Cuomo Brings License Plate Readers To Rockland Jewish Community

AIRMONT, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared in Rockland County Monday morning to announce a project to put electronic license plate readers in the local Jewish community. The project comes in the wake of a machete attack on people at a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey Dec. 28 that injured five people.

The governor is directing $340,000 for the village of New Square to install license plate reader technology, which was used to catch the Monsey attacker, as well as other security cameras. The governor is directing up to $340,000 to the Town of Ramapo to install the same technology on roads in and around Monsey.

The Ramapo police will guide the strategic placement, said Kevin Bruen, first deputy superintendent of the New York State Police, who was at the press conference along with the governor, Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht, New Square Mayor Israel Spitzer, Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg and Rockland resident Joseph Gluck, whom the governor called "a human license plate reader."

An electronic license plate reader led to the swift arrest of the man accused of the Monsey attack Dec. 28. About 100 people were at Rabbi Rottenberg's home next door to Congregation Netzach Yisroel when a man entered, slashed four people, then fled. A fifth person was injured in the melee.

Gluck, who was one of the celebrants, memorized the license plate of the van the attacker left in and reported it to police, who picked up the van's track shortly afterward through an electronic license plate reader on the George Washington Bridge.

The driver and alleged attacker, Grafton Thomas of Greenwood Lake in Orange County, was arrested in New York City. He faces local attempted murder charges and federal hate-crime charges.

It was one of many anti-Semitic attacks in New York during the holiday, Cuomo said Monday. "We're seeing something in this country we've never seen before," he said.

Therefore government has a obligation to act. "Government officials are not in the prayer business," Cuomo said. "The number one responsbility of government is ... to protect the public."

Automated license plate readers are high-speed, computer-controlled camera systems that are typically mounted on street poles, streetlights, highway overpasses, mobile trailers, or police squad cars. The technology captures plate numbers that come into view, along with the location, date, and time. The data, which includes photographs of the vehicle, is then uploaded to a central server and relayed to police agencies across a wide area.

The expanded New York State Hate Crimes Task Force, which Cuomo announced during his 2020 State of the State address, will evaluate requests from other municipalities for license plate readers.

"This critical funding will ensure that New Square has the latest security technology in place to protect residents from acts of hate," Spitzer, who introduced the governor at the press conference, said. "We must follow the Governor's example and stand up for the most vulnerable members of our community."

SEE ALSO:

• More Federal Charges For Man Accused In Hanukkah Machete Attack
  
• Monsey Rabbi Recalls Attack, Gives Blessing At Cuomo's Address
• Rockland Attack Latest In Region's Series of Hate Crimes
• Heroic Hanukkah Celebrant Honored: Lowey