Gothamist reports:
A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Jewish organizations to temporarily block Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order to restrict attendance at houses of worship as part of a renewed shutdown in regions of the state experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases.
“[The governor] has lawfully exercised his power without religious animus to make sure we don’t find ourselves back where we were in March,” Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, of the federal district court in Brooklyn, referring to the period when New York became the epicenter of the pandemic.
Friday’s ruling does not put an end to the lawsuit, but it means that the new round of hotspot restrictions can proceed as planned. New York City began zoned shutdowns in portions of South Brooklyn and Queens on Thursday.
Judge rules against Orthodox Jewish group’s lawsuit over New York’s COVID restrictions https://t.co/qNySMFPIbO pic.twitter.com/Rk2jX2AYhE
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) October 9, 2020
HAPPENING NOW: Orthodox Jews with Trump flags dance to music on the streets of Brooklyn in protest of New York Gov. Cuomo’s partial synagogue closures.
— SV News ? (@SVNewsAlerts) October 8, 2020
NEW YORK: Huge crowds of Orthodox Jews gather in Brooklyn burning piles of face masks to protest synagogue closures by Governor Cuomo. pic.twitter.com/tlYqunik7U
— SV News ? (@SVNewsAlerts) October 7, 2020