New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio censured the local Jewish community Tuesday night for attending a funeral gathering during the coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
“Something absolutely unacceptable happened in Williamsburg tonite: a large gathering in the middle of this pandemic,” the mayor tweeted at around 9:30 p.m.
Something absolutely unacceptable happened in Williamsburg tonite: a large funeral gathering in the middle of this pandemic. When I heard, I went there myself to ensure the crowd was dispersed. And what I saw WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
The funeral was for a rabbi who had died of coronavirus and was held in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, the New York Times reported.
The authorities have dispersed several religious gatherings since restrictions were put in place banning large meetings to slow the spread of the virus. In New York, weddings and funerals in neighborhoods with large Jewish populations were broken up.
“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” said de Blasio. “I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups.”
My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
The episode Tuesday appeared to have been the first time de Blasio had directly participated in a dispersal, according to Yeshiva World, which was involved in the rabbi’s funeral, the New York Times reported.
We have lost so many these last two months + I understand the instinct to gather to mourn. But large gatherings will only lead to more deaths + more families in mourning. We will not allow this. I have instructed the NYPD to have one standard for this whole city: zero tolerance.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
The website also calls out the mayor’s alleged double standard.
“But where was the NYPD and Mayor de Blasio when tens of thousands of New Yorkers were packed into parks and other locations to watch the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels today?” (RELATED: Report: FBI Says Racist Extremists Are Encouraging Each Other To Spread Coronavirus To Jews And Cops)
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also questioned whether the mayor would’ve worded his statement differently had it been a different group or religious minority instead of the Jewish community.
Would DeBlasio have sent this identical tweet with the word “Jewish” replaced by any other religious minority? If not, why not? Laws should be enforced neutrally w/o targeting religious faith. #ProtectFreeExercise https://t.co/dMVcX0bin4
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 29, 2020
People gathered on city streets and in New York parks to watch the Blue Angels flyover, many in close proximity to each other and not wearing masks.
The Blue Angels flyover in NY City today was beautiful, but I didn’t see any outrage over the lack of social distancing. That reaction is reserved for Jewish weddings & funerals. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but only one wrong makes the news and the condemnation of politicians. pic.twitter.com/PIxDoE0TVE
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) April 29, 2020
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), also responded on Twitter, expressing the danger of “generalizing” the Jewish community.
Hey @NYCMayor, there are 1mil+ Jewish people in #NYC. The few who don’t social distance should be called out — but generalizing against the whole population is outrageous especially when so many are scapegoating Jews. This erodes the very unity our city needs now more than ever. https://t.co/jcYO9QQred
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) April 29, 2020
A Democratic city council member who represents a section of Brooklyn with a large Orthodox Jewish population expressed his disbelief of the mayor’s statement on Twitter, writing “This has to be a joke.”
What???
This has to be a joke. Did the Mayor of NYC really just single out one specific ethnic community (a community that has been the target of increasing hate crimes in HIS city) as being noncompliant?? Has he been to a park lately? (What am I saying – of course he has!) https://t.co/LYKnUZm2Mc
— Councilman Deutsch (@ChaimDeutsch) April 29, 2020