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

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Protesters attack journalist in Brooklyn.

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

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.

The coronavirus pandemic hit another fever pitch in Borough Park, Brooklyn overnight. As state and local officials work to crack down on COVID clusters, they are getting some push

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.

Josh Einiger has more on the rules and restrictions that take effect on Thursday in New York City COVID cluster zones.

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: Video from the Citizen app overnight showed the fire, as well as a large group of Orthodox Jewish protesters, young men openly defying social distancing guidelines, shou

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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The sense of doom grew, especially after March 1, when the first confirmed case arrived in Manhattan. Soon, there was a hotspot in New Rochelle, and small curfews and containment zones across the area offered a hint of a frightening future we still thought we could avoid.