New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has a Jew problem. It’s undeniable at this point that the leader of the city with the largest Jewish community outside of Israel has a problem with Jews and no qualms using the power at his disposal to target the Jewish community.
Less than a month ago, the mayor targeted the Jewish community directly, addressing a funeral of a prominent rabbi that he sent the New York Police Department to break up. What de Blasio didn’t disclose was the fact that the NYPD worked with the Jewish community ahead of time to plan the funeral in order to make sure mourners could pay their respects safely. During this crisis, the NYPD has been holding funerals for their own fallen comrades.
My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. 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.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
Days later, after the furor over de Blasio’s comments died down, he quietly and half-heartedly apologized for singling out the Jewish community for mourning their dead while New Yorkers in every borough were spending the weekend crowded in parks and large groups. It was one of those “I’m sorry if you were offended” kinds of apologies that makes clear that he was never actually sorry, and a new tweet from the mayor makes that clear.
Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I can’t stress how dangerous this is for our young people. We’re issuing a Cease and Desist Order and will make sure we keep our communities and our kids safe.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 18, 2020
This is now a frightening pattern of behavior: While across the city rules regarding social distancing and business closures are being ignored and authorities are looking the other way, the mayor has decided to use the powers at his disposal to target one community publicly and specifically: the Jewish community.
This is #NYC tonight. Manhattan, not a right wing backwater. People are ready to start reopening and our businesses and workers need it. We need to see some urgency – not blue ribbon commissions, business czars, & bureaucracy – just reasonable guidelines that we can safely follow pic.twitter.com/ZLzuMmafFK
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) May 16, 2020
Out of all the guideline violations happening across the city, de Blasio chooses to target Jewish schoolchildren. I wonder why?
This comes on the heels of years of increases in anti-Semitic violence in New York, where spikes reached levels that are unheard of in the rest of the country. In the time between de Blasio’s first targeting of the Jewish community and the most recent tweet yesterday, a couple were arrested for an attack on a group of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn.
The New York Post reported on the incident:
The couple spotted the crowd as they drove and got out of their vehicle before allegedly shouting anti-Semitic slurs to the group of Jews gathered outside, accusing some of not wearing masks or adhering to social-distancing guidelines, police said.
‘You’re the reason why we’re getting sick,’ they shouted, in sum and substance, according to police.
Paulo Pinho, who called cops on the crowd, then approached three Hasidic men and tried to rip off their masks, setting off a fight outside. The pair was detained by the crowd until cops arrived and took them into custody, police said.
In response, de Blasio called the attack “absolutely unacceptable.” He said, “We don’t accept bias in New York City … we don’t accept hate in any form.”
But this is de Blasio’s New York, and it’s time for him to own it.
When the mayor repeatedly singles out one community and one community only, even though that community is 98% compliant with regulations, he’s putting fuel on the fire. The Jewish community in Brooklyn and Queens especially, were some of the hardest hit; there are few who understand the severity of the coronavirus more than religious Jews living in New York City.
Why is it that the mayor finds a group of children quietly studying Jewish religious texts so scary? I think we know the answer.
