Harry Tischler(middle), Trump Supporter gathered along the Orthodox Jews crowd. Stephen Lovekin/Rex/Shutterstock-New York Times
Last Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered schools and unnecessary businesses in different parts of Brooklyn and Queens to shut down because a potential second wave of coronavirus was linked to the Orthodox Jew community.
Throughout the summer, Orthodox Jews living in New York City, especially in Brooklyn, have been continuing their everyday activities like visiting synagogues. Unfortunately, many have been seen without masks, which became an issue because cases of the coronavirus increased in those communities. According to NYTimes’s Liam Stack and Joseph Goldstein, “In response, the city’s new health commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi, held an urgent conference call with Orthodox Jewish news outlets to warn of rising transmission and to express concern that public health advice was not being diligently followed in these communities.”
This warning did not sit well with Orthodox Jews. They believed the same attention and concern was not stressed about the number of people taking part in Black Lives Matter movement since May.
Recently, there was a riot in Borough Park in regards to the new safety restrictions that will be in action in these communities. According to NBC News’s Corky Siemaszko, “The fury was fueled by new restrictions that Cuomo unveiled Tuesday to combat a sudden rise in Covid-19 cases in the insular New York City neighborhoods where Orthodox Jews predominate and where there has been some resistance to wearing masks and other measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.”
Even though areas in Brooklyn are affected by the lack of health restrictions taken by Orthodox Jews, communities in Queens are suffering from similar issues and could affect families like Hannelore Thomas’.
Thomas has been living in Saint Albans, Queens her entire life and shares a concern about the populations of Orthodox Jews around her community. “Saint Albans is close to Cambria Heights, which is saturated with Orthodox Jews, especially during holidays. Personally, I have not been in those areas because I wanted to stay safe,” says Thomas.
Proper health practices need to be taken in New York City communities. If this continues, more serious repercussions are going to be imposed on those who do not follow the new protocol. According to Wall Street Journal’s Katie Honan and Paul Berger, “The city will start enforcing the new restrictions on Thursday, the mayor said. Not wearing a mask could lead to a fine of up to $1,000, and a mass gathering could result in a violation of up to $15,000,” a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio.
Although many Orthodox Jew communities around Brooklyn and Queens believe the increase number of COVID cases were more substantial during the Black Lives Matter movement, many reports have said otherwise. According to ABC7 News’ Danielle Leigh, “The National Bureau of Economic Research also looked at protests and infection rates in major cities around the country and found that “protests had trivial effect on the spread of COVID-19 for the entire population.’’
Hopefully, the new restrictions applied to New York City from Governor Andrew Cuomo will be followed by everyone, including the Orthodox Jews.
