More than 250 firefighters are working in freezing cold conditions to control the fire, which started on the first floor of the four-story building on North 11th Street in Williamsburg.
It's the site of CitiStorage, which houses documents.
Officials say the fire, which has gone up to a seven-alarm, was reported around 6 a.m. Saturday.
The smoke continued billowing throughout the morning, making it difficult to breathe at times.
The weather conditions did not make it easy for firefighters who were braving freezing temperatures, ...
The contest to succeed longtime New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was supposed to be an open process, giving lawmakers two weeks to mull their options.
Instead, it's looking increasingly likely that the decision will be made before Silver's resignation from the post amid federal corruption charges takes effect Monday night. That outcome would dash the hopes of some lawmakers ...
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He insists he could win, but Mitt Romney has stepped out of the 2016 presidential contest in favor of the "next generation of Republican leaders" following a three-week fact-finding effort that revealed significant resistance to a third campaign.
The 2012 Republican presidential nominee on Friday formally ended his flirtation with another White House bid and encouraged his supporters ...
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Mayor Bill de Blasio says he has moved past the crisis with police that threatened to derail his administration.
He says in an interview with The Associated Press that much work remains to repair the hard feelings over the chokehold death of Eric Garner. But he says he has regained the footing to move on to other matters, including an agenda he plans to outline in next week's State ...
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vetoed legislation to subject police disciplinary proceedings to arbitration under their union contracts, reversing Court of Appeals rulings since 2006 involving New York City and Hudson Valley towns.
A spokesman for the governor says the Legislature has passed versions of the same measure four times, and prior administrations believed police discipline ...
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B'chasdei Hashem, alert border police manning a checkpoint in the Maale Adumim area prevented the delivery of tons of treif meats and poultry to Yerushalayim and restaurants in the center of the country.
Border police explain the large tractor trailer delivering gravel seemed suspicious. They compelled the driver to dump the load for inspection. As seen in the video, the top of the ...
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New York Police Department officials say 300 to 350 officers will receive special training in counterterrorism tactics - but they won't be used to police protests.
Department spokesman Stephen Davis says Friday the group will learn how to respond to active threats like the attack earlier this month in Paris.
They'll be armed with assault rifles and protective gear and will visit ...
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Some new evidence this is a particularly bad flu season: Flu-related hospitalizations of the elderly are the highest since the government started tracking that statistic nine years ago.
About 198 out of every 100,000 people 65 and older have been hospitalized with flu-related illness this flu season. That’s roughly 86,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and ...
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Amid the measles outbreak stemming from California, the White House is telling parents that science indicates they should vaccinate their children.
President Barack Obama's press secretary says the science on vaccinations "is really clear." Josh Earnest tells journalists that Obama believes vaccination decisions should be made by parents, with a bias toward good science.
About 100 ...
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House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is still peeved over Republicans' decision to ask the leader of Israel - an archenemy of Iran - to address Congress in March right in the middle of delicate negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
Asked Friday if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be well-advised to speak out in favor of heavier sanctions on Iran somewhere ...
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Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) released the following statement on Speaker Boehner's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu:
“The Prime Minister of Israel, our key strategic ally and friend in the Middle East, is always welcome in the United States. And indeed the Israeli Prime Minister has a moral imperative to give his view to the world about Iran’s looming ...
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The leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group said this week's cross-border attack was a message that it will no longer tolerate any Israeli attacks against its members.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told thousands of supporters in south Beirut Friday that Hezbollah does not fear war and is ready if Israel provokes further violence.
It was Nasrallah's first comments since six Hezbollah ...
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Shas MK Nissim Ze’ev is a founding member of the party, one who was involved in the early building of the party. He has been serving as a Shas MK since 1999, yet he has been ousted from a realistic slot by the party’s Torah Council.
Ze’ev ran under the Shas banner in local Jerusalem elections before Shas entered Knesset. This was in the 1980s and early 90s.
The final Shas ...
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Mispallalim in the Siach Eliezer Shul in the Ramat Shlomo community of Yerushalayim explain they are not bothered or really aware of the operation of a new business that is set up in the shul. The business, which offers internet connectivity to those who require it for parnasa is called "דרכא אחרינא". At present one is offered access to limited internet sites and computer ...
