NY shuts down 10,000 person wedding as Cuomo reveals new COVID-19 plan

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

Amid rising COVID-19 cases nationwide and a crackdown on a wedding in Brooklyn that reportedly planned to have 10,000 attendees, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday announced a new strategy for combating COVID-19 into the fall and winter months by targeting micro-clusters.

(snip)

"For fall we are going to deploy a micro-cluster strategy. We have been targeting all our actions either ... statewide ... or we reopened on a regional level. We are now going to analyze it block-by-block," he said. "We have data so specific that we can't show it because it could violate privacy conditions. We know exactly where the new cases are coming from."

Cuomo also detailed how New York state officials have cracked down on a planned wedding in Williamsburg which they allege would have brought together "upwards of 10,000 individuals."

The Rockland County Sheriff's Office tipped off authorities to the Monday wedding which would have taken place outside the state's cluster zones in Brooklyn. An order signed by the state health commissioner was served last night by the New York City Sheriff's Office to halt the wedding.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/ny-shuts-10000-person-wedding-cuomo-reveals-covid/story?id=73671721&cid=clicksource_4380645_4_heads_hero_live_hero_hed

[Chainfire]

1. How can you have a decent wedding

if you can't invite 10,000 of your closest friends. How would you feel if you didn't get invited to that one?

[Kahuna]

32. LOL! nt

[brooklynite]

49. This is, honestly, NOT "your closest friends"

This is a wedding in the Hassid community in Williamsburg. By size, I'm guessing the son or daughter of one of the key Rabbi's is getting married, and the whole neighborhood attends.

[Chainfire]

72. Does everybody bring a gift?

I mean, I am thinking about the thank you notes, and all those returns. The logistics are frightening to me.

[Thekaspervote]

2. Our entire country should be doing what he's doing!

[PSPS]

5. It would be if the russian mob hadn't taken over our government

[SheltieLover]

9. Chumputin will have a fit over this!

How dare Dems use their brains to make things BETTER? Not consistent with putin's directives and goals!

[spooky3]

18. If the mob hadn't taken over, we'd be well past the crisis

Of Covid infections and deaths.

[paleotn]

29. Bingo.

[orangecrush]

41. Exactly.

[SheltieLover]

8. This!👆

[Lars39]

3. Fines and jail time for these selfish assholes.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. No one knows 10,000 people personally

It's absurd to have that many at a wedding, whatever the conditions. As an example, it was reckoned an old head teacher of mine had a fantastic memory for students and former students' families, but that meant he could perhaps remember 5,000 people at most. Not "be friends with", just be able to recognise them, know what their job was, or how many children they had, and other basic details. Inviting 10,000 people is either an attempt to break the system, or a stupid brag of how many people you can afford at your wedding.

[Skittles]

12. "I have five friends and three of them are not allowed in my apartment"

I never can understand where all the people come from.

[SunSeeker]

27. LOL Love that line. Who said that?

[Skittles]

28. dunno, a comic on TV

it.......resonated with me

[More_Cowbell]

52. I remember the routine, in the context of a wedding registry

The guy had just found out that you could ask for specific gifts, and was aghast that his fiancee had asked for dishes.

I can picture it, but don't remember who it was.

[Skittles]

66. OMG you are correct!

something to do with a dishes set that serves, like, 100! WTF!

[CatMor]

30. So funny ....

I sure enjoyed that line, really made me laugh.

[COLGATE4]

33. I'm guessing that it's a Hasidic wedding involving the son

(or daughter) of some famous Rabbi. Those are typically gigantic events, involving thousands of guests. Here's a link to one of these recently held in Brooklyn:

[moonscape]

47. She looks very unhappy, or is that the body

language required?

[COLGATE4]

59. She is supposed to be reflecting on the seriousness

of the compact she's entering into. Not supposed to show joy or happiness.

[moonscape]

60. Ah, thanks! n/t

[3Hotdogs]

58. I understand the printer at the Darwin Society became overheated and broke.

[Lars39]

62. The only woman I see is the bride.

[COLGATE4]

63. Men and women are strictly separated.

[pfitz59]

65. Barbaric

Right out of some Mediaeval nightmare. Will they be inspecting the bloody sheets in the morning?

[COLGATE4]

68. That's what I enjoy about DU - the interest in not

prejudging other cultures and/or religions.

[Hekate]

74. Well spotted, Colgate4

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

70. Mediaeval? No, those old timers knew how to do weddings!

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Wedding Dance, Detroit Institute of Arts

Party on!

