NYC Beefs Up Security After Israel Attack

NEW YORK

Police patrols in Jewish areas of New York were noticeably more active, with officers standing guard outside of shuls, yeshivos and public places, in the wake of the tragedy in Yerushalayim.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said Tuesday that the city has beefed up security as a precaution, even as he stressed that there is no known threat.

“The NYPD is following developments in Jerusalem closely and working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to monitor any further developments,” Bratton said in a statement.

“Once again,” he added, “we ask the public to be vigilant, and if you see something, say something.”

A beefed up police presence was reported in the Shomer Shabbos shul on 13th Avenue, the Bobover beis medrash, Yeshivah Karlin Stolin, and at Landau’s shul in Flatbush.

Meanwhile, condemnations of the terror attack poured in from New York officials, apparently having struck a nerve at the terror perpetrated in a shul during davening.

Having recently returned from a solidarity trip to Israel during the anti-terror operation in Gaza, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the attack “was a deplorable act of evil that should be denounced as such by all — regardless of their political or religious beliefs. I want to reiterate that friends stand together in times of crisis.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was “horrified and heartbroken. … New York City stands in solidarity with Israel at this difficult time, and we hope and pray for a peaceful and secure future for all of its people,”he said.

Comptroller Scott Stringer said, “a place of prayer is sacred and those who are ultimately responsible for this atrocity must be brought to justice.”

Public Advocate Letitia James said she was “deeply troubled and saddened” and “there can never be any justification for violence against innocent civilians.”

State Sen. Simcha Felder said “the worshippers were wrapped in prayer shawls, armed with prayer books, versus the attackers armed with meat cleavers and a gun. This act of bloody barbarism, in a house of worship during prayers, has reached a new low, even for the terrorists. People feel threatened, their unspoken thought: If Arab hatred is so out of bounds, can it happen here?”

Councilman David Greenfield said that the attack in Yerushalayim was “more vicious than any killings to date by ISIS,” the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

“When I saw the news … I was in shock,” Greenfield said. “Shocked that anyone could be so brutal to murder these worshipers during their prayers, shocked at the gruesome way they were executed, shocked at the celebrations in Gaza over the death of these innocents, shocked that this Palestinian terrorism violence continues to fester in Israel — a land of peace.”

Councilman Chaim Deutsch said he was “horrified at the despicable act of terror,” saying that it was “a stark reminder that synagogues and yeshivas in New York City are vulnerable to violence.” As chairman of the City Council’s Non-Public Schools subcommittee, Deutsch said he would push for non-public schools to be assigned NYPD school safety officers.

Ramapo Township Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence called it “a stark and scary reminder that terrorism can strike at any time and in any place. The gruesome images of unimaginable carnage and bloodstained prayer shawls should leave an indelible mark on our collective psyche .”

Both of New York’s U.S. senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as many congressmen and the borough presidents of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, also issued statements condemning the attack.

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