New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo displayed a 2006 image of Jews congregating to single out the religious community when warning that enhanced lockdown measures are likely to come if the gatherings persist.
“We know religious institutions have been a problem,” Cuomo said during a Monday press conference. “These are pictures from the past couple of weeks. And these are just emblematic. … What did you think was going to happen?”
Apparently the picture @NYGovCuomo put up in his presentation today of a “recent” large gathering in Satmar Kiryas Joel is from 2006 — the funeral of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum in Kiryas Joel! pic.twitter.com/CxGtHhyZUj
— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) October 5, 2020
The images Cuomo displayed, however, are more than a decade old, from the funeral of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, who died in 2006.
Cuomo’s comments came as the New York governor also declared the state was taking over coronavirus lockdown enforcement from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who tried to selectively reimpose tight restrictions on several zip codes only to be overruled by Cuomo. Several schools in hot-spot areas, however, will be shut down starting Tuesday. Cuomo gave no date for reopening.
While the governor issued no new restrictions on New York City’s religious institutions, Cuomo plans to meet with community leaders Tuesday and is prepared to shut down houses of worship if he thinks state guidelines aren’t being followed.