[COLGATE4]

79. Excellent! Thanks!

[3Hotdogs]

67. Dunno... looks like they're having fun. When is it?

I'd like to go.

[Jetheels]

39. Funny.

I think I’ll remember that line for some reason.

[qwlauren35]

13. It's probably cultural.

I have a friend who was getting married who was from Nigeria. He expected a few thousand people at the wedding, and said that was normal. People would tell people, who would tell people, and they would all come, because it was a celebration and they wanted to be part of it.

On a smaller scale, when I was growing up, there were house parties, and there were "crashers", who showed up to have fun, not because they knew anyone. Or there were people who told people who told people. So there were people who didn't know the host, but knew some of the people there.

So, it's not "absurd". It's just different from what you are used to.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. You can fit 10,000 people in an arena if they all sit down in rows

But a celebration?

A wedding at which you just let anyone turn up, without ideas of numbers, is also different from 10,000 people being planned. And it's not a house party.

[qwlauren35]

71. You can also

fit them in a large field.

I think you're exhibiting some prejudices. I'm telling you that it's normal in some cultures. Please accept.

[moonscape]

48. Years ago my uncle and many friends were having

a celebration near Zurich and decided to continue it at his home, a place in a small village. So they all caravaned in cars and continued the party. There was someone he didn't know, but figured it was a friend of a friend. When finally someone asked who he was, turns out just a stranger who saw they were having such a good time he wanted to join in

[NellieStarbuck]

44. There is an enormous Hasidic community in Brooklyn

which outgrew Brooklyn and spread to my county, Rockland, and to another couple of Upstate and NJ counties. Members of this community travel between these locations for huge weddings, funerals, etc. NY is experiencing an uptick in Covid cases emanating from these specific communities. Law enforcement from Rockland County got wind of this impending humongous wedding and notified NYC.

[BComplex]

64. Interesting. That video of the wedding was something I've never seen before.

That's a lot of people...like a small town all crammed into that gym.

[JudyM]

45. Facebook friends.

They should just hold the wedding online.

[Me.]

6. I'm Betting That's A Hasidim Wedding

aside from the fact that, for the most part, they have been refusing to wear masks or social distance. I also wonder if they'll do it anyway.

[COLGATE4]

34. Me, too. Here's one from YouTube

[catchnrelease]

42. No women?

I know nothing about Hasidic events, so maybe this is normal. But I don't see any women there except the bride. (And she looks like she's not having much fun!) Looks like a big party for the man in blue robe, I'm assuming that's the father.

[Warpy]

54. The celebrations are separate

You can sort of hear the women singing from time to time, but the camera is focusing on the male side of the celebration.

[catchnrelease]

57. Ah, I see. Thanks! n/t

[COLGATE4]

61. The men and women are totally separated.The bride is not supposed to show

happiness but rather somber reflection on the seriousness of the lifelong compact she's about to enter. Plus. she probably hasn't ever spent more than a couple of hours with the groom to be and those never alone. The gentleman in blue is the proud father as well as being the much revered rabbi.

[IronLionZion]

40. Here's a big Brooklyn mask burning last week

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/08/orthodox-jews-protest-covid-brooklyn/

Conservatives of all types are often a bit nutty

[Me.]

43. I Saw That On The News

and the way a man named Hesse (sp) organized a mob wearing his trump tee

[hlthe2b]

7. who in the hell would want 10,000 people at their wedding?

(I'd take 10,000 puppies, but people?)

[SheltieLover]

11. I agree!

[qwlauren35]

14. Different strokes for different folks.

[SunSeeker]

26. Totally agree. If I had to do it over agsin, I would elope.

And spend an extra few weeks on my tropical honeymoon.

[3catwoman3]

10. Being somewhat introverted, I would have a hard time coming up with...

...100 people I'd want to invite to a wedding, let alone 1000. 10,000 is inconceivable to me. Kinda creepy, actually. Definitely intimidating.

[Shermann]

15. Must be a wedding pyramid scheme

If you invite 10 people, you get 10% of their wedding gifts and kick the rest up the chain.

[madaboutharry]

16. My money is on that the son or daughter of one of the Hasidic Rebbes is getting married.

That would account for 10,000 wedding guests.

[electric_blue68]

20. That sounds about right

[onetexan]

73. how much do these kinds of events cost? 10K people? u would need an arena to hold that many people.

and i dont think it could be a sitdown serviced dinner wedding. It would have to be buffet.

