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Brooklyn Lawmakers Call For National Guard, Increased Police Presence Following Anti-Semitic Attacks
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 30, 2019
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 30, 2019
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Elected officials in Brooklyn's ultra-Orthodox communities are calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to deploy the National Guard and more state police to patrol the borough, following more than a dozen anti-Semitic incidents in the region this past month.
Describing the wave of attacks as a "slow-rolling pogrom," the group of lawmakers also urged the governor to declare a state of emergency and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the cases.
"Simply stated, it is no longer safe to be identifiably Orthodox in the State of New York," reads the letter, which was circulated by State Senator Simcha Felder, Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, and Councilmembers Chaim Deutsch and Kalman Yeger on Sunday. "We cannot shop, walk down a street, send our children to school, or even worship in peace."
The demands came one day after a machete-wielding man stabbed five people during a Hannukkah celebration at a rabbi's home in Rockland County. The attacker, identified as 37-year-old Grafton Thomas, was later arrested in Harlem. Family members said in a statement that Thomas was struggling with schizophrenia, and was not motivated by a hatred for Jews.
On Sunday, Governor Cuomo vowed to increase the presence of state police in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. He has not said whether he'll activate the New York National Guard—a state-controlled Army division that's often deployed in the wake of national disasters or terrorism threats—or if he intends to appoint a special prosecutor.
Prior to Saturday's stabbing spree, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the NYPD would increase their presence in Williamsburg, Crown Heights, and Borough Park, amid at least nine reported anti-Semitic incidents in the span of a week. He's since announced the launch of a "community safety coalition" comprised of volunteer stakeholders, along with an update to public school curricula further emphasizing the threat of anti-Semitism, to take effect after the New Year.
"The solution is police working very closely with the community," the mayor said on NPR's Morning Edition on Monday. "You know that phrase, if you see something say something? It’s very, very pertinent here."
Hate crimes in general are up 24 percent, with 309 incidents between January through September of this year, compared 250 during the same period last year, according to the latest NYPD data.
Of those hate crimes, 166 were classified as anti-Semitic, a jump of 54% over the prior year.
Still, the rush to ramp up policing has also generated pushback from some left-leaning Jews, who worry that adding more cops to neighborhoods will leave people of color vulnerable to abuse.
"A lot of us know for marginalized communities it's not a good outcome," Jason Rosenberg, an activist with the group Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, told Gothamist/WNYC. "There's a lot of racist and anti-Semitic policing that goes on, so we don't want more policing we just want more community."
Rosenberg was among a large group of Jews and non-Jews that gathered at Grand Army Plaza on Sunday night for the final night of Hanukkah. Mayor Bill de Blasio was also present at the event, though he was not joined by the borough's ultra-Orthodox elected officials.
Allies of the Jewish community served as security for the celebration, forming a perimeter around the observants. For Somia Elrowmeim, a Muslim woman, it was an important opportunity to show solidarity with her neighbors. "We deserve dignity, whether we are Muslim, Arab, Jewish, we are all human," she said.
Additional reporting by Jessica Gould.
Tagged
governor cuomo
monsey
ultra-orthodox
mayor de blasio
anti-semetism
orthodox
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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