100+ NYC Jewish Community Leaders: Mayor de Blasio, Don’t Scapegoat Us

April 30, 2020

The Honorable Bill de Blasio
Mayor of New York City
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor de Blasio,

We are writing to express our anger and disappointment at your scapegoating the Jewish community in response to the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Mertz Tuesday night. With thousands of New Yorkers dead, and many more sick, we all understand the danger of COVID-19, the severity of our dire public health emergency, and the need for strict social distancing. But this is not the way, and your threat of arrests and summonses is not the answer.

In the midst of an historic wave of antisemitic hate violence in New York City, our community — like the Asian community — has been feeling the pain of being singled out and blamed for the spread of this deadly disease. This singling out is especially potent because it aligns with longstanding antisemitic tropes that have, for millenia, blamed Jews for societal ills. Laying blame upon Hasidic communities — among the most visible members of our Jewish family — will not stop the spread of COVID-19, and referring to these particular communities as “the Jewish community” both flattens a diverse group of New Yorkers into a single bloc and fuels the anti-Semitic hatreds that bubble beneath the surface of our society.

It has been reported that the NYPD provided a street permit to an event that simply could not comply with physical distancing. That was a mistake. But it is also a mistake to single out an entire community and then threaten incarceration, which in this crisis would put more people in danger of contracting and spreading the virus in already dense jails. We need a public health response that starts from social solidarity, not scapegoating and incarceration.

Yet, at this time your administration is currently proposing major cuts in the budget to the vital services that would keep the most vulnerable New Yorkers healthy and safe, while leaving the budget for policing nearly untouched. Instead of hiring more NYPD officers, this incident underscores the need to fund community-based public health efforts that support all New Yorkers’ safety as well as the existing services that our communities rely on.

Jewish communities of every kind from across the city are doing their best to support those who are suffering during this difficult time. Orthodox communities have organized blood plasma donation centers, testing facilities, and food banks. Other Orthodox community leaders have bravely spoken out for the social distancing necessary to saving lives. Still other Jews have joined mutual aid groups to fill the gaps in the social safety net that have left many struggling during this crisis. As Jews, we come together, at times of prayer, celebration, and mourning, making social distancing particularly crushing for our community. Jews have overwhelmingly led and acted responsibly in this moment of social distancing. To suggest otherwise on the actions of a few is the deepest form of marginalization.

We are hurt by your comments and request a meeting to discuss constructive approaches to respond to the pandemic that recognize the Jewish community’s earnest efforts to fight COVID-19, protect vulnerable communities, and avoid heavy-handed over-policing.

Sincerely,