New York City Mayor Bill DiBlasio to Jews: Drop Dead

De Blasio calls his antisemitism "tough love." No, really.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled down Wednesday on his criticism of those involved in a large gathering at a Jewish funeral in Brooklyn -- but also apologized for his overnight warning to the Jewish community as a whole that threatened future arrests.

Jewish groups had accused the mayor of unfairly singling out their community, which faced a string of attacks this past winter, with that tweet.

The mayor stated during a Wednesday press briefing that he spoke out of "frustration" and "anger" after witnessing a crowd that he said violated social distancing requirements meant to curb coronavirus transmission, but that he has love for the Jewish community.

"I regret if the way I said it in any way gave people a feeling of being treated the wrong way, that was not my intention," de Blasio said. "It was said with love, but it was tough love."

De Blasio had tweeted Tuesday night after police in Williamsburg broke up the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Mertz, specifically calling out Jews instead of only giving a general warning to the city.

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

The tweet was met with criticism, including from New York City Councilman Kalman Yeger, who is Jewish.

"Mr. Mayor, your words are unacceptable," Yeger tweeted. "To condemn our entire community over one group of people is something you would not do to any other ethnic group, and I know you long enough to know that you know this."

posted by Ace at 01:18 PM

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