NY loosens restrictions on houses of worship
ALBANY, N.Y. » New York’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is moving faster than expected, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday, allowing the state to loosen some restrictions on gatherings in houses of worship.
Churches, temples, mosques and other religious buildings will be allowed to operate with 25% of their usual capacity once the region they are in reaches phase two of the state’s reopening plan.
“We’re going to open the valve more then we originally anticipated because the metrics are so good,” Cuomo said.
All of the state, except for New York City, is now in the second phase of loosening restrictions put in place in March, meaning larger religious gatherings can begin in most places immediately. New York City starts the first phase Monday.
COVID-19 killed 35 people in the state Friday, Cuomo said, down from a peak of more than 700 per day in April.
“This is really really good news. Compared to where we were, this is a big sigh of relief,” Cuomo said, though he noted that caution is still needed.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, espe
cially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death.
Cuomo urged people to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing, something that has been collapsing in many parts of the state as people have watched tightlypacked crowds of thousands of people protesting racial injustice.
“People still have to stay smart. With this virus you learn something new every week, and sometimes what you learn is different from what they told you in the first place,” Cuomo said.
Officers arrested
Two Buffalo police officers were charged with assault Saturday, prosecutors said, after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old protester in recent demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, who surrendered Saturday morning, pleaded not guilty to second- degree assault. They were released without bail.
McCabe, 32, and Torgalski, 39, “crossed a line” when they shoved the man down hard enough for him to crack his head on the ground, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference, calling the victim “a harmless 75-year- old man.”
The officers had been suspended without pay Friday after a TV crew captured the confrontation the night before near the end of protests. If convicted of the felony assault charge, they face up to seven years in prison.
Phone messages were left on Saturday with their lawyers.
The footage shows the man, identified as longtime activist Martin Gugino, approaching a line of helmeted officers holding batons as they clear demonstrators from Niagara Square around the time of an 8 p.m. curfew.
Two officers push Gugino backward, and he hits his head on the pavement. Blood spills as officers walk past. One officer leans down to check on the injured man before another officer urges the colleague to keep walking.
The police officers “knew this was bad,” Flynn said of the video. “Look at their body language.”
The video of the encounter sparked outrage online as demonstrators take to cities across the country to protest racial injustice sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes.
“I think there was criminal liability from what I saw on the video,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a briefing Saturday. “I think what the mayor did and the district attorney did was right, and I applaud them for acting as quickly as they did.”
“What we saw was horrendous and disgusting, and I believe, illegal,” he added.
But dozens of Buffalo police officers who were angered over their fellow officers’ suspensions stepped down from the department’s crowd control unit Friday. The resigning officers did not leave their jobs altogether.
Several off- duty officers gathered on Saturday outside the courthouse in a show of support for the accused officers. Flynn said he understood their concern and pointed out that he’s also prosecuting protesters “who have turned into agitators” and “need to be dealt with as well.”
“There will be some who say that I’m choosing sides here,” he said. “And I say that’s ridiculous. I’m not on anyone’s side.”