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Shas MK Amnon Cohen on Thursday, 9 Shevat sent a letter of resignation to Shas’ Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael, informing the rabbonim of his decision to step down from a life of politics. Cohen served in the 15th through 19th Knessets, having been an MK since 1999. Cohen explained that he consulted with his family and reached the decision that while he plans to continue working for the ...
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International investigators say the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons production facilities has begun.
The latest report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says the destruction of the 12 facilities is expected to be complete by the end of June. The destruction is a key part of the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile as ordered by the U.N. ...
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When Baruch Marzel arrived with others from the Yachad/Otzma Yehudit list to submit the final lineup on Thursday night 9 Shevat, he refused to shake the hand of the head of the Central Election Committee, retired Justice Salim Jubran.
Marzel explained to the media that his reason is simple, reminding Israelis that as a Supreme Court justice and during his career, Jubran used every ...
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The FAA says it's investigating a weekend incident involving two planes at New York's Westchester County Airport.
JetBlue Flight 94 had begun its descent Sunday when its collision-warning system alerted pilots that an unidentified small plane coming toward it.
JetBlue says its pilots' quick reaction averted a collision.
A passenger, Megan Sikorski, tells WABC that as the ...
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MK Zevulun Kalfa resigned from the party earlier in the week in protest over Naftali Bennett appointing retired soccer player Eli Ochana to the Bayit Yehudi’s 11th slot. Kalfa was in the 18th slot.
After Ochana bowed out of the race under mounting public pressure from inside and out of the party, Kalfa asked to return. Bennett demanded a firm apology for the harsh criticism leveled ...
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A state board is poised to vote on whether to raise the hourly wage made by restaurant servers and other tipped workers.
The state's wage board is scheduled to meet Friday in Albany. The board is charged with making a recommendation to the state's labor commissioner on whether the tipped wage should be raised.
The law allows employers to pay tipped workers less than the minimum ...
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After days of speculation, resignations and in-fighting, a deal was closed between Yachad and Otzma Yehudit, albeit with changes. Representing Otzma in a realistic slot is Baruch Marzel and not Dr. Michael Ben-Ari. Marzel will be in the fourth slot in the lineup.
The final Yachad list:
1. Eli Yishai
2. Yoni Chetboun
3. Michael Ayash
4. Baruch Marzel
5. Sasson ...
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After a three-week flirtation with another run for president, Mitt Romney said definitively on Friday that he will not seek the White House in 2016.
The Republican Party's 2012 nominee plans to tell supporters about his plans to pass on another national campaign during a conference call. He first let his staff know in a separate call that he was out of the race.
"After putting ...
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[By Rabbi Yair Hoffman]
With the housing crunch in many Jewish areas, the following topic has become very acute.
Some young American bochurim who were studying in Yerushalayim had raised an intriguing problem.
The building was once called the Ner Yaakov Yeshiva and Kollel on Rechov Press, in the Geulah section of Yerushalayim. It is located across the street from the Brisker ...
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About 100 Chinese families of passengers on the missing Malaysian airliner demanded Friday that Malaysian officials retract their statement that all aboard died, saying that without hard evidence they don't want to start compensation claims.
Malaysia's government formally declared still-missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 an accident on Thursday and said all those 239 people on ...
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10Despite the media hype in recent days, most Israelis are unfamiliar with the majority of the parties running in the upcoming national elections for 20th Knesset. 26 parties submitted their lists to the Central Election Committee ahead of the Thursday night deadline.
Most will not pass the minimum threshold of 3.25%, which equals four seats, and they will therefore not be ...
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Snow this morning along an arctic front will taper off by afternoon. One to two inches of snow is expected across portions of the area this morning. An arctic air mass will then move in this afternoon behind the front. Rapidly falling temperatures are forecast late this afternoon through tonight. Lows will range from around zero to 10 degrees tonight. These bitterly cold temperatures, ...
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As police searched for a missing 6-year-old boy named Etan Patz, they jotted down the name of a teenage shop worker they met. But they didn't expect the clerk would become their suspect more than three decades later.
After 35 years, Pedro Hernandez is going on trial in a case that shaped the nation's response to missing children.
