Brooklyn Funeral Spurs Arrest Threat From NYC Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the NYPD to amp up social distance enforcement after a large funeral drew hundreds to the streets of Williamsburg Tuesday night.

"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed," the mayor tweeted Tuesday night.

"I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups."

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Photos from the Williamsburg funeral — which was held for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, Yeshiva World reported — show hoards of people packed closely together, flouting the city's suggested six-foot distance rule.

City Council Member David Greenfield and Satmar Headquarters alleged the NYPD had approved plans and organized the funeral, but both de Blasio and Commissioner Dermot Shea disputed these claims at a press conference Wednesday morning.

"The NYPD ... literally barricaded streets for this 'socially distant funeral,'" Greenfield wrote. "Chasidim were literally running into each other trying to avoid the police."

Police issued 12 summons for social distancing and refusing to disperse during the Bedford Avenue funeral, Shea said.

"Large gatherings such as this are putting members of my department at risk," Shea said. "It’s going to be met with stern consequences."

The mayor's tweet spurred outrage among New Yorkers who noted de Blasio did not similarly threaten New Yorkers who gathered to watch a military flyover Tuesday afternoon.

"You failed to call out the packed crowds that were out today to watch the flyover," tweeted the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council.

Brooklyn City Council member Brad Lander chastised the mayor for both his wording and his law enforcement response.

And, of course, several New Yorkers resorted directly to mockery by mimicking the Mayor's own wording.

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