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Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. addresses violence and looting that happened this week on Fordham Road and other Bronx retail corridors during today’s amRUSH podcast.

A post shared by Alex Rivera : Bronx Creative ✪ (@thebronxer) on Jun 2, 2020 at 8:50pm PDT

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View his full gallery here.

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By Mark Hallum

If the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis was not abhorrent enough to them, safe streets advocates found even more to dislike about Saturday night’s incident in Brooklyn of a police cruiser plowing through a crowd of protestors.

What Mayor Bill de Blasio inaccurately described as demonstrators surrounding the vehicle being “wrong on its face,” was inexcusable to Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives who each issued statements claiming police misconduct.

The incident caught on camera shows protestors behind barriers and in front of the vehicle on Flatbush Avenue. After objects such as traffic cones were hurled at the SUV, the officer behind the wheel hit the gas, plowing through people.

Although nobody was killed, it only enraged the demonstrators more.

This is sickening: pic.twitter.com/PNrrJQWTF1

— claudia irizarry aponte (@clauirizarry) May 31, 2020

Wtf!!! #BlacklivesMaters #brooklynprotest pic.twitter.com/S1oet8JC0x

— Pierre G. (@pgarapon) May 31, 2020

“We are deeply disturbed by videos showing NYPD officers driving SUVs into crowds of people during last night’s protest in Brooklyn. We demand a full investigation into these events, and for our mayor to hold those responsible accountable,” Families for Safe Streets co-founder Amy Cohen said. “Such brutal tactics, like using 6,000-pound SUVs as weapons against people, must be immediately rooted out of the NYPD by Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Shea. These actions are unacceptable and run counter to the very concept of street safety and Vision Zero that the NYPD is supposed to uphold.”

Though de Blasio said the actions of the officers may not have been in good judgment, he believes he may have taken whatever action he could out of desperation.

“It’s inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers. That’s wrong on its face and that hasn’t happened in the history of protest in this city,” de Blasio said. “I’ve been watching protests for decades. People don’t do that. And so, it’s clear that a different element has come into play here who are trying to hurt police officers and trying to damage their vehicles. And if a police officer is in that situation, they have to get out of that situation.”

Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris, however, argues that the power dynamic was not in the hand of demonstrators, but in the hands of cops who were using cars as a weapon.

“It is a shocking sight to see police, who are sworn to protect and serve us, using their vehicles as weapons against New Yorkers,” Harris said. “As people who have been seriously injured or lost a loved one due to traffic violence, we understand all too well the damage that multi-ton motorized vehicles can do. I have personally stood by the Mayor as he pledged to confront traffic violence while holding a photo of my 12-year-old son who was killed in a crash. We demand accountability, and we expect him to stand by that promise now.”

Sunday morning, de Blasio announced he would implement a review of all NYPD officers with Jim Johnson from Corporation Counsel and Margaret Garnett, commissioner of the city Department of Investigation.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered Attorney General Letitia James to investigate police conduct throughout the last several nights of rioting to ensure there was no foul play. He placed a 30-day deadline on the investigation.

By Joe Pantorno

Two Brooklyn residents and a Greene County resident were charged in connection with the use of Molotov cocktails — an improvised incendiary device — in an attempt to destroy NYPD vehicles during city-wide protests early Saturday morning.

Brooklyn residents Colinford Mattis, 32, and Urooj Rahman, 31, were arrested in a van early Saturday morning while allegedly in possession of explosive device components that included a lighter, a bottle filled with toilet paper, and “a liquid suspected to be gasoline,” per the US Department of Justice’s statement.

Their apprehension came just moments after Rahman threw a Molotov cocktail at an unoccupied NYPD vehicle near the 88th Precinct in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Samantha Shader, 27, of Catskill, NY, also allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD vehicle that contained four police officers.

Shader was caught on video by a witness igniting a Molotov cocktail and throwing it at the police vehicle in the vicinity of Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, shattering two of its windows. After she was apprehended by the officers, she admitted to the act.

