New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that an Orthodox Brooklyn synagogue would be fined $15,000 for hosting a secret wedding packed with thousands of maskless guests, CBS New York reported. (See video of the wedding below.)
“That was amazingly irresponsible, just unacceptable,” the mayor told NY1, threatening “additional consequences.”
Footage of the Nov. 8 nuptials at Yetev Lev temple in Brooklyn, obtained by the New York Post, showed celebrants singing and dancing shoulder to shoulder in a synagogue that reportedly seats 7,000. Most appear to be without masks and ignore social distance guidelines to control the spread of COVID-19.
The Post reported the lengths the synagogue went to stage the clandestine ceremony ― in which the head rabbi’s grandson got married ― in defiance of coronavirus restrictions. The strategy included word-of-mouth correspondence to avoid detection by the city, where large gatherings are banned.
A resurgence of coronavirus has gripped New York, along with much of the country.
The Daily Beast noted that before de Blasio’s announcement, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo attempted to stop another potential superspreading event at an upstate synagogue.
New York has been at odds with segments of the Orthodox community over adherence to safety guidelines.
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