Due to a high concentration of COVID-19 cases in the town of Palm Tree, which contains the village of Kiryas Joel, leaders of surrounding communities want the two-square-mile community turned into a containment zone, much like what the state authorized in March as the virus was taking hold in New York.
After requests to the state for a containment order by county executives in Orange and Rockland counties was shot down, seven supervisors and mayors wrote to Governor Andrew Cuomo, asking him to reconsider.
"It seems our neighbors are not on the same page" with regard to social distancing, they wrote, alleging gatherings in the streets and in synagogues attended by hundreds of people.
“It has nothing to do with anything else but public safety," said one of the letter's signees, South Blooming Grove Mayor James LoFranco, when reached by phone Monday morning. “The numbers are easy to see and the reason we wrote that letter, like I told you, is to preserve human life.”
In the New Rochelle containment zone, public gatherings were not allowed, and all schools and houses of worship were closed down.
Sources working in among legislative staff told Spectrum News that the restrictions first imposed in New Rochelle have since been extended statewide, essentially making the entire state a containment zone.
Some lawmakers have called on the governor not to single out communities where compliance has apparently been lacking, but to ask for state assistance in enforcement.
“Law enforcement, with the state’s direction and support, needs to be cracking down as much as possible," District 39 State Senator James Skoufis told Spectrum News Monday, "because some folks, for whatever reason, don’t seem to be getting the message.”
At his daily press briefing on Monday, Governor Cuomo announced he had increased fines for social distancing violations to $1,000, and said he wants local police to begin issuing those steep fines.
“Localities have the right and responsibility to enforce the law," Cuomo said. "My raising the penalty is my way of saying, ‘Do it. Just do your job.' "
Last month, Town of Palm Tree leaders announced a "complete lockdown" affecting synagogues and other religious institutions, and meant to prevent large gatherings.
Spectrum News reached out to Palm Tree Town Supervisor Abraham Wieder to ask whether he plans any additional action in response to other town leaders' concerns. He had not returned phone calls as of Monday evening.