“When you conduct a violent attack that breaks federal law, the FBI New York office, along with our NYPD and Department of Justice partners, will move with speed to hold you accountable,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge, William F. Sweeney Jr., said. “Behavior like the attacks charged here puts our entire community — protestors and first responders alike — in danger, and we will simply not allow it to go unaddressed.”

Mattis, Rahman, and Shader’s actions came while New York City — and the United States — is in the throes of unrest following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25.

The event, caught on video, sparked protests across the nation in major cities like Minneapolis, New York, and Los Angeles. Some of those demonstrations descended into clashes with local police.

If convicted, the trio faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.

“Molotov Cocktails are violent tools of individuals looking to inflict harm and

All three defendants will make a virtual court appearance on Monday.

By Mark Hallum

After an unusually volatile night in Brooklyn and Manhattan in which multiple police vehicles were torched by protestors and other shocking incidents, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed two key changes to policing on Sunday while generally giving cops the benefit of the doubt.

That was in stark contrast to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily press conference, which was a departure from delivering the usual COVID-19 figures – just 56 deaths on Saturday – as he put the focus to police violence in New York City the night before.

While acknowledging the “impossible situation” cops find themselves in once riots begin, Cuomo’s most scathing remarks were against brutality incidents that continue to create outrage in black and brown communities. He ordered a full review of the NYPD’s conduct in the riots Saturday night by Attorney General Letitia James with a 30-day deadline.

The demonstration was contentious and Cuomo said disturbing footage of a police SUV driving through a crowd on Flatbush Avenue and an officer pulling down the mask of a protestor in order to blast them with pepper spray were two topics he hoped the investigation would look into without “pulling any punches.”

“But their behavior is everything. I’ve seen those videos and those videos are truly disturbing. Some of those videos frankly are inexplicable to me,” Cuomo said.”I want an independent, informed review of what was done right, what was done wrong. I want that report in 30 days, I don’t want this to be another government ongoing report that comes out whenever everybody has moved on… Don’t pull any punches, tell the truth. Everybody saw the video, everybody wants an explanation.”

Cuomo ordered the attorney general to conduct the investigation under the belief that self-policing does not work, seeming to suggest that a local district attorney cannot be fair in a probe against the police force it has to deal with day-in, day-out.

“This is a moment of reform,” Cuomo said, after looking back over the decades since the Rodney King riots in April 1993.

This came in contrast to de Blasio’s statement just an hour earlier about the NYPD SUV incident, in which he seemed to take a stance against the protesters who were seen hurling objects at the vehicle.

“I want to remind people if those protestors had just gotten out of the way… we would not be talking about this situation,” de Blasio said.

According to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, there could have been more arrests over the course of the night and that NYPD would not tolerate violence or destruction of private property.

In regard to the police vehicle driving through the crowd in Brooklyn, the mayor was on the side of the police, for the most part, pointing to the rioters who threw multiple objects at the SUV. Shea said he was not pleased with footage, either. But he also distinguished the difference between a “protest and a mob.”

Union Square was a chaotic epicenter of destruction with three police vans being torched, about five others vandalized as well as a squad car at 11th and University Place. A most shocking incident on Flatbush Avenue saw an NYPD SUV driving through barriers and plowing into a crowd of protesters.

De Blasio’s morning presser centered around the 350 arrests made on Saturday night alone and that he would work toward two goals that he believes would be an improvement: cull NYPD officers from the force after an extensive review by Corporation Counsel Jim Johnson and city Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett. The second facet would be pressure Albany to repeal and replace 50-A.

The state law has proven contentious as it protects the identities of cops under investigation for various forms of misconduct. NYPD unions such as the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association and Sergeants’ Benevolent Association say repealing this law puts officers’ lives at risk.

According to Cuomo, the state National Guard will be on standby in other cities in anticipation of more demonstrations; Mayor de Blasio was resolute last night as well as this morning the NYPD would need no outside help.

Listen to amRUSH through your browser or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and on Google Play.

By Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech

New York City now faces a $9 billion budget deficit in the city’s $ 89.3 billion financial plan due to the novel coronavirus pandemic Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.

