newyorkpost--2020-05-07--AOC begins playing Animal Crossing, wants to visit your island

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the rest of the world in playing the wildly popular Nintendo Switch game “ Animal Crossing : New Horizons ” during the coronavirus lockdown , she said on Twitter Thursday .
Despite her socialist politics , the freshman firebrand has signed up for the game Wired described as “ late-stage capitalism with talking squirrels ” — in which players borrow increasingly large amounts of money from raccoon tycoon Tom Nook to renovate their home while stripping nearby islands of natural resources .
AOC announced she was opening her Twitter direct messages “ for the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ connect with other players so she could drop by their in-game islands .
“ Honestly never in my life did I think opening my DMs would grant me faith in humanity but the brief window actually resulted in a lot of these messages being very wholesome , ” she said .
“ People are asking for surprise visits to their spouse ’ s islands !
!
This is the love everyone deserves.
” Players jokingly dressed up Thursday in hopes of a congressional visit .
“ Put on my cutest clothes in animal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” one user tweeted with a picture of their character .
“ Just waiting for @ AOC to visit my island , maybe I should change !
” another wrote .
Others offered the rookie representative some etiquette advice : “ Don ’ t step on the flowers , and always ask before you pick fruit.
” The Bronx lawmaker is yet to weigh in on the Bank of Nook ’ s controversial recent move to slash interest rates .
The change saw users railing against Nook ’ s “ brutal capitalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ game ’ s economy , according to the Financial Times .
Nintendo Thursday said the game has sold a whopping 13.4 million units in its first six weeks , becoming the Nintendo Switch ’ s fastest-selling title ever .

Watch out, Tom Nook.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the rest of the world in playing the wildly popular Nintendo Switch game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” during the coronavirus lockdown, she said on Twitter Thursday.
Despite her socialist politics, the freshman firebrand has signed up for the game Wired described as “late-stage capitalism with talking squirrels” — in which players borrow increasingly large amounts of money from raccoon tycoon Tom Nook to renovate their home while stripping nearby islands of natural resources.
AOC announced she was opening her Twitter direct messages “for the first time since the Zuckerberg hearing” to connect with other players so she could drop by their in-game islands.
“Honestly never in my life did I think opening my DMs would grant me faith in humanity but the brief window actually resulted in a lot of these messages being very wholesome,” she said.
“People are asking for surprise visits to their spouse’s islands!! This is the love everyone deserves.”
Players jokingly dressed up Thursday in hopes of a congressional visit.
“Put on my cutest clothes in animal crossing in hopes @aoc will visit,” one user tweeted with a picture of their character.
“Just waiting for @AOC to visit my island, maybe I should change!” another wrote.
Others offered the rookie representative some etiquette advice: “Don’t step on the flowers, and always ask before you pick fruit.”
The Bronx lawmaker is yet to weigh in on the Bank of Nook’s controversial recent move to slash interest rates. The change saw users railing against Nook’s “brutal capitalist instincts” and his monopoly on the game’s economy, according to the Financial Times.
Nintendo Thursday said the game has sold a whopping 13.4 million units in its first six weeks, becoming the Nintendo Switch’s fastest-selling title ever.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Dwyane Wade feeds hundreds of front-line workers in Florida

Wayfair takes up to 65 percent off furniture and more for Big Outdoor Sale Wayfair takes up to 65 percent @ @ @ @ @ Big Outdoor Sale

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Dwyane Wade, along with the Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem, fed hundreds of front-line workers in South Florida Wednesday.
Wade and Haslem, partners in 800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen, gave out meals to two Miami–Dade County police stations.
We’re told Haslem also delivered over 200 pizzas to front-line workers at Baptist Hospital.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--There will not be a COVID-19 baby boom, study says

A new study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology found that more than 80 % of people do not plan to conceive during the COVID-19 crisis .
The University of Florence in Italy surveyed almost 1,500 people online regarding their child-bearing plans about three weeks into the lockdown in Italy .
Each person had been in a heterosexual relationship for a year or more .
Over one-third of people who were planning to try to have a child before the pandemic put their wishes on hold .
This was mostly because of future economic concerns and worries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a pregnancy .
The other 60 % who were trying to have a baby before the pandemic continued with their plans , mostly because they feared infertility would prevent the possibility if they waited , the study says .
For 11 % of respondents , the pandemic actually inspired them to conceive .
Mostly women , this group feels that having a child would bring a change and create positivity in their lives .
Condom sales have taken a nosedive worldwide since the start of the pandemic , but it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thanks to lockdowns around the world , hookups are on hold for the time being and many couples are having less sex due to a “ manifestation of anxiety ” caused by the coronavirus .
Birth-control pills have also become out of reach for women in rural areas in Africa and Asia , the AP reports .
And while births may not be on the rise nine months from now , the number of home births presently happening in New York City will increase .
Local midwives and doulas saw an 85 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to enact mandates restricting laboring women from bringing their partners and family into the delivery room with them .

Don’t expect a baby boom after the coronavirus pandemic.
A new study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology found that more than 80% of people do not plan to conceive during the COVID-19 crisis.
The University of Florence in Italy surveyed almost 1,500 people online regarding their child-bearing plans about three weeks into the lockdown in Italy. Each person had been in a heterosexual relationship for a year or more.
Over one-third of people who were planning to try to have a child before the pandemic put their wishes on hold. This was mostly because of future economic concerns and worries about the impact the virus could have on a pregnancy.
The other 60% who were trying to have a baby before the pandemic continued with their plans, mostly because they feared infertility would prevent the possibility if they waited, the study says.
For 11% of respondents, the pandemic actually inspired them to conceive. Mostly women, this group feels that having a child would bring a change and create positivity in their lives.
Condom sales have taken a nosedive worldwide since the start of the pandemic, but it’s not because people are having unprotected sex. Thanks to lockdowns around the world, hookups are on hold for the time being and many couples are having less sex due to a “manifestation of anxiety” caused by the coronavirus. Birth-control pills have also become out of reach for women in rural areas in Africa and Asia, the AP reports.
And while births may not be on the rise nine months from now, the number of home births presently happening in New York City will increase. Local midwives and doulas saw an 85% increase in calls after hospitals had to enact mandates restricting laboring women from bringing their partners and family into the delivery room with them.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Nail salon was source of first coronavirus community spread case in California

California will allow some businesses to reopen with curbside pickup , ...

The first recorded instance of coronavirus community spread in California was tracked to a nail salon, Gov. Gavin Newson said Thursday.
The governor made the revelation as he explained why Golden State manicurists aren’t slated to reopen Friday, when other businesses, including clothiers, sporting-goods stores and florists will resume limited operations.
“This whole thing started in the state of California — the first community spread — in a nail salon,” Newsom said during his daily briefing. “I’m very worried about that.”
The governor announced on Monday the move to the Phase 2 reopening of California’s giant economy. Nail salons and other personal care services won’t be able to reopen until a yet-unannounced Phase 3.
“It’s certainly informed me that many of the practices that you would otherwise expect of a modification were already in play in many of these salons with people that had procedure masks on, were using gloves and advancing higher levels of sanitation,” Newsom said.
Newsom didn’t say where or when this earliest-reported community spread occurred.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously said that the first community spread of COVID-19 in the US happened in Solano County in mid-February.
It’s unclear if the nail salon case that Newsom mentioned involved that same patient, who had not recently traveled outside the country.
Last month, officials discovered the first US fatality of COVID-19 had occurred in Santa Clara County weeks before the first deaths in the country were reported Feb. 26 in a suburb of Seattle.
The Feb. 6 death of Patricia Dowd, 57, of San Jose was not related to the nail salon, the Santa Clara County Health Department told local outlet KTVU.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Jerry Nadler calls for DOJ probe into shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery

Rep. Jerrold Nadler , chairman of the House Judiciary Committee , on Thursday called for a Department of Justice investigation into the shooting death of unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery .
Cellphone footage of the Feb. 23 shooting emerged on Tuesday , which the New York lawmaker said “ would appear to present clear probable cause for first degree murder charges.
” “ Justice for Ahmaud requires a full investigation of this crime , beginning with the arrest of all assailants , ” Nadler said in his statement .
“ Given the local response , the Department of Justice must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
The video shows Arbery being confronted by two armed suspects — father and son Gregory , 64 , and Travis McMichael , 34 — in a pickup truck in Brunswick , Georgia , before three shots are fired .
Travis can be seen getting out of the pickup truck and scuffling with Arbery , who is hit with a shotgun blast , staggers a few feet and falls mortally wounded .
The case has sparked national outrage following the release this week of a 28-second video and the state opened its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside prosecutor assigned to examine the case , said he plans to have a grand jury hear the evidence in the shooting and weigh charges against the McMichaels .

