I Thought They Were Smarter Than This... ;-)

New York Hasidic Jew Congregation Apologizes After Funeral Draws Thousands

A day after thousands of people lined the streets of Williamsburg for a funeral of a local rabbi, the synagogue that held the gathering issued an apology...

Twelve people were issued summonses for violating social distancing orders and failure to disperse, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, who spoke out against the event that he said put "cops' lives at risk."

"What happened last night simply cannot happen," NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a Wednesday news conference. "That event last night never should've happened. It better not happen again."

The funeral on Tuesday was held for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, who died at 73 from COVID-19 — one of the city's over 12,500 deaths from the highly contagious virus that has forced nearly the entire country into quarantine.

His synagogue released a statement Wednesday saying they had a plan in place for mourners to pay respects while observing social distance and rules. They apologized if things didn't work out that way...

Crowds of Hasidic men and women were packed tightly onto sidewalks and in the streets for the funeral, some wearing masks -- but all other social distancing measures were completely disregarded, pictures posted on Twitter showed.