“We have to come to grips with the fact that on top of the healthcare crisis, on top of the economic crisis, we are now in a crisis here in the city,” said de Blasio. “Our fiscal situation has gotten worse… but it’s not shocking to me.”

“There is literally no way that we can solve this problem without federal help or without making very, very painful choices that will affect the quality of life in this city,” said de Blasio.

The mayor projected $ 7.4 billion in lost revenue because of the pandemic that the economic toll would last beyond the next fiscal year. In April, de Blasio’s preliminary 2021 city budget was $6 million less than what he proposed in January and included $ 2 billion in spending cuts to education, parks, healthcare, social services, law enforcement, transportation and housing.

With no help from the senate or the federal government insight and with the deadline to pass a 2021 fiscal year budget quickly approaching, the city called on Albany for a “safety net” and to provide borrowing authority. On Monday, state Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the state senate’s finance committee, introduced a bill that would allow the city to borrow up to $7 billion by authorizing the Transitional Finance Authority to issue debt to make up for potential losses in 2021.

“It’s not something we want to use or intend to use in the first instance, but it’s something we need as a last resort,” said de Blasio, citing former mayor Micheal Bloomberg’s borrowing request to Albany in the aftermath of 9/11 as precedent. De Blasio also used the New York state legislature’s approval of debt up to $ 11 billion another example.

“There was no debate, there was no fanfare, it was obviously the right thing to do,” said de Blasio. “This city has been smart with its stewardship of our resources, smart in the way we serve our people and grow our economy and we need to keep doing that.”

On Tuesday, when the mayor first mentioned plans to try to increase the city’s borrowing power, Governor Andrew Cuomo opposed the idea calling borrowing for operating expenses “fiscally questionable.”

By Todd Maisel

Protestors laid out mock “bodybags” at the gates of City Hall Wednesday morning to dramatize the plight of the homeless crowded into shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bags represented the estimated 80 homeless deaths that demonstrators claim were caused by the shelter system. They demanded that the city pay for 30,000 hotel rooms and end “NYPD/Department of Homeless Services sweeps that remove people from more undesirable locations including trains, storefronts and highways underpasses.”

VOCAL-NY, an organization advocating for low-income New Yorkers, put the protest together. About 30 protestors, most of whom socially distanced, lined up along the gates of City Hall, shouting slogans and called for the mayor to do more to house homeless people in better conditions.

Privately, they hoped to block the entrance to stop his vehicle motorcade into the City Hall gates to dramatize their plight and get his attention.

The mayor however entered through the Broadway gate, undeterred by the protest.

Police stood at the ready, but did not intervene in the peaceful protest. Instead, they advised demonstrators to wear masks and to properly social distance to avoid spreading COVID-19.

“We are asking the mayor to please open up those hotel rooms that are not being used because the city is shut down,” said Roberto Monguel, a homeless man and an advocate.  “In my shelter, we had six cases of COVID-19 alone and that’s not right. You would ask the staff about confirmed cases and they would nod in your face. It is not right for de Blasio to play dominos with people’s lives. At shelters, there is barely 36 inches between each bed. It is a war zone of contamination.”

Homeless advocates criticized the city’s removal of homeless from MTA trains at night, claiming the conditions they offer “are not safe.”

Gwendolyn Becker, a homeless advocate, said the city is taking people off the street, but putting them into unsafe conditions.

“The city is taking them off the streets and making them worse off than when they are in the shelters,” Becker said. “And what’s going on with the hospitals – when you go to the emergency room people are dying, then they go to the funeral home and nobody knows who anyone is. They are locking people up and putting them in jail just because they are homeless.”

Stories by Joe Pantorno

The good news keeps coming for the New York Islanders.

One of their most valuable defensemen in Adam Pelech, who went down with an Achilles injury in January, will be available to return as soon as team facilities are able to open, Islanders’ general manager Lou Lamoriello said on Wednesday afternoon.

“Adam is allowed to participate… as if the injury never took place,” Lamoriello said. “There’s no question his value to this team.”