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Thursday called for a Department of Justice investigation into the shooting death of unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery.
Cellphone footage of the Feb. 23 shooting emerged on Tuesday, which the New York lawmaker said “would appear to present clear probable cause for first degree murder charges.”
“Justice for Ahmaud requires a full investigation of this crime, beginning with the arrest of all assailants,” Nadler said in his statement.
“Given the local response, the Department of Justice must immediately investigate this incident,” he said.
The video shows Arbery being confronted by two armed suspects — father and son Gregory, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34 — in a pickup truck in Brunswick, Georgia, before three shots are fired.
Travis can be seen getting out of the pickup truck and scuffling with Arbery, who is hit with a shotgun blast, staggers a few feet and falls mortally wounded.
The case has sparked national outrage following the release this week of a 28-second video, and the state opened its own investigation.
Tom Durden, an outside prosecutor assigned to examine the case, said he plans to have a grand jury hear the evidence in the shooting and weigh charges against the McMichaels.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Most who recover from coronavirus carry antibodies, study finds

A research study posted online Tuesday claims that most patients who recover from the novel coronavirus will make antibodies despite age , gender or how badly they were infected .
An antibody is a protein made by plasma cells in response to infection and is a sign of the body ’ s attempt to fight the virus .
The study , which has not been reviewed by scientific experts , was authored by doctors from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City .
It said the vast majority of infected patients who recover from coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relied on a test developed by Florian Krammer , a researcher from the Icahn School of Medicine , that has a less-than-one-percent chance of producing false-positive antibody results , The New York Times reported .
“ It really shows that most people do develop antibodies and that there ’ s very good correlation between those antibodies and their capability to neutralize the virus , ” Columbia University virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen told The Times .
The study has reportedly enrolled more than 15,000 people so far .
This news comes as efforts are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distribute antibody tests .
Northwestern University researchers have put forth a coronavirus antibody test that they say can be completed using only a single drop of dried blood from a finger prick .
The test , which is specifically designed to search for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies IgM and IgG , will help in “ evaluating how effective policies such as social distancing or closing schools and restaurants are working to prevent viral transmission , ” as well as eliminate the need for a clinical setting , according to the team ’ s lead author @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last month that any person who wants to get an antibody test for COVID-19 can purchase one online , without having to go to the doctor ’ s office , As of Thursday evening , there were more than 1.25 million confirmed cases of the virus in the US and over 75,000 deaths .
So far , over 8.1 million people have been tested for COVID-19 , which amounts to 2,469 per 100,000 people .

A research study posted online Tuesday claims that most patients who recover from the novel coronavirus will make antibodies despite age, gender or how badly they were infected.
An antibody is a protein made by plasma cells in response to infection and is a sign of the body’s attempt to fight the virus.
The study, which has not been reviewed by scientific experts, was authored by doctors from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. It said the vast majority of infected patients who recover from coronavirus become immune to COVID-19.
The study relied on a test developed by Florian Krammer, a researcher from the Icahn School of Medicine, that has a less-than-one-percent chance of producing false-positive antibody results, The New York Times reported.
“It really shows that most people do develop antibodies and that there’s very good correlation between those antibodies and their capability to neutralize the virus,” Columbia University virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen told The Times.
The study has reportedly enrolled more than 15,000 people so far. This news comes as efforts are underway throughout the country to develop and distribute antibody tests.
Northwestern University researchers have put forth a coronavirus antibody test that they say can be completed using only a single drop of dried blood from a finger prick.
The test, which is specifically designed to search for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies IgM and IgG, will help in “evaluating how effective policies such as social distancing or closing schools and restaurants are working to prevent viral transmission,” as well as eliminate the need for a clinical setting, according to the team’s lead author Thomas McDade.
Quest Diagnostics also announced last month that any person who wants to get an antibody test for COVID-19 can purchase one online, without having to go to the doctor’s office,
As of Thursday evening, there were more than 1.25 million confirmed cases of the virus in the US and over 75,000 deaths. So far, over 8.1 million people have been tested for COVID-19, which amounts to 2,469 per 100,000 people.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--NFL schedule 2020 analysis: Who has the hardest and easiest matchups?

Welcome to the time of year when every optimistic NFL fan sees a route to get a beloved team into the playoffs .
And every pessimistic one can ’ t believe the bad luck of the draw to see their beloved team dealt such a brutal schedule .
There are countless ways to judge a schedule , including opponents ’ winning percentage last year , opponents ’ projected winning percentage this year , home/road splits , difficult back-to-back stretches and bye week timing .
Here is The Post ’ s analysis of which teams drew the hardest and easiest schedules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AFC East and still the Jets have the NFL ’ s toughest schedule ?
That ’ s a bad break .
Once every 12 years the Jets ( and the rest of the division ) simultaneously face the entire NFC and AFC West divisions , which means a lot of airline mileage and stiff competition .
The Jets have two games in Los Angeles ( Chargers and Rams ) and visit one of the NFL ’ s toughest road venues against the Seahawks .
Both Super Bowl participants ( at Chiefs , home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
While the Patriots should take a step back , the Dolphins and Bills are on the rise .
Five of last year ’ s top-10 offenses and six of the top-10 defenses lie in wait .
Jets opponents had a .533 winning percentage last season – second-highest to the Patriots – and are projected to have a .527 winning percentage in 2020 , which is third-highest based on over/unders from William Hill Sportsbook .
Any way you slice it , the Ravens should coast : Their opponents ’ 2019 winning percentage ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opponents projected 2020 winning percentage ( .494 ) is tied for the third-lowest .
The rival Browns and Steelers are huge question marks , and two games against the rookie-quarterback-led Bengals give the Ravens five against the handful of worst teams in the NFL ( Giants , Redskins , Jaguars ) .
Top teams are not supposed to have easy schedules based on the formula to match up defending division champions against one another , but the Ravens draw the Chiefs and Titans at home , and their visit to the Patriots is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AFC North , NFC East and AFC South — accounting for 14 of the 16 games — are mediocre or worse compared to other divisions .
The schedule is a boon to the Ravens in the chase for the AFC ’ s No .
1 seed and only bye in the new playoff format .

Welcome to the time of year when every optimistic NFL fan sees a route to get a beloved team into the playoffs.
And every pessimistic one can’t believe the bad luck of the draw to see their beloved team dealt such a brutal schedule.
There are countless ways to judge a schedule, including opponents’ winning percentage last year, opponents’ projected winning percentage this year, home/road splits, difficult back-to-back stretches and bye week timing.
Here is The Post’s analysis of which teams drew the hardest and easiest schedules for 2020:
Hardest Schedule
Tom Brady leaves the AFC East and still the Jets have the NFL’s toughest schedule? That’s a bad break.
Once every 12 years the Jets (and the rest of the division) simultaneously face the entire NFC and AFC West divisions, which means a lot of airline mileage and stiff competition.
The Jets have two games in Los Angeles (Chargers and Rams) and visit one of the NFL’s toughest road venues against the Seahawks. Both Super Bowl participants (at Chiefs, home for 49ers) are on the schedule.
While the Patriots should take a step back, the Dolphins and Bills are on the rise. Five of last year’s top-10 offenses and six of the top-10 defenses lie in wait.
Jets opponents had a .533 winning percentage last season – second-highest to the Patriots – and are projected to have a .527 winning percentage in 2020, which is third-highest based on over/unders from William Hill Sportsbook.
Easiest Schedule
Any way you slice it, the Ravens should coast: Their opponents’ 2019 winning percentage (.438) is the lowest and their opponents projected 2020 winning percentage (.494) is tied for the third-lowest.
The rival Browns and Steelers are huge question marks, and two games against the rookie-quarterback-led Bengals give the Ravens five against the handful of worst teams in the NFL (Giants, Redskins, Jaguars).
Top teams are not supposed to have easy schedules based on the formula to match up defending division champions against one another, but the Ravens draw the Chiefs and Titans at home, and their visit to the Patriots is much less intimidating without Brady.
The AFC North, NFC East and AFC South — accounting for 14 of the 16 games — are mediocre or worse compared to other divisions. The schedule is a boon to the Ravens in the chase for the AFC’s No. 1 seed and only bye in the new playoff format.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Nina Clemente weds in father Francesco’s West Village backyard

Click to email this to a friend ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Twitter ( Opens @ @ @ @ @ to share on Facebook ( Opens in new window ) Nina Clemente , the glamorous @ @ @ @ @ the father of her child in a “ spontaneous ceremony ” at the West Village @ @ @ @ @ the famed artist Francesco Clemente .
According to her Instagram , she wed Wayne Rambharose @ @ @ @ @ officiated by Francesco .
Nina wrote that she wore a dress by Giambattista Valli that @ @ @ @ @ , Chiara Clemente , and that her mother , Alba Clemente , made her bouquet @ @ @

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Nina Clemente, the glamorous Standard Hotel chef, married the father of her child in a “spontaneous ceremony” at the West Village home of her father, the famed artist Francesco Clemente.
According to her Instagram, she wed Wayne Rambharose in a socially distant ceremony officiated by Francesco.
Nina wrote that she wore a dress by Giambattista Valli that she borrowed from her sister, Chiara Clemente, and that her mother, Alba Clemente, made her bouquet and accessories.
The pair share a daughter, Indigo.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--2020 Giants schedule: Complete regular-season slate

The 2020 season will feature a first for the Giants : They ’ ll be hosting a pair of Monday @ @ @ @ @ they ’ ve never done in the history of MNF .
The first — Joe @ @ @ @ @ — comes on Sept. 14 against the Steelers , while the second will feature a @ @ @ @ @ coach : Tom Brady and the Buccaneers visit on Nov. 2 .
The Giants will @ @ @ @ @ old friend Odell Beckham Jr when his Browns come to MetLife Stadium on Dec. 20 @ @ @ @ @ 2020 New York Giants schedule :

The 2020 season will feature a first for the Giants: They’ll be hosting a pair of Monday Night Football games, something they’ve never done in the history of MNF.
The first — Joe Judge’s Giants debut — comes on Sept. 14 against the Steelers, while the second will feature a familiar face for the new coach: Tom Brady and the Buccaneers visit on Nov. 2.
The Giants will also get a visit from old friend Odell Beckham Jr when his Browns come to MetLife Stadium on Dec. 20.
Here is the full 2020 New York Giants schedule:
Week 1: Monday, Sept. 14 vs. Steelers (7:15 p.m., ESPN)
Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20 at Bears (1 p.m., CBS)
Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27 vs. 49ers (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 4 at Rams (4:05 p.m., FOX)
Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11 at Cowboys (4:25 p.m. , CBS)
Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 18 vs. Redskins (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 7: Thursday, Oct. 22 at Eagles (8:20 p.m., NFLN)
Week 8: Monday, Nov. 2 vs. Buccaneers (8:15 p.m., ESPN)
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 8 at Redskins (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 15 vs. Eagles (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 29 at Bengals (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 6 at Seahawks (4:05 p.m., FOX)
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 13 vs. Cardinals (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20 vs. Browns (1 p.m., CBS)
Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 27 at Ravens (1 p.m., FOX)
Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 3 vs. Cowboys (1 p.m., FOX)


