Watch New York Couple Marry Via Video Conference on Local News (Video)

A Brooklyn couple got married on the local news Thursday morning. Via videoconference.

Life in the time of the coronavirus pandemic is all about finding innovative ways to keep on living as normally as possible during quarantine, which is just what bride Julie Raskin and groom Matthew Haicken did with help from local station NY1, even as their August wedding plans were destroyed.

“Mornings on 1” anchor Pat Kiernan officiated the wedding over Zoom, which was held just under two weeks after Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order allowing videoconference weddings in the state. Kiernan is a certified officiant and tweeted April 18, “If your routine as a couple includes spending mornings with NY1 and you’re looking to make it official, let’s try to make it happen.” Kiernan donned a tux for the special event.

Also Read: Fox News' Feel-Good Coronavirus Special 'America Together' Nets Over 1 Million Viewers

The witnesses were co-hosts Jamie Stelter and Annika Pergament, two longtime fixtures on NY1 (where, full disclosure, this author once worked). Pergament heralded the 9 a.m. ET nuptials as “a bright spot” in the pandemic while Stelter gushed about how excited the morning show crew was that the couple “let” them share the special day.

The on-air talents, all broadcasting from their homes around the city, weren’t the only people excited by the wedding.

“I am loving this wedding on @NY1! Thank you for sharing such a happy moment,” NFL.com’s Julie Battista tweeted to the couple. Another NY1 viewer called themselves “the biggest dork” for “already tearing up” before the ceremony. Dozens of comments on the Facebook live feed poured in, too: “Congratulations!” “Mazel tov!”

New York City Council Speaker Cory Johnson tweeted a picture of his television, writing, “Love. We love to see it. We might have to celebrate it a little differently now, but it’s still a beautiful, moving experience. I hope this inspires New Yorkers to take advantage of the city’s new online marriage services! Mazel tov Matthew and Julie!”

In a statement to TheWrap, Stelter — who’s been with the local channel for almost 10 years — reflected on being a part of the wedding: “I’m verklempt. That was exactly what New Yorkers needed right now. Some joy. Some love. Something to celebrate. And it was so quintessentially New York — with their Brooklyn Bridge tiling and Pat Kiernan as the officiant. It’ll go down as one of my favorite mornings on NY1.”

Watch the ceremony below:

Julie and Matt, we now pronounce you husband and wife. #OneNewYork pic.twitter.com/O0nvWcHgR5

— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) April 30, 2020

These Celebrities Reached Into Their Pockets to Help Us Get Through the Pandemic (Photos)

As the number of people sickened by COVID-19 continues to rise, there is certainly no shortage of kind acts from people helping others get through the pandemic. And that includes celebrities and Hollywood artists social distancing like the rest of us. These famous do-gooders are reaching into their own pockets to make life under quarantine just a little bit easier.
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Oprah Winfrey announced on social media that she is donating $10 million to relief efforts, with $1 million of that specifically helping people who are struggling to buy food during the pandemic.
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Rihanna’s charitable organization Clara Lionel Foundation made a commitment of $5 million that will go to U.S. food banks as well as to helping advance testing in at-risk communities both in the U.S. and in Haiti and Malawi. The foundation — along with Twitter's Jack Dorsey — also partnered with the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles and committed $2.1 million toward shelter, meals and counseling for victims of domestic violence. The fund, combined with Dorsey's contribution, totals $4.2 million.
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10-time Grammy-winner Taylor Swift has been quietly contacting people on social media who have said they've been struggling to pay bills during the pandemic. Those users then shared screenshots of Swift making donations to them of several thousand dollars each.
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TV host Kelly Ripa and husand Mark Consuelos donated $1 million to both the New York governor’s office, for the purchase of ventilators, and WIN, a New York-based organization that provides shelters to homeless women and children.
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Writer Roxane Gay has tweeted several times during the pandemic asking for those struggling to pay bills during the pandemic to share their mobile payment handle to receive personal donations from her.
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Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively announced on social media that they donated $1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.
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Pop star Ariana Grande said in her Instagram Stories that she had made donations to several organizations, including Opportunity Fund, GiveDirectly, Feeding America, Croce Rossa Italiana and the World Health Organization.
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A physician in Los Angeles, Dr. Thais Aliabad, wrote on Instagram that Kylie Jenner, one of her patients, had "donated $1,000,000 to help us buy hundreds of thousands of masks, face shields, and other protective gear."
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NFL player Drew Brees told TMZ that he's donating $5 million to the state of Louisiana to help with the coronavirus relief efforts.
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Oscar-winning actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie donated $1 million to No Kid Hungry to help provide meals for children in low-income families, the organization said in a statement.
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Country music legend Dolly Parton said on Instagram that she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt's research for a COVID-19 cure.
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Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation matched Rihanna's donation of $1 million to relief efforts.
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Bruno Mars, who has a residency in Las Vegas, donated $1 million to the MGM Resorts Foundation to help MGM employees in the city who lost work due to the pandemic, his representative said, according to E News.
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The players, coaches and owners of the Golden State Warriors announced they are donating $1 million to help employees at the Chase Center who lost work because of canceled NBC games.
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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg partnered with a Silicon Valley food bank to put $5.5 million toward creating the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Feeding Families.
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Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said on his platform that he is donating $1 billion in shares of his other company Square Inc. to help fund relief efforts. Dorsey said it is about 28% of his wealth. After "we disarm the pandemic," Dorsey said, the money will also help fund girls' health and education, as well as universal basic income.

Along with Rihanna's charitable foundation, committed $2.1 million toward shelter, meals and counseling for victims of domestic violence for a total $4.2 million grant.
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said on Instagram that he is giving $100 million to Feeding America, an organization with more than 200 food banks across the country.
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Beyonce's BeyGOOD foundation also partnered with Jack Dorsey, teaming up with his #startsmall initiative to donate $6 million to local community organizations so they can provide necessities like food, cleaning supplies, protective gear, medicines and more.
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Greg Berlanti pledged $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds that will go directly to the 5,000 staffers working on the 17 series currently in play at Berlanti Productions, as well as others in the entertainment industry that have been affected by the shutdown. He announced the gesture in a company-wide memo on April 29
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There is certainly no shortage of kind acts from people helping others get through the coronavirus pandemic, and that includes celebrities and Hollywood artists social distancing like the rest of us

As the number of people sickened by COVID-19 continues to rise, there is certainly no shortage of kind acts from people helping others get through the pandemic. And that includes celebrities and Hollywood artists social distancing like the rest of us. These famous do-gooders are reaching into their own pockets to make life under quarantine just a little bit easier.

View In Gallery

These Celebrities Reached Into Their Pockets to Help Us Get Through the Pandemic (Photos)

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