“We will have every player available to us,” he added, which means the likes of Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, and Johnny Boychuk will be at full strength come July.

The 25-year-old Pelech was continuing his development as a legitimate top-pairing stay-at-home defenseman in the 38 games before his injury, posting nine points, a plus-4 rating, and a defensive points share of 2.2.

After what was described as a “freak” injury during warmups shortly after New Year’s Day, the Islanders’ defense — which was the NHL’s best last season — took a nosedive.

In the games Pelech played in, the Islanders conceded an average of 2.63 goals per game. In the 30 games without him, before play was suspended on March 12, that number shot up to 3.1.

While it might not seem like an enormous difference, it’s dramatic for an Islanders team that is one of the worst goal-scoring units in the NHL — and it showed in the standings.

The Islanders went 25-10-3 with Pelech in the lineup and were one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. After his loss, they went 10-13-7 to drop to seventh in the conference based on points percentage.

It earned them a play-in matchup with the No. 10 Florida Panthers in the best-of-five series to move on to the more traditional Eastern Conference quarterfinals — a format that was confirmed by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday.

“In my opinion and league have done a tremendous job in coming up with the best possible scenario they could to satisfy all the individual situation of each team barring none,” Lamoriello said. “I’m totally supportive of what the results were and just excited that we have a template to get back.”

Lamoriello was also able to confirm that construction on the Islanders’ new arena at Belmont Park resumed on Wednesday morning, exactly two months after on-site work was stopped due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is still on schedule for its October 2021 opening, too.

“We were ahead of schedule when this all took place,” Lamoriello said. “And I don’t believe there will be any hiccups.”

The Rangers couldn’t have asked for a better playoff opponent as a No. 11 seed.

That sentence would not have made any sense five months ago.

On Tuesday afternoon, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that the NHL would jump right into a 24-team postseason sometime in July.

With 12 playoff teams per conference, the Rangers just squeak in as an 11 seed where they will face the No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes in a best-of-five play-in round to determine who moves on to the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Based on the 2019-20 regular season, which ended on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s as good a draw as any for the Rangers.

They swept the Hurricanes in four games this season, outscoring them 17-9.

Like he did against most of the NHL, Artemi Panarin thrived against Carolina, posting three goals and six assists (nine points) in those four games while Mika Zibanejad added four goals and three assists (seven points).

It will be those two who will be tasked in getting the Rangers’ offense back up to speed, which will be no easy task after what will be an unexpected four-month hiatus.

But the biggest question that will be on head coach David Quinn’s mind when he begins ramping up for that best-of-five series is which goalie he’ll start.

Rookie netminder Igor Shesterkin was a stalwart in the crease when he made his jump to the NHL in January.

He went 10-2-0 in 12 starts with a sterling .932 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average. That included a win over the Hurricanes on Feb. 21 when he stopped 27 of 29 shots in a 5-2 win.

Normally, those numbers would make him the clear-cut choice to start things off for the Rangers in the postseason. After all, it’s usually the team with the hot goalie that goes the farthest.

However, the aging Henrik Lundqvist, who has taken a backseat in Quinn’s three-goalie tandem that includes Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev, has been almost unbeatable against the Hurricanes over his Hall-of-Fame career.

In 46 games, he’s 33-12-1 with a .934 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.

Despite a career-worst season in 2019-20, he was still money against Carolina, going 3-0-0 with a .947 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average.

Add in his lengthy postseason resume with 128 appearances and 61 wins and Quinn’s decision on who starts between the pipes is going to be a difficult one.

Listen to amRUSH through your browser or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and on Google Play.

Stories by Joe Pantorno

The good news keeps coming for the New York Islanders.

One of their most valuable defensemen in Adam Pelech, who went down with an Achilles injury in January, will be available to return as soon as team facilities are able to open, Islanders’ general manager Lou Lamoriello said on Wednesday afternoon.

“Adam is allowed to participate… as if the injury never took place,” Lamoriello said. “There’s no question his value to this team.”

“We will have every player available to us,” he added, which means the likes of Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, and Johnny Boychuk will be at full strength come July.

