Three banquet halls in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood appeared to be hosting Hasidic Jewish wedding parties less than a week after Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that a similar gathering there led to an “uptick” in coronavirus cases.
The Post saw celebrations involving as many as around 200 people each underway Monday night at the Torah Vyirah Hall, the Ateres Chaya Hall and the Ohr Hachaim Viznitz Hall, all of which are located along a 10-block stretch of 53rd and 54th streets.
At Torah Vyriah, the windows were covered with paper to prevent anyone from looking in, but people in formal attire were getting out of cars that pulled up near a side door on 54th Street through which they entered.
A waiter who was working the event said there were probably about 200 people inside.
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At Ateres Chaya, the windows were also blacked out and celebrants were entering through a door in the rear, next to a garage.
Video shot inside, and reviewed by The Post, showed about 100 people seated in rows and separated by gender for the ceremony.
Outside Ohr Hachaim Viznitz, people were seen unloading gifts and music could be heard coming from inside, where The Post saw about 20 men and boys dancing in a room as workers appeared to be cleaning up the party.
Last week, de Blasio announced an “uptick” in which 16 people in Borough Park had tested positive for the coronavirus, with some “linked to a recent wedding — a large wedding, in fact — in the community” that he didn’t identify.
Social gatherings of more than 50 people are banned under pandemic-related rules, and de Blasio vowed a Health Department crackdown on catering halls “to let them know those standards must be kept.”
The Post also obtained photos of an Aug. 6 wedding party at the Eminence Hall in Borough Park, where celebrants were clustered around tables and not wearing masks.
The state’s ban on gatherings of more than 50 people was challenged last month by two couples who claimed it violated their constitutional rights “to preside or participate in religious weddings according to the dictates of their conscious and religious beliefs.”
An upstate federal judge ruled in their favor just minutes before Jenna DiMartile and Justin Crawford were wed at the Arrowhead Golf Club in Akron on Aug. 7.
But plans by Pamella Giglia and Joe Durolek to be married there on Saturday were stymied when a federal appeals judge on Friday granted a state request to stay the ruling pending review by a three-judge appeals panel in Manhattan.
Torah Vyirah manager Yoeli Landau acknowledged Monday night’s wedding but claimed that no rules were violated because a divider separated two groups of 50 each by gender and security workers enforced social distancing.
“We’re keeping strong the guidelines. It’s very hard for us, but that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
“We are paying especially for security at the door … We’re washing and everything.”
But workers at Ateres Chaya and Ohr Hachaim Viznitz denied having hosted weddings, even though tables inside the former were being set with plates and utensils Tuesday afternoon.
“Please leave the premises. Please leave the premises,” a man who gave his name as Joe told The Post.
A man at Ohr Hachaim Viznitz, who gave his name as Aaron, said, “There’s no weddings here. This is a school building. We have occasionally fundraising, dinner parties.”
When told The Post had seen the party there Monday night, he sarcastically said, “You work for de Blasio?” before adding, “I don’t have to give you any info.”
City Hall said officials planned Wednesday to issue two violations, with a total $2,000 in fines, against an unspecified catering hall in Borough Park for serving food without a permit and failing to comply with state gathering limits.
“We desperately want to avoid a larger outbreak in the five boroughs. That’ll take all of us working together to stay safe, across every neighborhood,” mayoral spokesman Mitch Schwartz said.
“The state-mandated gathering limits are clear. If some businesses have the wrong idea, we’ll take action: first by educating and urging compliance, and then by issuing summonses if necessary. We’re not going to let COVID-19 surge again.”
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