New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo used a 14-year-old picture of an Orthodox Jewish gathering to attack the community during an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in his state.
Cuomo showed two pictures, which he claimed were “just from the past couple of weeks.” He said:
“We know there have been mass gatherings going on in concert with religious institutions in these communities for weeks,” Cuomo said during a news briefing addressing COVID-19 outbreaks in certain areas of the Empire State.On display beside the gov was a slideshow with images purporting to be of recent packed events in the Orthodox community, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Orange County.
But one of the photos is from 2006 during “the 2006 funeral of revered Hassidic rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum in the Orange County village of Kiryas Joel.”
Cuomo’s staff caught the mistake during the briefing.
Then Cuomo said:
“I have to say to the Orthodox community tomorrow, ‘If you’re not willing to live with these rules, then I’m going to close the synagogues.'”
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has attacked the Orthodox community numerous times during the pandemic.
De Blasio wants “to close public schools and nonessential businesses in nine areas of the city.”
Cuomo said he would “move up the timeline to close public schools to Tuesday.” But he “questioned the need to close nonessential businesses at all.”
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