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--‘Lock down’ isn’t a strategy — but neither is ‘open up’

That should be clear by now .
These are all methods of dealing with a present calamity , not paths to a better future .
They are avoidance mechanisms — not solutions to anything but how to keep from getting or passing on a disease .
Yet many people seem to think the answer to “ How do we get out of lockdown ?
” is “ more lockdown ” — and are so committed to the idea that they freely accuse those who say the present circumstances are intolerable of wanting to murder grandmothers .
Others seem to think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a cure worse than the disease it is intended to address , when clearly , it is worse — in the very simple sense that it isn ’ t a cure at all .
Most bizarre , many people seem to think self-isolation is some kind of self-help opportunity for self-improvement — either personal ( write that novel ! )
or geopolitical ( we ’ re saving the planet by not doing anything ! )
.
It ’ s ludicrous .
Here in Gotham , the lockdown regime was imposed to “ flatten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread of the disease and prevent the health system from getting overwhelmed .
That was a success — two weeks ago .
The USNS Comfort sailed away , barely used .
The Javits Center facility closed .
It appears that in the absence of another approach , we ’ re just supposed to stay in stasis even though the health system itself is moving on and trying to return to normal .
But not us , with our offices still closed .
Not our kids , who can ’ t go to school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being destroyed hourly .
And there ’ s the rub .
The truth is that I feel , and feel deeply , for those who embrace lockdown , quarantine and self-isolation — and who find the prospect of discussing any national emergence from these conditions to be heartless and dangerous .
They aren ’ t being foolish , though some of them in real life and on social media are being ugly and cruel and nasty and unpleasant and should stop playing rent-a-cop whenever they see someone who isn ’ t wearing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ totalitarian pleasure they ’ re taking in it .
But they can ’ t get themselves out of the lockdown loop for the simple fact that they — we — aren ’ t being offered anything better .
And here is where our leaders are failing us .
All of them , from the plaster-sainted Gov .
Andrew Cuomo to the worse-treated-than-Lincoln President Trump .
It ’ s up to them to lay out a strategy to get us out of this lockdown .
Saying “ we have to open up ” is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ stay inside ” was a strategy .
It ’ s reading the stage directions rather than putting on the play .
The president is consumed with the need to tell us what a great job he ’ s been doing .
Maybe there are people who take solace in hearing it ; I don ’ t know .
And it isn ’ t his fault that the media are consumed with asking why he didn ’ t do more in February when there are plenty of questions they could ask about what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more pressing and more important .
But when he says he is confident there will be a vaccine by the end of the year , he is providing the opposite of leadership .
He is telling us to join him at the craps table and bet on the come .
That doesn ’ t address what we should be doing now .
Now .
Now .
Here ’ s the thing : Nobody told Donald Trump to run for president .
Nobody forced Andrew Cuomo to be governor .
These were jobs the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re really hard jobs , and nothing could be harder than doing these jobs amid an economy-destroying pandemic .
I feel for them , too .
But as Hyman Roth once said , this is the business they have chosen .
They need to do it better .

Lockdown isn’t a strategic choice. Quarantine isn’t a way forward. Self-isolation isn’t a remedy.
That should be clear by now. These are all methods of dealing with a present calamity, not paths to a better future. They are avoidance mechanisms — not solutions to anything but how to keep from getting or passing on a disease.
Yet many people seem to think the answer to “How do we get out of lockdown?” is “more lockdown” — and are so committed to the idea that they freely accuse those who say the present circumstances are intolerable of wanting to murder grandmothers.
Others seem to think that staying inside indefinitely isn’t a cure worse than the disease it is intended to address, when clearly, it is worse — in the very simple sense that it isn’t a cure at all.
Most bizarre, many people seem to think self-isolation is some kind of self-help opportunity for self-improvement — either personal (write that novel!) or geopolitical (we’re saving the planet by not doing anything!).
It’s ludicrous. Here in Gotham, the lockdown regime was imposed to “flatten the curve” — to slow the spread of the disease and prevent the health system from getting overwhelmed.
That was a success — two weeks ago. The USNS Comfort sailed away, barely used. The Javits Center facility closed.
Thank God. The system held.
It appears that in the absence of another approach, we’re just supposed to stay in stasis even though the health system itself is moving on and trying to return to normal. But not us, with our offices still closed. Not our kids, who can’t go to school. Not small businesses, which are being destroyed hourly.
And there’s the rub. The truth is that I feel, and feel deeply, for those who embrace lockdown, quarantine and self-isolation — and who find the prospect of discussing any national emergence from these conditions to be heartless and dangerous.
They aren’t being foolish, though some of them in real life and on social media are being ugly and cruel and nasty and unpleasant and should stop playing rent-a-cop whenever they see someone who isn’t wearing a mask — because you can feel the totalitarian pleasure they’re taking in it.
But they can’t get themselves out of the lockdown loop for the simple fact that they — we — aren’t being offered anything better. And here is where our leaders are failing us. All of them, from the plaster-sainted Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the worse-treated-than-Lincoln President Trump. It’s up to them to lay out a strategy to get us out of this lockdown. Saying “we have to open up” is no more of a strategy than saying “stay inside” was a strategy. It’s reading the stage directions rather than putting on the play.
The president is consumed with the need to tell us what a great job he’s been doing. Maybe there are people who take solace in hearing it; I don’t know.
And it isn’t his fault that the media are consumed with asking why he didn’t do more in February when there are plenty of questions they could ask about what he is doing in May that are more pressing and more important.
But when he says he is confident there will be a vaccine by the end of the year, he is providing the opposite of leadership. He is telling us to join him at the craps table and bet on the come. That doesn’t address what we should be doing now. Now. Now.
Here’s the thing: Nobody told Donald Trump to run for president. Nobody forced Andrew Cuomo to be governor. These were jobs the men sought and won, and they’re really hard jobs, and nothing could be harder than doing these jobs amid an economy-destroying pandemic. I feel for them, too.
But as Hyman Roth once said, this is the business they have chosen. They need to do it better.
jpodhoretz@gmail.com


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Trump prays for coronavirus victims, health care workers on National Day of Prayer

President Trump on Thursday offered prayers for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic , their families and health care workers during an event at the White House marking the National Day of Prayer , as the nation ’ s death toll topped 75,000 .
“ On this National Day of Prayer , America is engaged in a fierce battle against a terrible disease .
In times of challenge , our people have always called upon the gift of faith , the power of prayer and the eternal glory of God , ” Trump , flanked by first lady Melania Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a group of assembled clergy from various faiths stood by .
“ I ask all Americans to join their voices and their hearts in spiritual union as we ask our Lord in heaven for strength and solace , for courage and comfort , for hope and healing , for recovery , and for renewal , ” the president continued .
“ In recent days and weeks , our country has endured a great hardship .
We pray for every family stricken with grief and devastated with loss .
We pray for the scientists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ therapies and vaccines and that they find them soon.
” Several clergy members offered their own brief prayers , and the service concluded with a stirring rendition of “ God Bless America ” performed by Maryland ’ s Spirit of Faith Christian Center Choir .

President Trump on Thursday offered prayers for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, their families and health care workers during an event at the White House marking the National Day of Prayer, as the nation’s death toll topped 75,000.
“On this National Day of Prayer, America is engaged in a fierce battle against a terrible disease. In times of challenge, our people have always called upon the gift of faith, the power of prayer and the eternal glory of God,” Trump, flanked by first lady Melania Trump, said in the Rose Garden as a group of assembled clergy from various faiths stood by.
“I ask all Americans to join their voices and their hearts in spiritual union as we ask our Lord in heaven for strength and solace, for courage and comfort, for hope and healing, for recovery, and for renewal,” the president continued.
“In recent days and weeks, our country has endured a great hardship. We pray for every family stricken with grief and devastated with loss. We pray for the scientists and researchers pioneering treatments that they find therapies and vaccines and that they find them soon.”
Several clergy members offered their own brief prayers, and the service concluded with a stirring rendition of “God Bless America” performed by Maryland’s Spirit of Faith Christian Center Choir.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Andrew Cuomo’s $25M plan to bring upstate farm food to NYC pantries

New York food banks received $ 25 million this week to spend on agricultural products grown in the Empire State , as upstate farmers struggle to make ends meet amid the coronavirus pandemic .
“ We have a problem in upstate New York where many of the farms can ’ t sell their product .
You had a lot of farms that were literally just dumping milk that the dairy farms had produced , ” Cuomo told reporters during his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday .
“ But at the same time , you have people in downstate New York who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buy , can ’ t pay for enough food .
Tremendous demand on food banks , so we ’ ve been putting the two together .
It makes no sense to have upstate farmers who can ’ t sell their product and downstate families that can ’ t get enough to eat , ” he said .
The governor rolled out the “ Nourish New York ” program several days ago , but provided more details on how the $ 25 million food bank funding tucked into the state budget would be used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight regions , and then filtered through a network of major food banks from New York City to Buffalo .
New York City is getting the biggest slice , at $ 10,997,554 , followed by the Capital and Hudson Valley Region receiving $ 4,357,115 and Western New York at $ 2,129,463 .
Roughly 50 food banks selected by the state Department of Agriculture are purchasing goods such as dairy , fruit and vegetables from 2,100 farms across the state .
Food banks are planning drive-through and small-scale warehouses pick-up events , and are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individuals to purchase dairy products in grocery stores , officials said .
“ The food banks have had a longstanding relationship with farmers , but this only adds to that and provides income to farmers who are needing to move products because of lost markets and supply chains that were upended , ” Steve Ammerman of the New York Farm Bureau told The Post , adding the “ New York Pause ” closure of restaurants has rerouted traditional supply chains , leaving farmers with too much product .
“ At the same time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to people all across the state , ” he said .
Cuomo said this will feed around 20,000 households within the next week .
State purchasing estimates over the next six months by food banks include : “ The volume of food and product that is not being wasted that is supporting upstate farms and helping downstate families is tremendous .
We want to continue doing that .
The state budget is very , very tight right now with what ’ s going on with the economy , ” Cuomo added .
New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million in emergency funding in early April as Big Apple soup kitchens , food pantries and charities have been hard pressed to keep up with feeding the hungry .
Mayor Bill de Blasio has even cautioned around two million of the city ’ s 8.6 million residents could go hungry from the coronavirus pandemic , as unemployment soars .

