funeral Crowded Hasidic funeral goes on in Brooklyn despite social distancing rules Throngs of Hasidic Jews gathered in Brooklyn Wednesday for a local rabbi’s funeral, brazenly flouting social distancing orders amid the coronavirus pandemic pummeling the city, online video shows. In the 30-second clip, which has been circulating online, dozens of members of the Jewish community — some wearing protective facial masks — can be been seen marching in an outdoor procession down Avenue N near East 9th Street in Midwood as a close cluster of men carry a casket above their heads in the middle of the street. Members of the civilian nonprofit Brooklyn patrol group Shmira can be seen guiding the heavily populated procession, the footage shows. Shmira did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The funeral gathering was an open violation of the social distancing orders by state and city officials who have repeatedly demanded that folks maintain at least a 6-foot distance while in public as a way to stem the spread of the potentially deadly virus. An NYPD spokesperson said that “no notifications” were made to the area’s 66th Precinct in connection with the funeral and that police only became aware of it from a 311 call. Authorities responded to the scene, but “by that time it was over and the remainder of the crowd was dispersed. No arrests or summonses were issued,” the spokesperson said. Mayor Bill de Blasio said this week that New Yorkers can face a fine of up to $500 for refusing to practice social distancing. “Our officers will go back [to the synagogue] to further educate in social distancing and make aware of the current rules in advance of any future incident that might warrant an enforcement action,” a police spokesperson said. Last month, members of New York City’s Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish community openly defied social distancing orders by hosting raucous Brooklyn weddings with hundreds of guests amid the growing spread of the bug. “The community’s lack of education and basic knowledge has manifested in recent weeks over this crisis,” Shapiro said.

hoarder U.S. officials redistribute protective gear seized from alleged hoarder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials said on Thursday they would distribute a stockpile of personal protective equipment, including 192,000 N95 respirator masks, which they seized this week from an alleged hoarder. The departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) said the equipment had been seized by a task force set up to crack down on coronavirus-related hoarding and price gouging. The material included 130,000 surgical masks, 598,000 medical grade gloves, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels and bottles of hand sanitizer and spray disinfectant. It will be distributed to health authorities in New York and New Jersey, the U.S. epicenter of a pandemic that has so far killed nearly 5,000 Americans. Local officials have been scrambling to secure protective gear, which is in short supply. An emergency stockpile maintained by the U.S. government has been nearly exhausted. Officials said they seized the supplies from Baruch Feldheim, a 43-year-old Brooklyn man arrested on March 30 for lying about his activity and coughing on FBI agents who questioned him. FBI agents also observed people walking away from Feldheim’s residence with boxes or bags that appeared to contain medical supplies. When federal agents questioned Feldheim outside his home on March 29, they said he coughed on them and told them he had COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, according to a court affidavit. The seized material will be delivered to the New Jersey Department of Health, the New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.