At present, New York state’s policy for dealing with the coronavirus involves identifying specific areas as “red zones,” where particularly strict lockdown regulations must be applied. While there might be good reason that a number of these red zones overlap with Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish enclaves, the actions and public statements of the municipal and state authorities have given Jewish inhabitants there reason to think that they have been singled out, and the zealous enforcement of social-distancing measures has caused resentment. It has also led to a lawsuit. Michael A. Helfand explains the underlying problem:
[I]mposing restrictions on those communities based upon scientific metrics is certainly not anti-Semitic. Indeed, the state has clearly communicated its commitment that decisions must employ a “science-based approach . . . to stop any further spread of the virus.” But while the principle is sound, criticism—and legal challenge—has almost exclusively been based on the manner in which Governor Andrew Cuomo identified the hot spots.
Parsing out Cuomo’s intent may be an impossible task, although his continuing call-outs of religious Jews specifically certainly provides fodder for trying. One can certainly imagine, given the public-health stakes, granting him the benefit of the doubt. But maybe more curious than his word choice is the relative opacity of the actual new restrictions—an opacity that runs counter to the state’s [supposed] commitment to making decisions based upon public-health metrics.
Cuomo’s executive order is quite clear that “red zones,” “orange zones,” and “yellow zones” will be subject to heightened restrictions, including significant limitations on houses of worship. But the executive order is silent on how the state identifies which neighborhoods fall into these color-coded categories.
This failure [to make clear the criteria] certainly makes it hard to determine whether the state is applying the same restrictions to other neighborhoods that it is applying to predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. Failure to apply these same restrictions to all neighborhoods with comparable positivity rates—to engage in something akin to religious gerrymandering—would raise serious concerns as to whether the state is singling out particular Jewish communities for discriminatory treatment.
Read more on Jewish Telegraphic Agency: https://www.jta.org/2020/10/16/opinion/to-avoid-the-charge-of-anti-semitism-new-york-needs-to-make-its-covid-crackdown-standards-clearer