New York food banks received $25 million this week to spend on agricultural products grown in the Empire State, as upstate farmers struggle to make ends meet amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have a problem in upstate New York where many of the farms can’t sell their product. You had a lot of farms that were literally just dumping milk that the dairy farms had produced,” Cuomo told reporters during his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday.
“But at the same time, you have people in downstate New York who are going hungry and can’t buy, can’t pay for enough food. Tremendous demand on food banks, so we’ve been putting the two together. It makes no sense to have upstate farmers who can’t sell their product and downstate families that can’t get enough to eat,” he said.
The governor rolled out the “Nourish New York” program several days ago, but provided more details on how the $25 million food bank funding tucked into the state budget would be used.
Dollars are being split up by eight regions, and then filtered through a network of major food banks from New York City to Buffalo.
New York City is getting the biggest slice, at $10,997,554, followed by the Capital and Hudson Valley Region receiving $4,357,115 and Western New York at $2,129,463.
Roughly 50 food banks selected by the state Department of Agriculture are purchasing goods such as dairy, fruit and vegetables from 2,100 farms across the state.
Food banks are planning drive-through and small-scale warehouses pick-up events, and are also rolling out a voucher program for individuals to purchase dairy products in grocery stores, officials said.
“The food banks have had a longstanding relationship with farmers, but this only adds to that and provides income to farmers who are needing to move products because of lost markets and supply chains that were upended,” Steve Ammerman of the New York Farm Bureau told The Post, adding the “New York Pause” closure of restaurants has rerouted traditional supply chains, leaving farmers with too much product.
“At the same time, it’s getting fresh food to people all across the state,” he said.
Cuomo said this will feed around 20,000 households within the next week.
State purchasing estimates over the next six months by food banks include:
2.8 million gallons of milk
8.2 million units of yogurt
10.1 million pounds of apples
10 million pounds of cabbage
“The volume of food and product that is not being wasted that is supporting upstate farms and helping downstate families is tremendous. We want to continue doing that. The state budget is very, very tight right now with what’s going on with the economy,” Cuomo added.
New York City officials also released $25 million in emergency funding in early April as Big Apple soup kitchens, food pantries and charities have been hard pressed to keep up with feeding the hungry.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has even cautioned around two million of the city’s 8.6 million residents could go hungry from the coronavirus pandemic, as unemployment soars.


newyorkpost--2020-05-07--Kyle Higashioka is waiting to make good on Yankees’ catching gamble

Part 12 in a series analyzing the New York Yankees The actual event happened Dec. 12 in San Diego at the winter meetings , when Austin Romine left the Yankees and signed a one-year deal for $ 4.1 million with the Tigers , who offered him the opportunity to catch full-time for a club that requires a large talent infusion .
However , the Yankees had planned for Kyle Higashioka to eventually become Gary Sanchez ’ s backup for several years , so it wasn ’ t a surprise Romine vanished from the organization that selected him in the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ El Toro High School in Lake Forest , Calif. Romine ’ s departure ensured Higashioka , 30 , would be Sanchez ’ s backup in 2020 and , barring a spring training injury , he would be on a big-league Opening Day roster for the first time in his career on March 26 in Baltimore against the Orioles .
Of course , that didn ’ t happen .
Spring training was canceled March 12 and it ’ s not known when or if the 2020 season will start .
“ [ March 26 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ league Opening Day .
But , to be honest , I didn ’ t really think about it during the day , ’ ’ Higashioka told The Post ’ s Ken Davidoff for a Yankees diary entry in March .
How could a player not be thinking of being part of a big-league Opening Day roster for the first time after spending nine seasons in the minors before playing in nine big-league games in 2017 , 29 in 2018 and 18 last year ?
“ I think over the years I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuff I can control .
I know that right now , my goal is to stay ready for when the season does start .
As long as I ’ m prepared for it , then good things can happen , ’ ’ Higashioka told Davidoff .
Submit your Yankees questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag Considering Sanchez ’ s injury history — four trips to the injured list with lower-body issues in the previous two years and a biceps problem in 2017 — replacing Romine with Higashioka is viewed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 31 , has caught 333 big-league games and started 276 .
Higashioka has caught 53 games and started 38 .
Higashioka showed some power in 2016 , when he combined to hit 21 homers and drive in 81 runs while hitting .276 for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre .
The next year he made his major league debut but dealt with injuries that limited him to 21 minor league games and nine in the big leagues .
That was followed by a 2018 season in which he batted .167 in 29 big-league @ @ @ @ @ @ @ games .
Higashioka bounced back in 2019 by hitting .278 with 20 homers and 56 RBIs in 70 Triple-A games .
The Yankees brought veteran catchers Erik Kratz , Chris Iannetta and Josh Thole to camp , but only an injury to Higashioka was going to open the door for any of them .
The analytical folks grade Higashioka , who is out of minor league options , highly for his work behind the plate and , with a bat in his hands , the way he handles fastballs on the inner half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Higashioka has a good relationship with pitchers and worked smoothly with Gerrit Cole in the right-hander ’ s final spring training outing March 10 .
The true value of a backup catcher is solid defense , because hitting in the big leagues is hard enough for everyday players , never mind those who play once a week .
However , being Sanchez ’ s backup the past three years also entails stretches as the No .
1 catcher .
Romine handled that well and was considered among the best backups in the game @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and has worked hard at it , ’ ’ an NL talent evaluator said .
“ Each year he does more .
He has a little power and receives the ball well .
This past spring training he threw better than he did last year.
’ ’ Now , if there is a season , Romine will be in Detroit and Higashioka will be a Sanchez groin pull away from stepping into the role Romine filled very well .

Part 12 in a series analyzing the New York Yankees
The actual event happened Dec. 12 in San Diego at the winter meetings, when Austin Romine left the Yankees and signed a one-year deal for $4.1 million with the Tigers, who offered him the opportunity to catch full-time for a club that requires a large talent infusion.
However, the Yankees had planned for Kyle Higashioka to eventually become Gary Sanchez’s backup for several years, so it wasn’t a surprise Romine vanished from the organization that selected him in the second round of the 2007 draft out of El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif.
Romine’s departure ensured Higashioka, 30, would be Sanchez’s backup in 2020 and, barring a spring training injury, he would be on a big-league Opening Day roster for the first time in his career on March 26 in Baltimore against the Orioles.
Of course, that didn’t happen. Spring training was canceled March 12 and it’s not known when or if the 2020 season will start.
“[March 26] would have been my first major league Opening Day. But, to be honest, I didn’t really think about it during the day,’’ Higashioka told The Post’s Ken Davidoff for a Yankees diary entry in March.
How could a player not be thinking of being part of a big-league Opening Day roster for the first time after spending nine seasons in the minors before playing in nine big-league games in 2017, 29 in 2018 and 18 last year?
“I think over the years I’ve gotten pretty good about only worrying about stuff I can control. I know that right now, my goal is to stay ready for when the season does start. As long as I’m prepared for it, then good things can happen,’’ Higashioka told Davidoff.
Submit your Yankees questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag
Considering Sanchez’s injury history — four trips to the injured list with lower-body issues in the previous two years and a biceps problem in 2017 — replacing Romine with Higashioka is viewed as a gamble by some. Romine, 31, has caught 333 big-league games and started 276. Higashioka has caught 53 games and started 38.
Higashioka showed some power in 2016, when he combined to hit 21 homers and drive in 81 runs while hitting .276 for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The next year he made his major league debut but dealt with injuries that limited him to 21 minor league games and nine in the big leagues. That was followed by a 2018 season in which he batted .167 in 29 big-league games and just .202 in 53 Triple-A games.
Higashioka bounced back in 2019 by hitting .278 with 20 homers and 56 RBIs in 70 Triple-A games. The Yankees brought veteran catchers Erik Kratz, Chris Iannetta and Josh Thole to camp, but only an injury to Higashioka was going to open the door for any of them.
The analytical folks grade Higashioka, who is out of minor league options, highly for his work behind the plate and, with a bat in his hands, the way he handles fastballs on the inner half of the plate.
Like Romine, Higashioka has a good relationship with pitchers and worked smoothly with Gerrit Cole in the right-hander’s final spring training outing March 10.
The true value of a backup catcher is solid defense, because hitting in the big leagues is hard enough for everyday players, never mind those who play once a week. However, being Sanchez’s backup the past three years also entails stretches as the No. 1 catcher. Romine handled that well and was considered among the best backups in the game.
Now, it’s Higashioka’s turn.
“He has improved every year and has worked hard at it,’’ an NL talent evaluator said. “Each year he does more. He has a little power and receives the ball well. This past spring training he threw better than he did last year.’’
Now, if there is a season, Romine will be in Detroit and Higashioka will be a Sanchez groin pull away from stepping into the role Romine filled very well.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Marines tackle passenger yelling threats aboard flight to Texas

From the Halls of Montezuma .
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to the ...

