Shocking footage shows thousands of guests crammed into a synagogue for a top religious official's grandson's wedding in a blatant breach of coronavirus rules.
Social distancing guidelines have been completely ignored as the attendees stand shoulder to shoulder while they dance and sing at the nuptials of Yoel Teitelbaum, the grandson of Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum.
There is also a worrying absence of facemasks during the event at the Yetev Lev temple in the South Williamsburg area on Brooklyn, New York on November 8.
The synagogue will be issued with a $15,000 (£11,600) fine for hosting the "irresponsible" clandestine wedding attended by members of the Hasidic community, New York Post reports.
Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, said on Monday that while it was unclear how many people had attended the wedding at the 7,000-person capacity synagogue it was obvious mandatory social-distancing and mask-wearing rules had been ignored.
“This was amazingly irresponsible, just unacceptable," he said.
“There appeared to be a real effort to conceal it which is absolutely unacceptable.
“There will be a summons for $15,000 immediately for that site and there could be additional consequences quite soon as well.”
According to Yiddish newspaper Der Blatt, the publication of the Satmar sect, the organisers of the wedding tried to hide the event from “the ravenous press and government officials".
The wedding has fuelled fears of a new coronavirus outbreak at a time when the city's ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities are battling a high number of cases.
Officials in New York claim they have struggled to convince residents and local businesses to wear face masks and adhere to social distancing.
Several ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods were at the heart of New York's first major coronavirus outbreaks this autumn which has lead to a 'red zone' lockdown in some areas to try and slow down the infection rate.
The Yetev Lev’s own president, R’Mayer Zelig Rispler, who openly urged Brooklyn’s Orthodox community to abide by coronavirus safety measures died from the virus last month at the age of 70.
