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U.S. NEWS Thursday 11 april 2019
Lawyer: Challenge to NYC’s vaccination

order in the works

By KAREN MATTHEWS Sussman also represented
Associated Press a group of parents in subur-
NEW YORK (AP) — New York ban Rockland County who
City’s effort to halt a mea- challenged the county ex-
sles outbreak by ordering ecutive’s order barring un-
mandatory vaccinations vaccinated children from
in one Brooklyn neighbor- indoor public spaces. A
hood is facing opposition, state judge sided with the
with lawyers for parents parents and issued a pre-
opposed to vaccinations liminary injunction against
promising to file a lawsuit the emergency order last
challenging the order by week.
Friday. New York City and Rock-
But city health officials say land County are both strug-
they have they have struck gling to contain a measles Girls play in a yeshiva schoolyard, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in the
the right balance with the outbreak that has mainly Williamsburg section of New York.
unusual order, and they affected Orthodox Jewish Associated Press
hope a mixture of outreach families. they know what questions and have stocked health
and prodding will over- Some 285 measles cases to ask. They actually do care providers in the com-
come resistance to vac- have been identified in know how to work with munity with an ample sup-
cines in a slice of the pre- New York City since last fall, people. They have expe- ply of vaccine, Palacio
dominantly Orthodox Jew- compared with two in all of rience gaining people’s said.
ish community hardest hit 2017. There have been 168 trust.” Officials said their efforts
by the disease. cases reported in Rockland The health officials will try have paid off with 8,000
“The measles vaccine is since the fall. to persuade any unvac- additional vaccinations in
highly effective,” Dr. Her- De Blasio said Tuesday that cinated person who has affected neighborhoods
minia Palacio, the city’s he was confident New York been exposed to measles compared with the prior
deputy mayor for health City’s vaccination order to get the vaccine. People year. But they said they
and human services, said would survive any legal who refuse the vaccine or were taking additional
Wednesday. “Measles is challenge. who refuse to get their chil- steps to control the out-
highly contagious. That “This is a public health dren vaccinated could be break in advance of Pass-
combination means this is emergency,” the Demo- fined, though de Blasio said over, when some families
the right time for this mea- cratic mayor said. “And he hoped to avoid levying may travel overseas to ar-
sure.” Palacio spoke a day the reason the city govern- any fines. eas in Israel or Europe that
after she joined Mayor Bill ment is empowered in a “Our goal is not to fine any- are experiencing measles
de Blasio and other officials public health emergency is one,” de Blasio said. “Our outbreaks.
in announcing the vac- to save lives.” goal is to get people vac- Doctors who practice in
cine order affecting four Authorities will carry out cinated. But we’re also try- Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jew-
ZIP codes in the Williams- the order by interviewing ing to help everyone un- ish communities say only
burg section of Brooklyn Williamsburg residents who derstand there is urgency a small number of people
and threatening possible have been diagnosed here.” The city believes an refuse inoculations outright
fines of up to $1,000 for with measles and then in- estimated 1,800 children in because they believe erro-
noncompliance. Civil rights terviewing everyone who Williamsburg were not im- neously that vaccines are
attorney Michael Sussman those people have come munized as of December. harmful or that they violate
called the order “an over- in contact with. Health officials have made Jewish law, but factors in-
reach of authority” and “These are skills that we robocalls urging vaccina- cluding large families may
said a lawsuit challenging it practice every day,” Pala- tion to more than 30,000 have helped the outbreak
will be filed this week. cio said. “It’s not just that Williamsburg households spread.q

Limo company operator pleads not guilty in fatal crash

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — Sept. 9 trial. He had been ing, but a final report could owned by Hussain’s father,
The operator of a limou- free on $150,000 bond be more than a year away. Shahed Hussain, who has
sine company pleaded since his arrest in October. Defense attorney Lee Kind- been in Pakistan since be-
not guilty Wednesday to Prestige’s stretch limou- lon said in a court brief that fore the crash.
20 counts each of crimi- sine ran a stop sign at a T- extensive records dem- He has not been charged
nally negligent homicide intersection on Oct. 6 and onstrate the company’s criminally but is named as
and second-degree man- crashed beside a country efforts to maintain the ve- a defendant along with
slaughter in a crash that store, killing the driver, two hicle’s road-worthiness. his son in civil suits brought
killed 20 people in rural up- pedestrians and 17 passen- He said the intersection’s by families of the crash vic-
state New York. gers bound for a birthday design and “treacherous” tims.In his brief, Kindlon said
Nauman Hussain, 29, oper- celebration. road conditions contribut- Shahed Hussain was born in
ator of Prestige Limousine, The crash was the deadli- ed to the accident, and he Pakistan, came to the U.S.
was released on $450,000 est transportation disaster contended that the driver as a child and became a
bond after his arraignment in the United States in a de- had “a number of intoxi- citizen about 10 years ago.
in Schoharie County Court cade. cants” including marijuana He owns several rental
and will be subject to elec- The National Transportation in his system. properties in the Albany
tronic monitoring until his Safety Board is investigat- The limousine company is area. q