Three tough-as-nails Marines aboard a flight from Japan to Texas sprang into action and detained a fellow passenger who barricaded himself in the lavatory and began yelling threats, according to reports.
Capt. Daniel Kult, Sgt. John Dietrick and Pfc. Alexander Meinhardt — all with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines — were flying from Tokyo to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday when the drama unfolded, according to Stars and Stripes.
Dietrick said that even though he was wearing headphones, he could hear that someone sounded “distraught,” CNN reported.
“We all heard the commotion and instinctively knew something needed to be done,” he told Stars and Stripes via text message. “The only thing that was going through our heads was to ensure the safety of all passengers on board and our fellow Marines.”
The three men gathered in a tactical “stack” at the toilet and prepared to subdue the passenger as a flight attendant unlocked the door.
“Honestly we just kind of naturally positioned ourselves in a manner to cover the exit and cover each other,” Kult, an infantry officer from Iowa, told the news outlet.
Using flex ties provided by the crew, the Marines restrained the unhinged passenger.
“You know how to work with a team, and you are trained to calmly insert yourself into a stressful situation,” Kult told Stars and Stripes. “Even though we are all different ranks, we’ve had shared experiences in training that made this an easy situation.”
After restraining the passenger in a seat, they guarded him for the rest of the flight, which was diverted to Los Angeles, where the man was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation, according to the report.
The feds are investigating the incident.
The heroic trio was about halfway through a six-month deployment to Camp Schwab on Okinawa, but for different reasons, each was cleared to travel back to the US despite the Defense Department’s coronavirus-related stop movement order.
Their battalion commander, Lt. Col. Chris Niedziocha, said he knew all three of them and called them “men of action.”
“Honestly, I’m not surprised,” he said of their actions.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Video shows arrests of Gregory, Travis McMichael in Ahmaud Arbery death

The father-son duo caught on camera sparking the confrontation that ...

This is the moment Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael of Georgia were arrested in the shooting death of unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, according to a report.
Video and photographs show the pair being handcuffed Thursday night by officers from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, according to First Coast News.
The two men were both charged with murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s killing.
Gregory, 64, and Travis, 34, both armed, approached Arbery on Feb. 23 on a street in Brunswick, Georgia, before the younger McMichael fatally shot the jogger, according to the GBI.
The case sparked national attention this week when video of the confrontation emerged on Tuesday.
The 28-second clip shows the father and son approach Arbery in their pickup truck before the shooting.
The arrests come after S. Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Arbery’s family, earlier Thursday called the shooting death a “modern lynching,” and said the family is demanding justice.
Related Video Mother of Ahmaud Arbery can't bring herself to watch video of his death
The McMichaels told police they confronted Arbery because they believed he was a burglar who had been frequenting the neighborhood.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Kim Jong Un congratulates Xi Jinping for China’s coronavirus ‘success’

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un , rumored for weeks to be ...

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After his nearly three-week disappearance, Kim Jong Un gave a shout-out to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, congratulating him for his “success” in managing the coronavirus outbreak and wishing him “good health,” according to reports.
The North Korean leader sent a verbal message of congratulations, saying Xi was “seizing a chance of victory in the war against the unprecedented epidemic,” Bloomberg News reported, citing the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim also wished the Chinese leader “good health,” as he and the ruling Communist Party move forward to “win a final victory,” according to KCNA.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to provide details on the message from Kim after his recent prolonged absence from public view before he re-emerged May 1 for a ribbon-cutting event at a fertilizer factory.
“China and North Korea are close neighbors and have maintained close communications over the fighting of the coronavirus,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Friday, according to Bloomberg.
Last month, Reuters said China had sent a medical team to the Hermit Kingdom to advise on Kim.
The South Korea-based JoongAng Daily newspaper reported that Kim had been in self-quarantine after one of his bodyguards was confirmed with a coronavirus infection.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang on Friday lashed out at Seoul over recent military drills, as a North Korean military representative said the maneuvers were a grave provocation that demanded a reaction, Reuters reported, citing a statement carried by KCNA.
“The recent drill served as an opportunity which awakened us once again to the obvious fact that the enemies remain enemies all the time,” the statement said.
Citing a military exercise by the Republic of Korea Air Force Air Combat Command on Wednesday, North Korea said the drills violated inter-Korean agreements aimed at reducing military tensions.
“Everything is now going back to the starting point before the north-south summit meeting in 2018,” the statement said.
On Sunday, South Korea said North Korean forces fired several shots toward a South Korean guard post at the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two countries. In response, South Korean troops fired warning shots.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the shots fired by North Korea were likely “accidental.”


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--The Willis Reed Game: Inside story behind an iconic photo

The fourth quarter was about to start when Willis Reed ...

In a half-moment of fate, George Kalinsky was faced with a most difficult predicament. He’d been back to the home-team locker room a couple of times to check in on a friend of his named Willis Reed, his face a visor of agony, as he tried to find the strength to walk onto the basketball floor at Madison Square Garden.
Kalinsky was on his way back in when the door flung open.
There was Reed. He was upright, but looked like a man just breaking in new legs for the first time. Compassion was Kalinsky’s first instinct: Lend this man your shoulder, help him on his wobbly way through the dark tunnel, onto the court, into the brilliant canyon of sound that awaited him. Of course that’s what he wanted to do.
But Kalinsky, the Garden’s photographer, understood something else: History beckoned, and not just for Reed. Around his neck was a camera that in Kalinsky’s hands, for more than a half-century, has been this photographer’s equivalent of an artist’s palette and canvas.
Others might make history, but Kalinsky’s mission has always been to freeze those historic moments, whether it is Mick Jagger singing “Honky Tonk Woman” or Jesse Orosco flinging his mitt into the cold October sky, whether it’s Mark Messier’s eyes feasting upon the first Rangers Stanley Cup in 54 years or Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier exchanging haymakers in the first of their Fights of the Century.
“I had to let him pass,” Kalinsky remembers fully 50 years later. “I knew I had to follow him and stay behind him. Some of it is instinct. Some of it is sense. But I knew.”
The world had fully gone to hell that first week of May 1970. On Monday, four students had been gunned down by rifle fire on the campus of Kent State University, after gathering to protest the U.S. bombing of Cambodia. Saturday, President Nixon would make a surprise predawn visit to the Lincoln Memorial to talk with some of the 100,000 who’d gathered to march on The Mall that day, helping to ensure a peaceful demonstration.
But Friday, May 8, in all the places in basketball New York worth talking about, the only subject on anyone’s lips was the Knicks, slated to play Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers, trying to win the first championship in franchise history despite the thigh injury that had derailed their center, captain, and MVP two games earlier.
Kalinsky had captured that moment, too, a forever image of Reed’s face, in closeup, writhing in agony on the Garden floor.
“I’d figured that would be my best picture of the year,” Kalinsky says.
Kalinsky had already earned a seismic reputation with his camera. Three years earlier, in town to interview for a job at the Miami Herald, Kalinsky found himself outside the famed Fifth Street Gym and saw Howard Cosell, whom he knew from back home. Cosell brought him inside and introduced him to Ali, training for a fight with Ernie Terrell.
That friendship helped turn “from the lens of George Kalinsky” into six of the most familiar words to anyone who grew up at the Garden. A few years later, before a particularly huge fight in Zaire, Kalinsky would advise his friend, off the cuff, that maybe part of his strategy to defeat mighty George Foreman would be to tire him out.
“You want me to be a Rope-A-Dope?” Ali asked, incredulously.
So this was no twist of fortune for George Kalinsky, every bit as skilled as the subjects he shot. He let Reed pass. He heard the Garden nearly implode with a roar that’s never really left his ears, or his memory. And he clicked. Once. Just once. He had no idea what he had until a few hours later, but in the quiet of his darkroom he saw it was awfully good.
There was Willis, approaching the Knicks’ layup line, every fan on their feet. A photograph doesn’t come with a soundtrack, of course. Somehow, this one does.
“The loudest noise I’ve ever heard,” Kalinsky says.
He looked at the other side of the floor. Twenty minutes earlier, amid the will-he-or-won’t-he buzz, Wilt Chamberlain had approached.
“George,” the Big Dipper asked, “is Willis gonna play?”
Jerry West had heard the question, and he wasn’t pleased. Kalinsky told Wilt, whom he liked very much, “Wilt, you shouldn’t worry about him. Worry about you.” Later West would tell Kalinsky that was his worst moment, ever, on a basketball court.
“I knew we were dead,” he said.
They were, of course. Reed would, famously, only hit two early buckets but would elevate the whole building with his courage. The night belonged to Walt Frazier, another Kalinsky favorite (naturally, it was Kalinsky’s candid pictures that helped create, and popularize “Clyde”), who had 36 points and 19 assists.
The Knicks led by as many as 30, cruised home 113-99, and in the locker room Kalinsky got another famous shot, Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere pouring champagne over the head of his friend, Cosell, working the game for ABC.
Also a good one. But Kalinsky had already snapped the photo of the year. Maybe a lifetime.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Hot trainer is running the New York City Marathon on hands and feet

Whether or not coronavirus halts the 2020 New York City Marathon , this runner will be crawling across the finish @ @ @ @ @ an NYC fitness trainer , plans to run 26.2 miles on Nov. 1 — all @ @ @ @ @ .
The unusual challenge is to raise money for FitOps , an organization that helps @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I want to show people you can do things you think are impossible @ @ @ @ @ .
If the New York City Marathon is canceled or moved , Levesque plans to @ @ @ @ @

Whether or not coronavirus halts the 2020 New York City Marathon, this runner will be crawling across the finish line.
Devon Levesque, an NYC fitness trainer, plans to run 26.2 miles on Nov. 1 — all on his hands and knees. The unusual challenge is to raise money for FitOps, an organization that helps veterans cope with mental health.
“I want to show people you can do things you think are impossible,” the 27-year-old said. If the New York City Marathon is canceled or moved, Levesque plans to meet his goal regardless.
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newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Willis Reed, Clyde Frazier take you inside Knicks’ 1970 NBA title run

