Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Wedding Expected To Draw 10,000 To Williamsburg Will Now Be For "Close Family Members" Only
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Oct 18, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Google Maps
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Oct 18, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
After state officials ordered a Hasidic synagogue in Williamsburg to cancel a wedding expected to draw 10,000 people on Monday, the congregation said it will only include "close family members" to avoid a "paparazzi" event after "unwarranted attacks" were made.
"The unwarranted attacks on this event, originated by those besmirching the community, are detached from facts," the secretary for Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar, Chaim Jacobowitz, said in a statement sent out early Sunday. "The publicity will turn this wedding to a paparazzi and will draw spectators that may make it impossible to control the crowds to comply with social distancing. It will also deter from the celebratory and spiritual atmosphere fit for such an affair."
"Hence, we decided that the wedding will not be held as planned, and will only [be] attended by close family members," Jacobowitz said.
The massive turnout was expected for the wedding of Satmar Grand Rebbe Zalman Leib Teitelbaum's grandson, and members of the Satmar community in Rockland County, another COVID hotspot, were reportedly planning on traveling to NYC for the celebration. On Saturday, state officials issued a rare order directed at the Satmar synagogue to cancel any event that would include more than 50 people under COVID-19 restrictions.
Jacobowitz said the wedding was designed so that main parts of the wedding would include a "small circle of close family members" while the broader community would "only be able to participate for a short period of time," with a socially distanced line to do so. But after the state order, the synagogue will limit the number of guests.
Governor Andrew Cuomo had said Saturday: "You can get married...You just can’t have (thousands of) people at your wedding."
Weddings throughout the coronavirus pandemic have been linked to an uptick in cases, with one in Maine becoming a fatal superspreader event. Currently, weddings can only include up to 50 people under state COVID-19 rules. Wedding venues have sued over the restrictions.
Although the Williamsburg Satmar synagogue is not located within one of Cuomo's cluster zones where partial shutdowns have occurred, the city's Health Department had listed ZIP code 11211, where the synagogue is located, as a "Tier 2" zone, where cases were being closely watched.
On early Friday, an important figure in Williamsburg's Satmar community, Meyer Rispler, died of COVID-19, Yeshiva World reported. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency notes Rispler had supported efforts to enforce coronavirus restrictions at a Hasidic funeral following backlash to Mayor Bill de Blasio's tweet, scrutinized for singling out "the Jewish community."
Tagged
COVID-19
coronavirus
satmar
wedding
williamsburg
Sydney Pereira
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NJ early voting begins Saturday. Here's everything you need to know.
Our 2026 New Jersey voter’s guide for this year’s midterm elections.
By
Mike Hayes
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 11:01 a.m. ET
Countdown clocks are coming to an NYC bus stop near you
New York City bus service isn't exactly reliable, but new digital countdown clocks will give riders a better sense of how long they have to wait.
By
Stephen Nessen
News
Countdown clocks are coming to an NYC bus stop near you
New York City bus service isn't exactly reliable, but new digital countdown clocks will give riders a better sense of how long they have to wait.
By
Stephen Nessen
Are NJ schools unconstitutionally segregated? It's back to the courts to decide.
By
Colleen O'Dea
Early Addition: New Jersey considering a ban on chewing gum because of microplastics
By
James Ramsay
Queens mother charged with murdering her son after failed suicide attempt, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .