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A Brooklyn synagogue has been fined $ 15,000 for violating coronavirus restrictions after a video was released showing people standing side-by-side and seemingly without masks at a huge secret Hasidic wedding.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the fine at a press conference on Tuesday and condemned the big event as “unacceptable.”
The wedding took place on Nov. 8 at the Yetev Lev D’Satmar Synagogue in the Williamsburg neighborhood, according to the New York Post, which posted a video showing the crowd jumping, dancing and singing during the event. The video does not show people wearing masks.
Calls to the synagogue on Wednesday were not immediately returned.
The synagogue has a maximum capacity of 7,000 people, although it is not known exactly how many were at the wedding.
The mayor said on Tuesday that they were still trying to determine the final number of participants.
“What we do know is definitely that there were too many people,” he said. “Whatever number – be it hundreds, thousands – it was too many people. And it seems there was a very conscious effort to hide what was going on. And that’s what it was. makes it even more unacceptable. “
Organizers have kept details of the wedding planning secret so as not to attract attention, according to The New York Times, citing Yiddish weekly Der Blatt. Guests were informed of the upcoming nuptials by word of mouth and no posters or notices regarding the wedding were left on the walls of the synagogue, the Times reported.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that a marriage had been stopped at the synagogue before and that if they kept it a secret to prevent this from happening again, “that would be really shocking.”
“It’s illegal. It was also disrespectful to the people of New York,” Cuomo said.
De Blasio said that in addition to the fine, a cease and desist letter was placed on the building and if it was again found in violation of the restrictions, the synagogue would be closed permanently.
“We don’t want to see this happen to anyone, but we have to be very, very clear that if people are doing something dangerous, we cannot allow it to happen,” the mayor said.
The wedding took place in New York, and every other state across the country, struggling with an increase in Covid-19 cases. In a Cuomo update posted wednesday, New York has reported 6,265 positive cases and 41 deaths.
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