It’s been 50 years since Willis Reed, Clyde Frazier and the 1970 Knicks won the NBA title. The iconic team leaders took some time to reminisce with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: The mindset of the team in training camp after losing to the Celtics in the 1969 Eastern Division finals?
Clyde: Championship.
Willis: We thought we had all the pieces. We knew that (the Celtics’ Bill) Russell and Sam Jones were supposed to be retiring. And we knew that there’s no way they could replace Russell and Sam Jones both, and we thought we were gonna be the best team in the East.
Q: The 18-game winning streak?
Clyde: By the third quarter, the starting team was on the bench.
Q: The Bullets first-round, seven-game playoff series?
Willis: We had some great matchups. We had Dave DeBusschere and Gus (Johnson), and myself and Wes (Unseld), and then Jack Marin and Cazzie (Russell) and Bill (Bradley). And we had Earl (Monroe) and Clyde, and Freddie Carter and (Dick) Barnett.
Clyde: It’s always hell with the Bullets. When you win, you lose (laugh). It’s gonna be so physical … every matchup was like an All-Star matchup. They liked to run, and we knew that if we could hang close, we could pull it out in the end because of our teamwork and our defense.
Q: The Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were next.
Willis: I thought the advantage we had against him was he was just a young player. I knew that if I didn’t play close to the basket, if I went away from the basket a ways, that he wasn’t gonna go.
Q: Clyde thought that you intimidated Kareem.
Willis: No. He was just a young player.
Clyde: Willis roughed him up, forcing him further out than he wanted to be with the sky hook. We kinda imposed our will on them because we knew they were kind of a young team.
Q: You thought that Willis intimidated Kareem?
Clyde: Oh yeah, yeah. He was appalled by how Willis was throwing him around.
Q: Then the mighty Lakers. The reaction when Jerry West hit that 60-foot buzzer-beater to force overtime in Game 3?
Clyde: Well, DeBusschere did it best, he fell down (laugh). DeBusschere crumpled to the floor, man. When we go back to the huddle (Red) Holzman is always cool and calm: “All right guys, come on, we gotta play five more minutes, we’ll pull it out.” And I’m saying to myself, “Wait man, if God wanted us to win that game, He wouldn’t have let that shot go in.”
Willis: (Prolonged laugh). If I remember correctly, DeBusschere had ran back, was standing under the basket, when the ball went through the basket, he fell flat on his back (laugh).
Q: Do you remember the huddle before OT began?
Willis: Everybody was going through their own emotion and stuff and disorganized, and Barnett said, “Hey, man, what’s wrong with you guys? This game’s not over — it just started.” That was the kind of thing that I liked about that team; you always had somebody else ready to go get it done.
Q: What were your immediate thoughts when Willis went down (torn thigh muscle) driving to the basket in the first quarter of Game 5?
Clyde: There goes the series! When The Captain was lying on the floor in pain, I wasn’t sure if he could return or not.
Willis: It was just one of those things. You’re saying, “How bad could our luck be?”
Q: That incredible second-half Game 5 comeback, when undersized Dave Stallworth somehow helped contain Wilt Chamberlain.
Clyde: At halftime we changed our offense, we went to a more college 1-3-1 opening up the court so that Chamberlain had to come on the perimeter, and Stallworth was a good guy off the dribble, so he was able to create a lot of havoc.
Willis: On any one night, any one player could be the leading scorer. Most of our players had been great offensive college players. We were hard to beat at Madison Square Garden with our fans.
Q: What was it like for you on the bench watching Wilt (45 points, 27 rebounds) lead the Game 6 rout?
Wills: We knew we were gonna fight another day.
Q: But you didn’t know if you were gonna fight another day.
Willis: Listen, I believe if I didn’t play, I believe we would have won at home. But I didn’t want them to play in that big dance without me, though.
Q: You were The Captain.
Willis: A captain is a responsibility. You don’t tell guys what to do, you show guys what to do.
Q: What made Willis The Captain?
Clyde: His leadership qualities; he’s a man’s man. Nobody gives more effort than Willis. With the players, he was the most generous person that you’ll ever meet.
Q: What percent chance did you think you had to play?
Willis: I always believed I was gonna play.
Q: The team left Los Angeles the next morning.
Willis: I left that night after the game so I could start getting treatments the next day.
Q: On your walk from the New Yorker Hotel to the Garden on May 8, was it painful?
Willis: Well, walking didn’t hurt. When you extended the leg where you had to use all of the muscles, that’s when it hurt.
Q: You got there around noon.
Willis: Basically I was getting whirlpool, heat packs, cold packs, all that kind of stuff on the muscle in my leg.
Submit questions on your favorite New York teams to be answered in an upcoming mailbag
Q: Who was going to defend Wilt?
Clyde: I was living at the New Yorker Hotel on 34th and 8th, so when I went to the game I made a few calls during the day, no one knew anything whether Willis would play or not. Only when we got to the arena did we realize that he was still hurting, he had been there all day getting treatment, and still was questionable for the game.
Q: Did you wear a special game-day outfit?
Clyde: That day I wasn’t concerned with my outfit. … I can’t even remember what I wore for that game because I was so concerned with Willis, ‘Was he gonna play, man?’ Knowing that without him, we didn’t really have a chance to win that game.
Q: Every Knick was concerned?
Clyde: We were all in the training room and Holzman ran us out: “Hey guys, whether Willis plays or not, we have to. Go get ready mentally to play the game.” He was looking apprehensive, he was sitting up in the corner leaning on the wall like maybe 50-50, “I don’t know, I might give it a try.” He wasn’t that sure what he would do. So then when we left, Willis was still in there with the door closed, so we had no idea whether he was coming out or not.
Q: Willis told me there was no way he wasn’t gonna play.
Clyde: Yeah, but he didn’t tell us that.
Q: How close to game time did Dr. James Parkes administer the cortisone shot?
Willis: I probably should have had it a little earlier. The players were warming up when I went out on the floor. We were within 15 minutes of game time, for sure.
Q: What was going through your mind as you were limping through the tunnel?
Willis: I said to myself, “As a kid you dream of being in the championship games.” And I’m saying, “Boy, this is a helluva predicament you’re in. You gotta go out there and play the best big man offensively that ever played the game, and you gotta try to play him on one leg (laugh).”
Q: When the crowd first saw you, how loud was it?
Willis: On a Friday night in Madison Square Garden, the crowd is gonna be ready, they’re gonna be rocking, and they were.
Q: Did you see him immediately?
Clyde: Well first you hear this roar of the crowd. Then you turn around and see what’s going on, and that was Willis limping out of the tunnel. And I’ll never forget, I saw Chamberlain, I saw (Elgin) Baylor, I saw West — they just stopped what they were doing and they were staring at Willis. And that gave me so much confidence when I saw them doing that, I go, “Hey, we got these guys.”
Q: When you started playing, how much pain was there?
Willis: The only way I could prevent there from being pain was I had to kinda drag the leg as opposed to picking it up. When I picked it up, I would have to use all the muscles. If I kinda slid it along, it didn’t hurt as much.
Clyde: He was trying not to limp, but you could tell that he was in pain.
Q: You passed him the ball for that first shot.
Clyde: I didn’t think he would shoot it (laugh). Then after he made the second shot, I went, “There ain’t nothing wrong with this guy!”
Q: You were a man possessed (36 points, 19 assists) after Willis hit those two shots.
Clyde: When we left the locker room, Holzman pulled me to the side: “Hey Clyde, hit the open man, get everybody involved.” But as the game progressed, I was the open man. But the dye was cast after Willis made his first two shots. The Lakers were psyched out, I was psyched up (laugh), so was the rest of the team, the crowd was in a frenzy, and it just rolled from there, man. We believed we could do it.
Q: Willis limping out was an inspiration to you?
Clyde: Oh yeah. If he didn’t do what he did, I would not have had that game. I would had not have the confidence.
Willis: Walt was a helluva player.
Q: Was that the loudest you’ve heard the Garden?
Clyde: Yeah, yeah. It’s been close with (John) Starks, with (Jeremy) Lin, with LJ (Larry Johnson). But I don’t think it’s reached that peak.
Q: Describe that feeling of winning the NBA championship.
Willis: Bill Russell won 11 out of 13 championships. There weren’t a lot of guys winning championships in that stretch (laugh). It’s a personal satisfaction that you and all the other guys have that … only so many people can have that.
Q: What made that team a championship team?
Willis: You had guys who had played places and they had leadership ability, and they were willing to be the man, take big shots. I think it was the quality of the men. And I think the thing that amazes me was that the guy who basically scouted all of us, and picked us to become players on the Knicks was Holzman, with no idea that he would one day be coaching us. I’m sure that there were a little idiosyncrasies about different players on our team that Red picked up scouting when we were in college that really helped him when he coached us. Some guys are fair-weather players. We didn’t have any quitters.
Q: Hit the open man was his philosophy.
Willis: He picked guys that were willing to play together. It didn’t make no difference to him who was the leading scorer. All he wanted to just to do is to win the game. And give the ball to the open guy.
Clyde: We personified team.
Q: What was the celebration like that night?
Clyde: I had so much champagne that night, man, people just buying us a drink, I couldn’t spend any money for months. We just went all over town, we started out down on the East Side, we ended up at Chamberlain’s place up in Harlem, they stayed open til like 4 o’clock.
Q: Your emotions 50 years later.
Willis: As a Knick player, the only team I played for, I’m a Knick forever, I was disappointed that when DeBusschere was GM with Patrick (Ewing), that they had a shot at it and they didn’t get it done. I thought they had enough talent to do it.
I’m a lucky enough guy that won a championship in high school, college and then pro.
Q: That team is still revered 50 years later.
Clyde: I’ll never forget, once I was talking with Bradley, it was in Cincinnati. He told me he was going into a high school, so he thought it would be a good idea to take Oscar Robertson with him. So he said he was so embarrassed, man, that none of the kids knew who Oscar Robertson was. I’m saying today, you could still go in a school here, and some kid would know who Frazier, or Bradley, DeBusschere … some kid would have heard of us. Because of the parents, the parents have perpetuated the legacy of that team, and these guys, like you said, were still revered, man, after 50 years. But in other cities it’s not like that.
Q: Fifty years later, how are you doing?
Willis: I’m down here (Ruston, La.) with the green grass, I’m looking out the window see if I see that coronavirus coming in here, but I can’t see it. It’s like a ghost. But I’m good. I got two ponds in the back of my house, one pond in the front … I’m home.
Q: Sum up what it’s like being Clyde Frazier today.
Clyde: Well I never dreamt of my celebrity. I never dreamt of anything like this. I would have just been happy to play in the NBA, never reaching stardom or anything, the type of career that I had, the legacy that I have around New York, greatest city in the world. It’s made me very humble.
I pray all the time because I see how fortunate I am. Having not played in 30, 40 years, to be able to have a restaurant (Clyde Frazier’s Wine & Dine), kids that are 10 or 11 years old coming in looking for Clyde, wanting my autograph, wanting to take a picture with me.
Q: How proud are you of that team and that day?
Clyde: I still get the goose bumps just talking about it.
Q: Is it hard for you to believe that it’s 50 years later?
Clyde: It’s starting to sound old now, 50 years (laugh). . .
I can remember it like yesterday, though.
MSG Networks will air a special “MSG 150 at Home” edition at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a replay of Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals at 5:30 and 8.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Lawmakers rap Brooklyn nursing home operator tied to de Blasio land scandal

Revised state Health Department data reveal that at least 4,813 ...

