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What there is to know
- A Brooklyn synagogue is set to be investigated over reports it hosted a secret wedding with thousands of guests unmasked earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday.
- The New York Post reported that guests, mostly unmasked, crowded inside the Yetev Lev Temple in Williamsburg for the November 8 wedding.
- A man who answered the phone at the synagogue on Sunday said officials had no comment
A Brooklyn synagogue is set to be investigated over reports it hosted a secret wedding with thousands of guests unmasked earlier this month, New York Gov. Andrew said on Sunday. Cuomo.
“If that happened, it was blatant disregard for the law,” Cuomo said at a briefing in New York. “It’s illegal. It was also disrespectful to the people of New York.
The New York Post reported that guests, mostly unmasked, crowded inside the Yetev Lev temple in Williamsburg for the November 8 wedding of Yoel Teitelbaum, a grandson of Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelman, in blatant violation of coronavirus restrictions that ban large indoor gatherings. The synagogue has a capacity of 7,000 people.
Organizers kept the marriage a secret after state officials called off an earlier marriage to Satmar, the Post reported, citing Yiddish newspaper Der Blatt.
“If it turns out that because we stopped this marriage the reaction was, ‘Well, we’re having a secret wedding,’ that would be really shocking and totally misleading,” Cuomo said. “It’s illegal and the city should conduct a thorough investigation,” he added.
A spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was investigating.
A man who answered the phone at the synagogue on Sunday said officials had no comment.
Compliance with coronavirus restrictions in some New York Orthodox Jewish communities has been a problem since the pandemic began last spring.
COVID-19 hotspots in New York City are largely Orthodox Jewish strongholds, and some members of the community are complaining that they were selected for the app.
Protests erupted in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn last month after Cuomo announced a crackdown on several Orthodox neighborhoods as cases of the virus increased. Many members of the Orthodox communities have complained of being targeted.
Cuomo has warned all New Yorkers to avoid social gatherings during the holidays. “The problem is, it’s a dangerous time because you’ve by definition increased social activity,” he said.
Virus levels will likely increase by New Year’s Day, Cuomo said.
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