Opening statements are scheduled Friday. Hernandez ...
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The following incident should be about how a Yeshiva building is supposed to remain locked from any intruders. The article is via the
Montreal Gazette:
Draped in a flag of Quebec, a middle-aged man tried to enter an ...
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The fates of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot were unknown Friday, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group holding them captive.
"Government institutions are working around the clock on the case of pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh," Jordanian military spokesman Mamdouh al-Ameri said in a ...
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A poll commissioned by Walla News, carried out by TNS Teleseker shows Likud is gaining support and Bayit Yehudi is dropping in popularity.
It is important to take note the poll was conducted after Eli Ochana dropped out of the Bayit Yehudi lineup and after the shuffling of seats and appointments made by Naftali Bennett. The results of the poll were released on erev Shabbos 10 ...
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New York City's Health Department is urging clinicians to prescribe antiviral medications to all high-risk or severely ill patients suspected of having the flu.
It's also urging New Yorkers who have flu-like symptoms and are at a higher risk for complications to ask their doctors about the medications.
The department has distributed posters and patient flyers to emergency rooms, ...
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Three weeks after unexpectedly saying he was considering another run for president, Mitt Romney plans to update supporters about his plans for the 2016 presidential campaign.
The Republican Party's 2012 nominee will host conference calls for staff and supporters late Friday morning.
Romney jumped back into the presidential discussion on Jan. 10, when he told a small group of ...
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The Nachum Segal Network has announced the 2015 Kosher Halftime Show. Hosted by Jewish radio icon, Nachum Segal, the Kosher Halftime Show is the family oriented alternative to the pop culture musical and dance performance on broadcast television.
The program will stream and be available during halftime of Super Bowl XLIX, Sunday February 1, 2015, on www.nachumsegal.com.
The ...
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One week after the arrest of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, we have new information on what the U.S. attorney meant when he told reporters to "stay tuned" for new developments in his investigation of state government.
NBC New York is
reporting ... Full Story »
Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a longtime legislator from Brooklyn, dropped his candidacy Thursday to become the new leader of the state Assembly, reducing the field to three.
Saying he doesn't have enough support, Lentol said he's backing Assemblyman Carl Heastie of the Bronx, who appeared then to have most if not all the 76 votes needed.
"For all practicality, I think Carl has the ...
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New York City's pledge to stop making many marijuana arrests is playing out on the streets. New statistics show arrests and summonses for small-time pot possession have plummeted since the policy change this fall.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in mid-November that police would turn toward violations and summonses instead of misdemeanor arrests for carrying modest amounts of ...
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Closing in on a decision about whether to again run for president, Mitt Romney is finding that several past major fundraisers and donors in key states have defected to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
The donors, in interviews with The Associated Press, said they see in Bush what they liked about Romney in 2012, namely what they believe it takes to serve successfully as president, but ...
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Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Wednesday, 8 Shevat, hosted religious leaders in Jerusalem, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps, in honor of the 2015 New Year. This event has taken place annually for over 30 years, and this year, for the first time in a decade, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, participated in the event.
Speakers at the event included ...
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The House will vote next week to repeal the health care law Republicans have vowed to undo. They'll also direct work to start on a replacement bill the GOP promised more than four years ago.
The House voted more than 50 times in the past two years to repeal the law in whole or in part. Next week's vote will be the first for such a bill in the new Congress. It will also be the first ...
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The union president representing transit workers is calling on the MTA to develop a plan that could keep at least the underground portions of the subway system running in a severe snowstorm.
John Samuelsen tells the Wall Street Journal that train operators and other transit employees don't believe a blizzard necessitates the full shutdown of the system.
The president of the ...
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Credit card data isn't quite as anonymous as promised, a new study says.
Scientists showed they can identify you with more than 90 percent accuracy by looking at just four purchases, three if the price is included — and this is after companies "anonymized" the transaction records, saying they wiped away names and other personal details. The study out of MIT, published Thursday in ...
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New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton says 350 officers will be trained and outfitted to respond to counterterrorism calls.
That's in addition to the 1,000 officers already dedicated to counterterror efforts.
Previously, precinct officers were assigned to what's called a "critical response" — a show of force at sensitive locations like the Empire State Building. But ...
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