change since September 9th.