The 25-year-old Pelech was continuing his development as a legitimate top-pairing stay-at-home defenseman in the 38 games before his injury, posting nine points, a plus-4 rating, and a defensive points share of 2.2.

After what was described as a “freak” injury during warmups shortly after New Year’s Day, the Islanders’ defense — which was the NHL’s best last season — took a nosedive.

In the games Pelech played in, the Islanders conceded an average of 2.63 goals per game. In the 30 games without him, before play was suspended on March 12, that number shot up to 3.1.

While it might not seem like an enormous difference, it’s dramatic for an Islanders team that is one of the worst goal-scoring units in the NHL — and it showed in the standings.

The Islanders went 25-10-3 with Pelech in the lineup and were one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. After his loss, they went 10-13-7 to drop to seventh in the conference based on points percentage.

It earned them a play-in matchup with the No. 10 Florida Panthers in the best-of-five series to move on to the more traditional Eastern Conference quarterfinals — a format that was confirmed by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday.

“In my opinion and league have done a tremendous job in coming up with the best possible scenario they could to satisfy all the individual situation of each team barring none,” Lamoriello said. “I’m totally supportive of what the results were and just excited that we have a template to get back.”

Lamoriello was also able to confirm that construction on the Islanders’ new arena at Belmont Park resumed on Wednesday morning, exactly two months after on-site work was stopped due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is still on schedule for its October 2021 opening, too.

“We were ahead of schedule when this all took place,” Lamoriello said. “And I don’t believe there will be any hiccups.”

The Rangers couldn’t have asked for a better playoff opponent as a No. 11 seed.

That sentence would not have made any sense five months ago.

On Tuesday afternoon, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that the NHL would jump right into a 24-team postseason sometime in July.

With 12 playoff teams per conference, the Rangers just squeak in as an 11 seed where they will face the No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes in a best-of-five play-in round to determine who moves on to the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Based on the 2019-20 regular season, which ended on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s as good a draw as any for the Rangers.

They swept the Hurricanes in four games this season, outscoring them 17-9.

Like he did against most of the NHL, Artemi Panarin thrived against Carolina, posting three goals and six assists (nine points) in those four games while Mika Zibanejad added four goals and three assists (seven points).

It will be those two who will be tasked in getting the Rangers’ offense back up to speed, which will be no easy task after what will be an unexpected four-month hiatus.

But the biggest question that will be on head coach David Quinn’s mind when he begins ramping up for that best-of-five series is which goalie he’ll start.

Rookie netminder Igor Shesterkin was a stalwart in the crease when he made his jump to the NHL in January.

He went 10-2-0 in 12 starts with a sterling .932 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average. That included a win over the Hurricanes on Feb. 21 when he stopped 27 of 29 shots in a 5-2 win.

Normally, those numbers would make him the clear-cut choice to start things off for the Rangers in the postseason. After all, it’s usually the team with the hot goalie that goes the farthest.

However, the aging Henrik Lundqvist, who has taken a backseat in Quinn’s three-goalie tandem that includes Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev, has been almost unbeatable against the Hurricanes over his Hall-of-Fame career.

In 46 games, he’s 33-12-1 with a .934 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.

Despite a career-worst season in 2019-20, he was still money against Carolina, going 3-0-0 with a .947 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average.

Add in his lengthy postseason resume with 128 appearances and 61 wins and Quinn’s decision on who starts between the pipes is going to be a difficult one.

Listen to amRUSH through your browser or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and on Google Play.

By Joe Pantorno

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman officially announced hockey’s return-to-play format that would conclude the 2019-20 season. 

While no concrete date for a return has been set, the NHL will jump directly into a 24-team, expanded postseason format that will see 12 teams per conference admitted into the Stanley Cup Playoffs based on their point percentage when play was halted on March 12 due to coronavirus. 

The top four seeds in each division would get a bye into the quarterfinals while seeds 5-12 will partake in a best-of-five play-in series to decide the more traditional eight-team-per-conference format.

