Coronavirus: Rockland 'Beyond Fed Up'

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — At their Sunday news briefing, New York state officials said they reached out to the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community in Monsey and to Rockland County officials in response to concerns about the growth of the new coronavirus outbreak there.

Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said he spoke to rabbis and some local officials. He reminded them about the reasons for the state's order banning gatherings and closing houses of worship and schools.

"We work very closely with the community in Monsey, I get the issue," Cuomo said. "We're coming into Easter Week, Passover. You can't have large gatherings where you can have 1-2 people infecting many others. The virus is a non-religious enemy."

Cuomo's secretary Melissa DeRosa said at the briefing that government officials in Rockland had more power to enforce the state's executive orders than they realized, and said the governor's office had reached out to talk about specifics. Local governments can levy building code violations and enforce penalties if the occupancy at a venue or gathering space violates the state’s order.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day released a statement in response:

Disappointed to say the least at the Governor’s briefing today. I spent a good part of the day yesterday, in addition to this morning, having what I thought were productive conversations with his senior staff. To blame the county for, “not understanding the law” on enforcement of large gatherings pursuant to the Governor’s emergency orders when our District Attorney and Sheriff cite the New York District Attorney’s Association written opinion that there is no enforceability, who likened the language in the orders as only “helpful hints” is completely inaccurate and disingenuous as we have raised this concern before.

Our District Attorney and Sheriff are independent, elected officials who head up the law enforcement component here in cooperation with our town and village chiefs. The fact is that our cops need to know that their actions are completely legal before they take action and that is not too much to ask. As a former member of law enforcement, I absolutely agree with that. To be clear, police officers DO NOT respond to or take orders from elected officials, they answer to a police command structure.

That said, we are still in communication with the Governor’s senior staff today to address what we previously requested from the Governor’s local staff, some firm direction on this matter. In addition, we are looking to drill down into the issues we have raised that involve the identified containment zone originally cited, along with strategies that should be employed including a temporary hospital. Frankly we need more than talk from the State Health Department during this critical moment in time. We need identified and affirmative action. I am hopeful that now some attention is being given to Rockland, we can achieve a fully focused approach. Stay tuned.

Out of more than 300,000 people tested for the coronavirus in New York as of Sunday morning, 122,031 had tested positive. That includes 5,326 in Rockland County.

On Saturday, Day said he was "dumbfounded" when Cuomo and Zucker said they didn't know anything about his administration's request Thursday for a "containment zone" in the hardest-hit section of the county.

The county's health department hotline has fielded hundreds of complaints about large gatherings in the town of Ramapo. The communities of Monsey and Spring Valley in Ramapo have the highest percentages of coronavirus infection rates.

To our Governor, if you are telling the truth then you need to have a serious conversation with office communications personnel AND your THREE staff members who also received the attached letter.

And to both the Governor and Secretary to the Governor, Melissa DeRosa, how in God's name could you not know of this? Major news outlets, heavy social media coverage, along with a load of calls and emails to your office in support of this request, not to mention one of your staffers who actually saw it live. These responses strain credibility and that is putting it mildly.

While lives are in the balance, nobody knows anything? That is what we in Rockland are expected to believe? Well, I guess you do "know" now, and I await a call on my cell. The people of Rockland are beyond fed up.

DeRosa did say during the briefing that the reason for the New Rochelle containment zone March 10 was to stop gatherings and close houses of worship and schools because large gatherings had been vectors for the virus's rapid spread. Since then, large gatherings have been prohibited and houses of worship and schools have been ordered closed across the state, she said.

"We'll of course reach out to Rockland and find out what more they want us to do," she said.

Rockland's cases continue to rise rapidly.

In Monsey, there were 882 reported cases, representing 2.12 percent of the population, according to the most recent data on the county's coronavirus map. In Spring Valley, there were 993 reported cases, or 1.54 percent of the population. The next highest community total in Rockland was New City with 331 reported cases, or 1.04 percent of the population.

The problem is that the county is powerless to enforce the ban because of an earlier state order, Day said.

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