$15,000 fine is issued after secret wedding draws thousands of guests in N.Y.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered to celebrate a wedding inside a cavernous hall in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood earlier this month, dancing and singing with hardly a mask in sight. The wedding was meticulously planned, and so were efforts to conceal it from the authorities, who said that the organizers would be fined $15,000 for violating public health restrictions.
The wedding, organized Nov. 8 by leaders of the
Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism, is the latest incident in a long battle between city and state officials and members of the ultra-Orthodox community, who prize autonomy, chafe at government restrictions and have frequently flouted guidelines like mask-wearing and social distancing.
In October, state officials announced a series of restrictions in several neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens with large Orthodox Jewish populations after the positive test rate for COVID-19 in those areas rose above 4%. Many residents protested the restrictions, which included closing nonessential businesses and limiting capacity at houses of worship.
While positive test rates in several of these areas have decreased since the restrictions were implemented, tensions between city officials and area leaders have continued.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the fine Monday night after video of the wedding — and a florid account of the event and extensive efforts to conceal it appeared in a Hasidic newspaper — drew backlash online. He said additional penalties could be imposed on the organizers.
“We know there was a wedding,” the mayor told local news network NY1. “We know it was too big. I don’t have an exact figure, but whatever it was, it was too big. There appeared to be a real effort to conceal it. Which is absolutely unacceptable.”
Representatives for the Satmar community did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
“We’ve been through so much,” de Blasio added. “And in fact, the Williamsburg community in recent weeks responded very positively, did a lot more testing and was being very responsible. This was amazingly irresponsible, just unacceptable. So there’s going to be consequences right away for the people who let that happen.”
On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the event “a blatant disregard of the law” and “disrespectful to the people of New York.”
State officials ordered the Satmar community in Orange County to cancel a series of weddings planned for Monday night, but it was unclear if the group complied with that order.
The wedding in Brooklyn, which lasted for more than four hours, was held at Yetev Lev D’Satmar synagogue in Williamsburg and celebrated the marriage of
Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, grandson of Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum. The bride’s full name could not be determined.
Last month, Satmar leaders canceled another wedding in Williamsburg, which they said expected 10,000 guests, that was to be held for the grandson of Aaron Teitelbaum’s brother and longtime rival, Grand Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum.
An account of the wedding was published Nov. 11 by Der Blatt, a Yiddishlanguage newspaper closely aligned with Satmar leadership in Williamsburg.
It described the wedding as “an experience for which words do not suffice” and “a celebration the likes of which we have rarely had the good fortune to experience,” according to a translation provided by Hasidic activists.