NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Brooklyn on Tuesday night to protest coronavirus-related shutdowns by the state, with masks and debris being burned in the street at one point.
A large crowd of Orthodox men and boys protested in Borough Park after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the restrictions earlier Tuesday. The protests lasted until early in the morning, with some people refusing police orders to disperse.
Fire in Street Amid Large Crowd @CitizenApp
46th St & 13th Ave Yesterday 10:37:51 PM EDT
Fire in Street Amid Large Crowd @CitizenApp
46th St & 13th Ave Yesterday 10:37:51 PM EDT
Under the order, schools and nonessential businesses will be closed and houses of worship will be limited to 25% capacity or a maximum of 10 people in ZIP codes with high COVID infection rates. Restaurants will also have takeout only. The new rules were set to begin Thursday and Friday and last at least two weeks.
"We are not going to be deprived of the right that we have in America, like everybody else in America, the right to observe our religion," Councilman Kalman Yeger told the crowd at the protest.
Fire in Street Amid Large Crowd @CitizenApp
46th St & 13th Ave Yesterday 10:37:51 PM EDT
Tensions went on for hours in Borough Park. The FDNY had to be called around 1:30 a.m. after the crowd set masks and debris on fire at 13th Avenue and 46th Street.
Citizen App video shows demonstrators gathering around the fire in the street. There was also some pushing and shoving with police. No arrests were reported.
Yeger, along with State Sen. Simcha Felder, Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein and Councilman Chaim Deutsch, released a statement in reaction to Cuomo's order: "We are appalled by Governor Cuomo's words and actions today. He has chosen to pursue a scientifically and constitutionally questionable shutdown of our communities. His administration's utter lack of coordination and communication with local officials has been an ongoing issue since the start of the pandemic, and particularly recently as we face this uptick. Though we are the representatives of hotspot neighborhoods, we have been dis-included from conversations with the governor and his leadership team as they made devastating decisions affecting the people we serve."
The statement went on to say: "We will continue to encourage total compliance with mask-wearing and social distance guidelines in our communities. In recent weeks, we have seen a vast increase in compliance throughout our communities. We have personally organized massive mask distributions in areas that have seen an uptick in positive cases - distributing hundreds of thousands of masks to our constituents. Sadly, instead of working alongside our community to build on our work, the governor has instead chosen to respond with threats and aggressive enforcement -- a tactic which has historically failed in all communities throughout New York."
