More than 60 teens studying in Brooklyn yeshiva dispersed by New York police
A picture from Twitter purporting to show police inside the Nitra Yeshiva. Image by Twitter
By Ari Feldman May 18, 2020
Police acting on a tip found dozens of high school-aged boys studying in a Brooklyn yeshiva on Monday, in violation of state rules that public and private schools must remain closed through the end of the academic year.
Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I can’t stress how dangerous this is for our young people. We’re issuing a Cease and Desist Order and will make sure we keep our communities and our kids safe.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 18, 2020
After NYPD officers visited the school — Nitra Yeshiva, at 841 Madison Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant — students could be seen exiting the building and boarding a bus.
Law enforcement officers who spoke to NBC New York said there were about 100 students at the school.
In an email, Sergeant Mary Frances O’Donnell, a spokesperson for the NYPD, said that there were about 60 students at the school, and that no summonses were issued or arrests made.
One Yiddish Twitter account that reported the incident posted a picture purportedly of police inside the yeshiva with the caption: “Police cleared out the Nitra Yeshiva for older boys even though social distancing was being maintained and even though everyone was wearing a mask.”
די פאלציי האט אויסגעליידיגט נייטרא ישיבה קטנה אפילו סגעווען סוישעל דיסטעצינג און אפילו יעדער האט אנגעהאט מאסקס pic.twitter.com/wRuTeWi6If
— תרגום (@targemsh) May 18, 2020
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
