De Blasio Justifies ‘Jewish Community’ Tweet: ‘This Has Not Happened in Other Places’

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said his controversial tweet blasting the “Jewish community” for violating coronavirus guidelines on Tuesday night was a justified form of  “tough love,” claiming that such gatherings had "not happened in other places."

The mayor sparked criticism for the tweet addressing "the Jewish community" as a whole after a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish funeral was held in Brooklyn and had to be dispersed by the police.

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“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: The time for warnings has passed,” the mayor wrote. “I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summon or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping the disease and saving lives. Period.”

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PHOTO of @NYCMayor @BilldeBlasio failing to social distance moments ago in Williamsburg where people failed to social distance at a funeral the same day that thousands of New Yorkers failed to distance for 45 minutes to watch a flyover. pic.twitter.com/yvxy1aR6Vg

— OJPAC (@OJPAC) April 29, 2020

Jewish organizations and activists condemned the mayor’s statement on Tuesday night, while accusing him of having “double standards.” Some also responded to his remarks by tweeting pictures of crowds gathering in Central Park and elsewhere earlier that day for a flyover by navy and airforce planes.