Kristen Dalton
Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The mayor called a gathering in Williamsburg on Tuesday night for a prominent rabbi frustrating and said the Jewish community has been given enough warnings.
What appeared to be hundreds of Hasidic men and women gathered in the streets to mourn Rabbi Chaim Mertz, who succumbed to the coronavirus at age 73.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he went to make sure the crowd was dispersed as soon as he heard about the gatherings and sent out a number of tweets condemning the behavior after the incident.
“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” de Blasio tweeted. “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.”
The mayor said he understands the need people feel to mourn those who we’ve lost, however, large gatherings will only multiply that by leading to more deaths and mourning.
https://twitter.com/ReuvenBlau/status/1255290725744418816
He said he’s instructed the NYPD to take a “zero tolerance” approach and that the next gathering will be met with more summonses and arrests without any additional warnings.
During Wednesday’s daily press conference, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said what happened in Williamsburg “simply cannot happen.”
“That event last night never should’ve happened. It better not happen again,” Shea said.
The commissioner said nearly a dozen summonses were issued for failure to disperse and violating social distancing orders.
https://twitter.com/ReuvenBlau/status/1255294406300753924
Hizzoner said he’s worked with community leaders and given numerous warnings about large gatherings, even if it’s for religious services.
“What is so frustrating to me is after all those messages were so clear that so many people would still choose to gather and I understand that they lost someone very dear and important to them but this is still a pandemic and people’s lives are put in danger when people gather,” de Blasio said.