New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for an immediate investigation into reports that the Satmar Hassidic community held a wedding at which several thousands of people attended.
Almost all the guests were apparently maskless with Cuomo blasting the events as "a blatant disregard of the law. It's illegal. It was also disrespectful to the people of New York," during a press conference at his midtown office.
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"The wedding, which was kept secret from the general public, was said to have been held at Congregation Yetev Lev B'Satmar in Williamsburg, following the cancellation of another Satmar wedding after authorities learned of the planned event," according to Israeli outlet Arutz 7.
Cuomo maintained that New York City should perform a robust investigation, which he said he understood that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration was undertaking.
#IsraelCOVID19: 'We don't want the ultra-Orthodox to be stigmatized...we are very strict about the rules and no less strict than any other population in the country,' says Yisrael Enden, member of 'Hasidic Gur,' to 24NEWS: pic.twitter.com/Rg6eIE0kZO
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) October 7, 2020
The New York Post, which originally published the story, estimated that between 7,000-10,000 guests were in attendance at the wedding of Yoel Teitelbaum, grandson of Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelman.
Its story was gleaned from a detailed account in Yiddish-language paper Der Blatt, which explained that the Satmar community went to such great lengths to hide the plans "from the ravenous press and government officials.
The New York governor questioned how an event attended by at least 7,000 people could be kept secret, while maintaining that the "full consequences of legal action" would be brought to bear if the investigation finds evidence of law-breaking.
He was also shocked that the response from the Satmar Hasidic community to the breaking up of a several thousand person wedding in October was to then hold a similar event, although in total secrecy.
"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."
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This article was first published by i24NEWS.