[dewsgirl]

19. 10,000 wow.

[Initech]

21. Who's stupid enough to hold a 10,000 person event in the middle of a raging pandemic?

Oh wait...



Never mind! I think I answered my own question!

[Illumination]

24. Oh yeah...the dude that was impeached that's still committing criminal acts!...

[Me.]

37. A Majority Of Them Are Self Avowed Trumpers

[keithbvadu2]

69. With signed waivers of course.

With signed waivers of course.

[soothsayer]

22. If they each give $100 that's a nice wedding haul

[Worried2020]

53. You bet!

.
.





W

[Illumination]

23. What were they thinking?...

[jmowreader]

25. I can see it

Bride and groom each have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, and x number of brothers and sisters.

Parents and grandparents also have siblings.

All those people pull out massive lists of friends that "if you don't invite all these people I'm never speaking to you again."

Then "all these people" have guest lists that "you have no choice but to invite."

The bride and groom also have friends who also have guest lists.

I don't know about y'all, but if my ladyfriend and I decide to get married, we're grabbing two of our friends and a credit card and heading to Hawaii for a week.

[paleotn]

31. 10K?

Other than the complete stupidity of that during a pandemic, can you imagine the poor bride's parents? Talk about being financially ruined. It may not work that way in this case, but in my cultural tradition unless the dad is Jeff Bezos, the parents are fucked. I remember my dad's reactions to the nightmare that was my sister's wedding. Mom and dad were completely exhausted when it was finally all over. My wife and I had a quick ceremony with two friends, performed by a local judge in between cases. Her father was very happy.

[Me.]

38. Usually It's A Marriage Between 2 Powerful Rebbes Children

and it's treated like a royal wedding

[JohnnyRingo]

35. I'm just happy I'm not the bride's dad.

On the other hand, I wonder why I didn't get an invitation.

[Miigwech]

36. The Hasidic Community in Rockland County

Very insular very secretive. Fact is, most, if not all of the Hasidic population receive Medicaid from NY. If I were the Governor I would get with the leaders of the community and demand that follow the laws about Covid-19 oor there will be be cuts to programs. The voting bloc that the Hasidim represent in NYS is very powerful, no politician wants to cross them. I applaud Cuomo for his stance, this is a very brave move to stand up like this. We have to see what flack he takes at the ballot box. There is a lot more behind this story than a wedding.

In Rockland County, non-Orthodox try to create alternative to Hasidic dominance

Many of the haredim’s most strident opponents have been non-Orthodox Jews. But for years, non-Orthodox Jewish leaders largely stayed silent, caught in the middle between their Orthodox coreligionists and their non-Jewish neighbors.

Then, about a year ago, non-Orthodox leaders decided it was time to take sides in the East Ramapo school board fight, with many publicly aligning themselves with their non-Jewish neighbors and lobbying for state intervention.

Meanwhile, the local federation and other non-Orthodox Jewish community leaders have launched a campaign to bolster the image of Jewish life in Rockland County and reverse the decline of its non-Orthodox Jewish institutions.

“We’re really trying to bring people to the county because it’s a beautiful place to live,” said Diane Sloyer, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Rockland County, which is funding many of the efforts from an annual budget of about $1 million. “It’s not just the bad stuff you read about in the papers. There’s a lot of good here, but how are people supposed to know?”
Non-Orthodox rabbis were among those at a news conference of Rockland Clergy for Social Justice calling for more state control over the controversial East Ramapo school board, Feb. 18, 2015. (Katrina Hertzberg)

In late 2013, Rabbi Adam Baldachin of the Conservative Montebello Jewish Center led a group of rabbis who joined with the local NAACP chapter and Christian and Muslim leaders to organize a counterweight to the East Ramapo school board. The interfaith group, Rockland Clergy for Social Justice, which now includes 11 Conservative and Reform rabbis in the county, began holding public events and lobbying the state government in Albany to intervene with the school board. Retired teachers from at least one temple are volunteering to teach and help public school students in East Ramapo, the vast majority of whom are black or Latino. (Between 1989 and 2009, the proportion of non-white students in East Ramapo’s public schools skyrocketed from 38 percent to 93 percent due to an influx of immigrants and “white flight” from the district

https://jewishorangeny.org/jewish-life/wao-weekly-e-blast-news-articles/in-rockland-county-non-orthodox-try-to-create-alternat

[Hekate]

75. Thanks, Miigwech...

This is a geographically big, diverse, country. Every so often I am reminded that despite all my reading and efforts to grasp our differences, my experience is limited to two states (California and Hawai’i) that might as well be on another planet from the Hasidim in New York.

