Orthodox Jews Protest in Brooklyn Against Measures to Curb Coronavirus | The NY Journal

Photo:
EPA / JUSTIN LANE / EFE

Hundreds of members of the Orthodox Jewish community took to the streets of Brooklyn last night in a new protest against the restrictions announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to curb outbreaks of COVID-19.

Members of the Borough Park Orthodox community protested along Kingston Avenue over the impact of restrictions on places of worship. At least a garbage fire started in the middle of the street.

“His rhetoric in recent days has been irresponsible and pejorative, particularly for a community of Holocaust survivors and their descendants, for whom his language recalled past verbal attacks on Jewish communities,” reads a statement against Cuomo signed by State Senator Simcha Felder, State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, and Councilors Kalman Yeger and Chaim Deutsch.

“Governor Cuomo’s choice to highlight a particular religious group, with a photo slideshow to highlight his point, was outrageous,” they complained.

Several journalists and Jewish neighbors were attacked by the crowd. New York Post identified the victims as Jacob Kornbluh, Bruce Schaff and Berish Getz.

Kornbluh said protesters They yelled at him that he was a “Nazi” and “Hitler” as he was being chased during the second night of rioting over local government attempts to stop the growing cases of COVID-19 in a wide swath of Brooklyn.

Music was also played at full volume while hundreds of people, many without masks, danced in the streets, detailed Fox News.

The restrictions announced by Cuomo were targeting “COVID-19 hotspots” in Brooklyn, Queens, Broome, Orange and Rockland counties. They will remain in force for 14 days and involve limiting access to places of worship in affected areas.

“Our strategy is to crush the cluster and stop the spread, and we are announcing a special initiative to do just that ”, Cuomo justified.

Jewish reporter attacked, called ‘Nazi’ at Orthodox protest in NYC https://t.co/mdMgfQc6UR pic.twitter.com/1B2qI1Zxql

– New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) October 8, 2020

Hundreds protest in Brooklyn over new COVID restrictions https://t.co/fP6f4XUFVz

– Fox5NY (@ fox5ny) October 7, 2020