Carl Campanile, Julia Marsh, Bernadette Hogan

Four lawmakers are accusing a Brooklyn nursing home operator tied to a real estate scandal that rocked the de Blasio administration of stonewalling constituents who have family members residing in the facility during the coronavirus pandemic.
The ire is being directed at the King David nursing home in Gravesend, which is run by the controversial Allure Group.
“We are writing to you with great concern over the reports of poor care at your facility and the total lack of a response from anyone in your facility,” said the letter to King David Administrator David Schoenblum, which was signed by Rep. Max Rose, state Sen. Diane Savino and City Council members Mark Treyger and Justin Brannan.
“Our office has been inundated with calls from distraught constituents who have loved ones at your facility. We have heard reports that your facility has left deceased residents in their bed, transferred patients to hospitals without notifying their families, and failed to report the number of COVID-positive cases at the King David Center to the health authorities,” the pols said in the letter obtained by The Post.
King David has reported two deaths of residents attributed to COVID-19 and two more presumed deaths, according to the most recent tally reported by the state Health Department.
“Despite numerous attempts to speak with you or someone from your staff, there have been no answers. This is dangerous and a complete abdication of your responsibility to the clients in your care. We will be speaking with the relevant regulatory authorities to ensure our constituents are being properly cared for and we expect an immediate reply to discuss our concerns,” the legislators said.
In 2018, Mayor Bill de Blasio came under withering criticism after city officials approved a deal that had Allure pay the city $16.1 million in exchange for lifting deed restrictions that required properties on the Lower East Side to be used to aid the needy.
After the deed restrictions were lifted, the real estate group then sold Rivington, a former nursing home for AIDS patients, for a $72 million profit in February 2016.
The shady transaction triggered a probe by the state attorney general that led to a 2018 settlement that required Allure Group to pay $2 million in penalties and to open new health care facilities and provide $1.25 million to nonprofit groups serving vulnerable New Yorkers.
A former employee claimed Allure “deliberately understaffs every facility” and called the company “a stain on the industry.”
But the Allure Group defended the performance of its King David nursing home during the pandemic, noting the state ban on family visitations.
“The moratorium on nursing home visitations has caused tremendous hardships for our residents and families. That is why we are doing everything in our power to keep families informed and in touch with their loved ones, including equipping every resident with a tablet computer for virtual visits. Resident safety and wellbeing remains our highest priority,” said Allure Group’s general counsel, Richard Brum.
“We are following all federal, state and city regulations as they evolve with respect to treating and reporting COVID-19 cases which includes a daily report to the NYS Dept. of Health. We will continue to follow the reporting requirements to the letter of the law. We have great respect for our elected representatives and will gladly partner with them in any way that can help us through this unprecedented public health crisis.”
Brum added, “We stand in solidarity with our residents, patients, their families and our heroic staff in continuing to fight the spread of this disease and, like them, we look forward to the day when we are able to reunite families when it is safe to do so.”
More than 5,000 nursing home residents have died from confirmed or presumed cases of coronavirus, according to the most recent tally compiled by the state Health Department.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come under fire for a controversial March 25 state Health Department order that required nursing homes to admit or readmit recovering COVID patients from hospitals. Critics claim the policy unnecessarily unleashed more deaths on a vulnerable population, triggering calls for an independent federal probe from former Gov. George Pataki and Village of Hempstead officials.
But Cuomo claimed again Thursday that nursing home operators had an option to transfer COVID patients elsewhere if they could not safely isolate them in their facilities.
“We have facilities all across the state that can take any COVID-positive person from a nursing home. So any nursing home operator who cannot provide adequate care for anyone in the nursing home, you call the Department of Health, we have beds and care for that person and no nursing home should keep a person in that nursing home who they cannot provide adequate care for. Period,” the governor said.
He recently called on state Attorney General Letitia James and state health officials to probe whether nursing home operators complied with safety regulations during the pandemic.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Giants to host two ‘Monday Night Football’ games in same season for first time ever

We already knew the Giants , based on 2019 records , have ...

The answer is never.
That is the last time the Giants were the home team for two “Monday Night Football” games in the same season in the 51-year history of the prime-time event.
Joe Judge, the first-year head coach, makes his debut Sept. 14 and will have to wait through the first weekend of the season before taking the field at MetLife Stadium for a Monday night opener against the Steelers. Seven weeks later, the Giants are again home on a Monday night, facing Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
The Giants have not opened a season at home on a Monday night since 1995. Coach Dan Reeves hoped that game would show how much the Giants had closed the gap on the Cowboys, but Emmitt Smith ran wild and the Giants were routed 35-0.
Judge will look for a better result in his first game.
“For me, any game is going to have the same amount of juice,” Judge said. “I think everyone is going to have a lot of energy for the opener, us and Pittsburgh. It’s going to be a situation where: Look, you get to play under the lights, you get to play at home. But it’s the opening game for both teams. Both teams will be coming out of training camp sick of beating up on each other and ready to see an opponent.”
Judge spent the past eight years with the Patriots, and his three Super Bowl rings were in large part the handiwork of Brady, who after 20 years in New England has moved to the Bucs.
“I think we’ll be very aware of Tom being on the other team,” Judge said. “At that point of the year, I’m sure everyone is going to get used to him wearing a different color jersey. I’m in a different jersey myself.’’
It sounds as if Judge will change the way the Giants approach West Coast trips. Ever since Tom Coughlin was the coach, the team took cross-country flights on Saturday. With the Patriots and Bill Belichick, Judge made those trips on Fridays, giving the team an extra day to acclimate. The Giants have games this season at the Rams and Seahawks.
“That’s nothing that’s locked in concrete,’’ Judge said of Friday departures. “We’ll talk as a coaching staff and make sure we hammer what we think is best for this team. To be honest with you, we’ll have a game plan to go out there early and be prepared to cancel the extra day if we need to as we get a feel for how our team goes throughout the season,” Judge said of Friday departures.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--NFL’s offseason events can’t hide grim coronavirus question

The NFL is headstrong about preparing for its traditional 16-game ...

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We all keep our fingers crossed for any kind of professional sports season, but especially for an NFL season.
The release of the NFL schedule on Thursday night allows us to close our eyes and imagine possibilities that stand on the opposite end of the spectrum from quarantine and social distancing and a virtual America engulfed in a living hell.
If there will be some kind of season, the likelihood is it will be played in empty or near-empty stadiums, and as eerie as that may be, we will welcome the NFL back with open arms and hold it tight for as long as COVID-19 will allow it.
The question: Will COVID-19 allow it?
Will there be an NFL season?
Are all of us — Roger Goodell’s NFL and Football America — simply hoping against hope?
No one, of course, knows. Not Roger Goodell, not Dr. Anthony Fauci, no one.
Hoping against hope, in the absence of a vaccine, is the only hope we can possibly have right now.
The NFL has been plowing full-speed ahead like Jim Brown: It kept the start of the legal tampering portion of free agency on March 16 — four days after the NBA canceled games after Rudy Gobert of the Jazz tested positive for coronavirus, the NCAA canceled March Madness and MLB canceled spring training and postponed the start of the regular season by at least two weeks.
And even as the free-agency frenzy began, as we began to have the phrase “flatten the curve” hammered into our heads, as the desperate need for ventilators began to explode, the NFL was forced to cancel its grandiose Las Vegas draft plans.
The NFL was adamant — even in the face of some resistance within its own ranks that the optics weren’t right — the draft would be held, and though it was an historic Virtual NFL Draft, it proved to be an oasis in our desert of despair — from Goodell announcing picks from the basement of his Bronxville, N.Y., home, to Joe Burrow, to Abby Judge, Joe Judge’s golden retriever, and Nike, Bill Belichick’s Alaskan Klee Kai.
And now a full 16-game schedule release that guarantees nothing about a 16-game schedule.
It is practical business practice with the start of the NFL season still four months away, given the desire to keep sponsors engaged and, with viewership up 5 percent in 2019, TV networks already paying approximately $1 billion annually tripping over themselves to keep feeding the goose that lays the golden egg.
Each professional sports league must continue to confront the new normal as it hopes to open or reopen, and map out contingency plans for worst-case scenarios.
It feels inevitable that the rubber will meet the road for the NFL, too.
The threat of a second wave of COVID-19 washing over us in the fall is both sobering and frightening.
The NFL season is scheduled to begin Sept. 10.
Man, how much do we yearn to watch Tom Brady throwing to Rob Gronkowski in a Buccaneers uniform against Drew Brees on Sept. 13 in New Orleans? The jaw-dropping theatrics of Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson? Belichick coaching without Brady?
“The plan is to move forward as normal, to play a full season, a full schedule, until the medical community tells us otherwise,” NFL VP of football operations Troy Vincent told NFL Network.
Odell Beckham Jr. versus Dave Gettleman and the Giants? Viva Las Vegas for Jon Gruden’s Raiders? Philip Rivers as a Colt? Tua Tagovailoa in Miami? Burrow in Cincinnati? Big Ben Roethlisberger back in the Steelers’ saddle?
But we must also ask ourselves:
How many games will have to be canceled?
How many games will be played?
What happens if and when one player or coach is infected with the virus?
There is no social distancing in huddles, right?
Can we be certain that the testing, as rigorous as it will be, is foolproof?
So many questions, and no definitive answers.
So many need their fantasy football fix. So many crave NFL games to bet on. So many want to wear their Brady jerseys and their Mahomes jerseys and rally behind their team.
The NFL keeps moving the chains, keeps driving down the field.
But will it need a Hail Mary to give us an NFL as we have come to know and love it?
Will we even have Super Bowl LV? With or without fans?
We will keep hope alive. But we should also recognize that not even the mighty NFL has immunity from COVID-19.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Four ways NFL schedule leaves room for coronavirus contingencies

Here ’ s a look at the 2020 NFL team-by-team schedule ( Home ...

