NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo reduces restrictions on Brooklyn Jewish neighborhoods as COVID rates drop
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Parts of Brooklyn that had high COVID test positivity rates in early October, including some with large Orthodox Jewish communities, will face fewer restrictions after seeing the rates fall.
The neighborhoods labeled “red zones” last month have been reduced to “orange,” the middle level for restrictions. One of the neighborhoods is Midwood, which has a sizable Orthodox population.
“Brooklyn has made great progress and we reduced the red zone by 50% last week based on the progress,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at a news conference Monday.
While the orange designation will allow some nonessential businesses to reopen, schools remain closed. Religious services are restricted to 33% capacity, up from 25%, with a maximum attendance of 25 people, and mass gatherings can have 10 people at most. High-risk nonessential businesses like gyms and salons remain closed.
Restrictions on the Brooklyn neighborhoods were a source of tension last month as local Orthodox Jews protested the new rules, which kept public and private schools as well as nonessential businesses closed. The easing of the limits comes as cases continue to rise across New York City and state. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday morning that the city recorded 779 new daily cases and Cuomo announced a statewide COVID test positivity rate of 2.8%.
If the seven-day average positivity rate in New York City goes above 3%, the city’s public schools will automatically close. The seven-day rolling average rate hit 2.21% on Monday.
Last week, all restrictions were removed from Far Rockaway, a neighborhood in the borough of Queens with a large Orthodox Jewish community, after the positivity rate there remained in the 1-2% range. The Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park was taken out of the red zone last week.
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.
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 polarized discourse..
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
