NEW York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has slammed a Hasidic synagogue in Brooklyn for hosting a “secret” ceremony which was attended by 7,000 guests.
Videos show a packed wedding in clear defiance of coronavirus safety restrictions as the state — which was the epicentre of the first wave — deals with a resurgence in Covid-19 cases.
Cuomo blasted the nuptials as “a blatant disregard of the law”, which could have been a coronavirus super-spreader event.
Videos show a packed Satmar synagogue in clear defiance of coronavirus safety restrictions as thousands of maskless guests danced and sang at the top of their voices.
He said: “It’s illegal. It was also disrespectful to the people of New York.
“The law protects everybody. It protects you, but it also protects me.”
Cuomo is now urging the city’s mayor Bill de Blasio to conduct “a robust investigation” of the wedding, which was held at the Yetev Lev temple in Williamsburg on November 8.
It had apparently been kept “a secret” — although Cuomo questioned how such a feat would have been possible?
He said: “If 7,000 people went to a wedding, you can figure that out, right? That’s the problem with a ‘secret’ 7,000. It’s hard to keep a secret.
“It’s my information the city is investigating.
“They should investigate, and if 7,000 people were at a wedding, I’m sure they’ll be able to figure it out, and then we’ll bring the full consequences of legal action to bear.”
According to reports, the community allegedly shared information on the wedding only by word-of-mouth to avoid it being broken up.
Governor Cuomo also noted how in October, the state ordered the cancellation of another Williamsburg wedding that had been expected to draw 10,000 people.
He said: “If it turns out that, because we stopped that wedding, the reaction was, ‘well we’ll have a secret wedding,’ that would be really shocking and totally deceitful from the conversations that I had, because I had personal conversations with members of the community.”
The Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), which is one of a host of city agencies that inspect sites for COVID-19 violations, was not called to inspect the temple despite the large crowds.
But spokesman Frank Dwyer told the New York Post that the wedding “clearly violated” restrictions on indoor occupancy.
New York was the US epicentre of Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, with nearly 18,000 people perishing in March, April and May.
While nowhere near the worst of last spring, there has been an upswing of cases.
On Saturday the state recorded 1,394 new cases with 121 new patients admitted to hospital and 30 people dying overnight.
The US as a whole has recorded over 12million Covid-19 cases and more than 250,000 deaths.
States across the country broke new case records last week, with Texas becoming the first state to hit one million total cases on Tuesday.
Meanwhile more than one million travelers were screened through US airports this weekend as Americans ignored the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice to stay home during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Pictures show Americans crowding airports and boarding planes, despite the relatively lenient cancelation policies that major airlines have implemented since the start of the pandemic.
Vacationers were seen flouting social distancing rules at check-in desks at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida.
A video from Sky Harbor airport in Arizona showed groups congregating as they waited to board planes.
Photos from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago showed lines as people traveled with less than a week to go until Thanksgiving.
While Americans risked travel, White House virus expert Dr Anthony Fauci yesterday urged the public to weigh the risks and “make their own decision” about getting together for the holidays.