The very orthodox I met through my late father in law here in Santa Barbara (or S. Barbara as they addressed their newsletters to my husband) were few, and were iirc followers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Outside of photos in a history book, I have never seen people dressed as in the wedding video in this thread. But there they are.

To each their own — up to a point. And that point is the preservation of a constitutional democracy that protects us all, especially at the public school board level.

[Sgent]

77. To add to this

Lubavitcher is a very outward facing sect of Chasidism that engage with the world looking to help other (often secular) Jews perform mitzvah's (they believe at some point when enough mitzvahs are performed the Messiah comes). Satmar (the sect in this post) is entirely inward focusing, usually has little / no internet, etc. and have been radicalized to an extent both here and in Israel.

[Hekate]

78. Very interesting. The late Rabbi that knew my late father in law had many sons, & on holidays...

...we could count on one or more of them to be on our doorstep to remind my husband that he was among the missing, hand him the lulav and etrog so he could give them a shake (and sometimes also to give me the beady eye).

Growing up in Hawai’i, those doorstep people were generally Mormon missionaries. I’m fine with people wanting to spread their version of the Good Word — as long as they are fine with me not wanting to hear it.

[Sgent]

81. Sounds about right

they refuse to participate in conversions though, so its not quite like most proselytizers, they are more focused on bringing existing ones back into the fold and/or allowing Jews to exist. For instance there is a Chabad house in almost every country, so if your in Jamaica or Zimbabwe you can call them to get certified kosher recommendations, help with a last minute Sabbath meal, locating an etrog, etc.

My interaction with them has generally been positive, but some people find them annoying in places where they are pushier (say NYC).

[Fiendish Thingy]

46. The only people who have 10,000 wedding guests are mafia dons and Kardashians. Nt

[marybourg]

50. And Hasidic rebbes. The sect in the video are, I believe, Satmars, although their hats

are silkier than what I remember. Possibly they can’t get real beaver hats anymore and have to use synthetic.

[moriah]

51. Considering that we're still waiting to have my mother's Episcopal funeral service...

... and she died in June, I think it's not unreasonable to ask that you either have a smaller wedding if you must marry right away (then have the big celebration later), or delay such a large wedding.

Fortunately my mother's having converted as an adult to the Episcopal church (confirmation and everything, even did lay Eucharistic ministry since she already worked in a hospital) and having bought a spot in their columbarium answered many questions for us about what we would need to do (her death was not from COVID-19, at least not directly, but because of prevention protocols we could not participate in her care and she was never told directly that she was dying -- by the time that staff member could get to her, her mental status had deteriorated beyond where they felt her competent to make her own decisions).

I feel for those whose faith traditions do not accommodate things like cremation, and while it has been agony to not have the closure of a funeral... her extended family includes other older people, some on immunosuppressants. It wouldn't be safe for them to attend as most live rurally and are attempting the social isolation only people who live 30 minutes from a town with a chain grocery store can.

Plus, well, Mom's role as a lay Eucharistic minister and our experience with being forced through long Baptist sermons and complementing how well the undertaker did (Mom *specifically* did not want a viewing, well, thank goodness for us) makes me want to show that side of her family the full funeral rites of the faith she came to as an adult. She didn't tell us exactly how she'd want an Episcopal service to go, but when we found her Books of Common Prayer, she'd circled the readings she wanted in her paperback version. And until it's safe to share the common cup, the local diocese is not allowing the full Eucharist.

When they deem it safe for people to share a common cup, it will be safe enough for the people she loved and who loved her to celebrate her life without risking joining her prematurely.

[Beacool]

55. 10,000 people???

I don't think I've met 10,000 people in my life. Imagine sitting and feeding that many people??

[Rebl2]

56. Who does this!

I mean have a wedding this big! I say go on ahead. Let them have their wedding then refuse to treat them if they get Covid. I am absolutely SICK AND TIRED of people being so careless and infecting unsuspecting, innocent people. I know I am being harsh and ridiculous, but I am tired of all these idiots who do this kind of thing.

[sakabatou]

76. Idiots, that's who.

[orleans]

80. holy shit!

i don't care who you are or what fucking religion you are --
whoever was throwing this shindig and every individual who considered showing up is a complete selfish self-serving asshole