The matchups would be as follows while the top-four seeds play a round-robin tournament to set the final rankings heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

Top Seeds to receive bye

Play-in Series

No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens

No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 11 New York Rangers

No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers

No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets

Top Seeds to receive bye

Play-in series

No. 5 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks

No. 6 Nashville Predators vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes

No. 7 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 10 Minnesota Wild

No. 8 Calgary Flames vs. No. 9 Winnipeg Jets

Two hub cities will host the playoffs, one city per conference. It is unclear which cities will be awarded those responsibilities at this time.

Bettman did reveal that 10 cities are in the mix to host hockey this summer: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Vancouver.

The seven teams that did not make the playoffs and the eight teams that will be eliminated in the play-in round will be subject to a three-phased NHL Draft Lottery to decipher the top three selections.

If three non-playoff teams win top-three picks at the Phase 1 lottery on June 26, there will be no need for a Phase 2 or Phase 3 draw.

If a resuming team is included, however, a Phase 2 lottery would take place after the qualifying round.

After initial reports suggested the NHL would have a draft in early June despite play having not returned and the selection order undecided, momentum is growing that the lottery will be held at the end of June with draft taking place after that.

At the moment, the NHL is ramping up for Phase 2 of its return, which features teams reporting to their facilities for workouts. The hope is that phase will begin in early June.

Phase 3, which is training camp, will not start until at least July which will be followed by Phase 4, the resumption of play.

By Alex Mitchell

WTT announced on Tuesday that its usually post-Wimbledon, summer season will kickoff on Sunday, July 12, playing all of its 66 matches through Sunday, August 2 at The Greenbrier mountain resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Unlike other professional sports that plan to return to action over the next few months, this WTT season will allow fans to attend — at a twenty percent capacity in accordance with state health guidelines.

(Courtesy of WTT)

That one fifth allowance of spectators is expected to be about 500 people, the league anticipates.

“We’re relying on the state to not open if it’s not safe,” WTT CEO Carlos Silva told amNewYork Metro last week about a criteria to have a tennis season this summer, adding that the league has been in talks with White House task forces on executing these live matches properly.

The league, which is known for its variety of play style ranging from mixed doubles to single matches all in one outing additionally announced that “WTT will engage with its teams and league and venue personnel in conducting all necessary testing and screening for COVID-19, as well as outfitting all parties with the personal protective equipment necessary to conduct its 2020 season matches.”

While currently navigating ways to bring international players who are currently out of the United States to White Sulphur Springs, Silva also noted that roster spots for WTT have been in high demand over the past few weeks.

“Almost every player in the world has called and said can I jump in and get on a team in World Team Tennis,” the CEO said.

If WTT does a ‘last minute’ increase to its talent pool, those athletes would join the ranks of 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens playing for the league’s newly incepted Chicago Smash and the Empire’s doubles specialist Neal Skupski, who took home the title of male MVP last summer, along with other top calibur players.

Last season also featured Venus Williams playing for the Washington Kastles and John Isner for New York, whom had both told the Bronx Times how WTT helps players adjust from grass at Wimbledon to a hardcourt surface for the US Open last year.

(File/The Bronxer)

As for this summer’s format, the WTT schedule will hold a minimum of three matches per day on the 2,500 seat outdoor court with a plan to install a backup, indoor option as well, the league announced.

The championship prize money will also be bumped to a record $5 million with an added $1 million awarded in WTT playoffs compensation.

That includes a $500,000 bonus for the team to hoist the King Trophy in early August.

The New York Empire, who call the Bronx’s Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning home enter this season after pulling off an improbable finals run, consecutively twice upsetting the top ranked Philadelphia Freedoms to clinch a playoff spot in the final match of the regular season — doing the same days in the semi-final round for the King Trophy.

It was a run that Silva and 2019 Empire head coach Luke Jensen still talk about to date.

Matches for the 2020 WTT season will be broadcast on CBS, CBS Sports Network, Tennis Channel, ESPN+ and WTT.com.

Listen to amRUSH through your browser or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and on Google Play.

Listen to amRUSH through your browser or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and on Google Play.

Listen to amRUSH through your browser or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and on Google Play.