Officers from the NYPD’s 81st Precinct on Monday around noon time raided the Nitra Yeshiva, on Madison St. near Ralph Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which had been operating with more than 60 children despite the NY State coronavirus lockdown orders. The raid followed a 311 complaint by a neighbor.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Monday: “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.”
Apparently, Twitter adds 10 kids to your roster.
The Mayor also said the city would make sure the school in Bedford-Stuyvesant not reopen as long as the stay-at-home order is in effect.
According to the NY Times, Chassidic parents in Brooklyn have been complaining that yeshivas continue to operate in secret, and that parents are under “strong social pressure” to send their children there, even though spending long hours in crowded classrooms with fellow students from the most highly infected community in the United States could end up infecting and even killing them and their family members.
In late April, Mayor Blasio issued his infamous tweet: “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.”
The mayor personally oversaw the police dispersal of a funeral crowd in Williamsburg, despite the fact that the event had received a police permit. Two days later, the NYPD issued five fire code violations and six summonses to large groups in two Chassidic synagogues in Williamsburg: Yitav Lev d’Satmar and Darkei Tshuva of Dinov. Their doors were chained shut and police covered the windows with black garbage bags. According to a police official, more than 100 children were located in one of those synagogues.