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The NFL is headstrong about preparing for its traditional 16-game schedule, but it left a few coronavirus-necessitated contingencies for anyone on the lookout.
Dates, times and matchups for all 256 regular-season games beginning Sept. 10 and ending Jan. 3 were revealed Thursday night despite NFL facilities still under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with teams conducting virtual practices this month.
The NFL has not publicly entertained hypotheticals of a shortened schedule or holding fan-less games and warned teams via internal memo against speculation on such scenarios for risk of creating confusion among fans and sponsors.
But connecting the dots on the composite NFL schedule suggests …
1. Weeks 3 and 4 are the most likely to get wiped out if the NFL needs to drop to 14 games. There are no protect-at-all-cost division games in either week and all 32 teams are home once and away once during that span. There had been speculation of no conference games in the first four weeks, but the slate for Weeks 1 and 2 are chock-full of conference and division games that could be played in place of Weeks 3 and 4 or at the end of the season.
2. All teams are home once and away once in Weeks 1 and 2, as well. So, if the NFL needed to play a 12-game season, all schedules would be balanced with six home and six away games. The 49ers, Titans, Cowboys and Steelers are the first teams with back-to-back home games, in Weeks 5 and 6.
3. All Week 2 opponents share the same bye week later in the season, so if those games are postponed there is an easy trap door where teams could lose their bye week.
4. ESPN reported Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay could be pushed back by any number of weeks from Feb. 7.
After 9/11, the NFL canceled its Week 2 slate and rescheduled those games for the final week of the regular season. Because there was no bye week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, the entire playoff schedule was pushed back one week, including the first end date in February. The Pro Bowl now is played during a bye week before the Super Bowl, but that could be canned with little uproar.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Family of Philadelphia meat worker who died of coronavirus sues factory

The family of a Philadelphia meat worker is suing his employer after he died of the coronavirus .
Enock Benjamin , a Haitian immigrant , died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 on April 3 after working at a JBS slaughterhouse .
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court claims the facility began ramping up production in March while forcing staff to work in cramped quarters without protective equipment .
“ By choosing profits over safety , JBS demonstrated a reckless disregard to the rights and safety of others , including Enock Benjamin , ” the lawsuit claims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the company for wrongful death and negligence .
JBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night .
The litigation appears to be the first of its kind within an industry where working conditions have allowed the coronavirus to thrive .
Plants across the country have closed , threatening the nation ’ s meat supply .
By the end of April more than 5,000 US meat and food-processing workers were infected or exposed to the coronavirus , while at least another 20 had died , the largest US meat-packing union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ invoked the Defense Production Act to deem meat plants essential infrastructure and signed an executive order to compel the facilities to remain open .
Trump at the time said the order would shield the companies from liability .
“ We ’ re going to sign an executive order today , I believe , and that will solve any liability problems , ” Trump said .
Though Democrats had cast doubt on how far that liability would extend .
The suit alleges that JBS , a massive beef-processing company , has overseen COVID-19 outbreaks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plants across the country .
At Benjamin ’ s plant in Souderton , Pennsylvania , JBS added a “ Saturday kill ” shift in March to keep up with an increased meat demand .
After the first worker fell ill with the virus , only workers who came “ in direct contact with the individual for extended periods of time ” were allowed to take off , according to the lawsuit .
The plant finally shut down for a cleaning after multiple workers became infected on March 27 , the lawsuit claimed “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for workers , the JBS Defendants ignored the safety of workers and required them to report for duty each day in cramped conditions and without adequate PPE , ” the suit reads .

The family of a Philadelphia meat worker is suing his employer after he died of the coronavirus.
Enock Benjamin, a Haitian immigrant, died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 on April 3 after working at a JBS slaughterhouse.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court claims the facility began ramping up production in March while forcing staff to work in cramped quarters without protective equipment.
“By choosing profits over safety, JBS demonstrated a reckless disregard to the rights and safety of others, including Enock Benjamin,” the lawsuit claims.
Benjamin’s lawyers are suing the company for wrongful death and negligence.
JBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
The litigation appears to be the first of its kind within an industry where working conditions have allowed the coronavirus to thrive.
Plants across the country have closed, threatening the nation’s meat supply.
By the end of April, more than 5,000 US meat and food-processing workers were infected or exposed to the coronavirus, while at least another 20 had died, the largest US meat packing union said.
President Trump in late April invoked the Defense Production Act to label meat plants essential infrastructure and signed an executive order to compel the facilities to remain open. Trump at the time said the order would shield the companies from liability.
“We’re going to sign an executive order today, I believe, and that will solve any liability problems,” Trump said.
Democrats had cast doubt on how far that liability would extend.
The suit alleges that JBS, a massive beef processing company, has overseen COVID-19 outbreaks at at least seven of its meat plants across the country.
At Benjamin’s plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania, JBS added a “Saturday kill” shift in March to keep up with an increased meat demand. After the first worker fell ill with the virus, only workers who came “in direct contact with the individual for extended periods of time” were allowed to take off, according to the lawsuit.
The plant finally shut down for a cleaning after multiple workers became infected on March 27, the lawsuit claimed
“Despite the skyrocketing risk of COVID-19 infections for workers, the JBS Defendants ignored the safety of workers and required them to report for duty each day in cramped conditions and without adequate PPE,” the suit reads.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Patrick Ewing takes high road after Charles Oakley blamed him for Knicks’ failures vs. Bulls

Charles Oakley says Patrick Ewing ’ s inability to step up more ...

Taking the high road, Patrick Ewing called Charles Oakley “one of my best teammates.’’
The Georgetown coach was not about to get into a spitting match with the outspoken Oakley, who singled out Ewing’s reluctance to pass out of the double-team for their 1993 playoff heartbreaker in an interview with The Post.
It wasn’t the first time Oakley has gone after Ewing. In February, Oakley told the KnicksFan podcast Ewing was “a difficult teammate.’’
“I have nothing to say about what Charles has to say,” Ewing said when asked about Oakley’s criticism on the Good Show Thursday. “He’s one of my best teammates. We went into a lot of wars and a lot of wars against the Bulls. So everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”
Oakley appears to be hot that Ewing has never helped him with a job since their retirements nor defended him in 2017 after owner James Dolan had him tossed.
“I love Charles Oakley,’’ Ewing said. “I still consider him a friend, but everybody is entitled to think or say what they want.”
In a particularly pointed comment regarding Last Dance’s portrayal of the ’93 series, Oakley told The Post, “The Bulls had Michael and we had Patrick. It’s like seeing Beyoncé and going to see someone trying to be Beyoncé.”
Jeff Van Gundy, a Knicks assistant in 1993, also defended Ewing’s honor this week. “It’s not just Charles,” Van Gundy reportedly said. “It’s how people, even back then, how people try to portray Ewing as not coming through in the clutch.
“We have amnesia sometimes as Knick people just how good Ewing was.”
Though a Georgetown spokesman Ewing declined to talk to The Post about Oakley’s brusque Bulls’ comments.


newyorkpost--2020-05-08--Prince Andrew facing legal action over $8M owed on Swiss home

Click to email this to a friend ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Twitter ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Facebook ( Opens in new window ) Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah are reportedly facing legal action over more than $ 8 million they allegedly owe the seller of a luxury Swiss home they purchased together in 2014 .
The former couple bought the seven-bedroom chalet in the Verbier ski resort in Southwest Switzerland for $ 22.5 million .
The Duke and Duchess of York failed to make a substantial payment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the end of last year , Le Temps newspaper reported .
Six million francs — or roughly 6.1 million dollars — was due at the time , according to the sale deeds seen by the French-language daily .
With interest , the sum is now eight million francs , or about $ 8.2 million dollars .
After going months without receiving payment , the seller of the home instructed their lawyers from the firm Etude du Ritz to launch legal proceedings , Le Temps reported .
The law firm did not respond to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the Yorks told Le Temps : “ There is a dispute between the two parties in this matter , ” adding that the contractual details were “ subject to a confidentiality agreement.
” A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said , “ This isn ’ t something we would comment on.
” Andrew and Sarah married in 1986 , split amicably in 1992 and divorced four years later .

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Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah are reportedly facing legal action over more than $8 million they allegedly owe the seller of a luxury Swiss home they purchased together in 2014.
The former couple bought the seven-bedroom chalet in the Verbier ski resort in Southwest Switzerland for $22.5 million.
The Duke and Duchess of York failed to make a substantial payment on the home that was due by the end of last year, Le Temps newspaper reported.
Six million francs — or roughly 6.1 million dollars — was due at the time, according to the sale deeds seen by the French-language daily.
With interest, the sum is now eight million francs, or about $8.2 million dollars.
After going months without receiving payment, the seller of the home instructed their lawyers from the firm Etude du Ritz to launch legal proceedings, Le Temps reported.
The law firm did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Yorks told Le Temps: “There is a dispute between the two parties in this matter,” adding that the contractual details were “subject to a confidentiality agreement.”
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said, “This isn’t something we would comment on.”
Andrew and Sarah married in 1986, split amicably in 1992 and divorced four years later.
With Post Wires