Borough Park protests: Reporter attacked as anger flares over NYC red zone restrictions

Thursday, October 8, 2020
BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- New restrictions are now in effect in parts of New York City as officials work to curb the spread of the coronavirus in several neighborhoods seeing an uptick in cases.

The closures in the state-designated red zones are the most strict, with the kinds of closures the city hasn't seen in months.

You can find your zone at NYC.gov/covidzone.

In one of the red zones in Brooklyn, some in the largely Orthodox Jewish community are fighting back, even attacking the messenger.

In Borough Park overnight Wednesday into Thursday, a mob attacked a journalist.

Jacob Kornbluh of the Jewish Insider was roughed up. He was able to walk away and file a police report.

The crowd of mostly young men, some flying Trump flags, openly defied Governor Andrew Cuomo's mask order.

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The anger all has to do with Cuomo's closure of nonessential businesses in neighborhoods where COVID cases are on the rise.

A new map highlights the new zones.
Hostility, anger over new NYC shutdowns boils over

Starting Thursday, restaurants in red zone communities are only allowed to offer takeout orders, and religious gatherings are limited to 25% capacity or 10 people, whichever is fewer.

"We had the rules, it wasn't enforced in these areas," Cuomo said. "It wasn't enforced in these areas because it's hard to enforce in these areas...because they don't want to do it. So it wasn't enforced...And now we see the infection rate go up."

Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein put out a statement blasting Cuomo's limits on religious gatherings but also condemning the overnight violence, saying he's "imploring the handful of people within the community to end the violence."

WATCH: Raw video of earlier Borough Park protest
Raw Video: Anger fuels fiery protest in Borough Park

The NYPD released the following statement"

"Violence will not be tolerated in New York City. We take any act of criminality seriously. There is an ongoing investigation into an incident involving a member of the media that was assaulted while covering an event last night in Brooklyn. If you have any information in regard to this incident, contact @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. All calls are anonymous."

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