Mayor De Blasio Expresses ‘Regrets’ Over Harsh Brooklyn COVID Response

NEW YORK (VINnews) — In his Tuesday briefing, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that he held an in-person meeting on Monday at Gracie Mansion, aimed at building a strategy to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the predominantly jewish areas in Brooklyn and Queens.

“It was a very moving meeting, a very productive meeting with a group of leaders from Brooklyn and Queens, some of whom I’ve known very, very well for as much as 20 years, and a very honest meeting,” the mayor told Jewish Insider’s Jacob Kornbluh during his city hall briefing. “I think what the meeting really helped me to appreciate is that so many people in the community have suffered and they need to know that we as the city government understand their suffering, understand the difficulties that the community has gone through, understand the fears that people have — rightfully — of discrimination, and that we need to hear each other more and understand each other more.”

The mayor then expressed that he has “regrets” about his role in raising tensions between city and state officials and members of the orthodox jewish community, due to the harsh measures taken. “I look back now and understand there was just more dialogue that was needed,” said the mayor. “I certainly got very frustrated at times when I saw large groups of people still out without masks. But I think more dialogue would have been better. So I certainly want to express my regret that I didn’t figure out how to do that better.”

In addition, the mayor expressed apology for singling out the jewish community by name, in a well publicized tweet in response to a large Williamsburg funeral back in April. “I let my frustration and concern get away with me, and I should have been more careful in my language, and I’ve expressed my apology for that before,” he said.

The Mayor’s comments come after a recent conciliatory dialogue between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Brooklyn jewish community.