What to Know
- Gov. Cuomo ordered heightened security at synagogues statewide after the massacre in Pittsburgh on Saturday
- Local officials throughout the state also ordered stepped-up patrols for houses of worship
- "We will protect you," Mayor De Blasio told the city's Jewish community
Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered state police to increase security around Jewish centers and houses of worship on Saturday in the wake of a mass shooting in Pittsburgh.
Local patrols including the NYPD, Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, Passaic County in New Jersey, and the towns of Bridgeport, Clarkstown and South Brunswick also increased patrols at houses of worship.
At least 11 people were killed and more were shot, including four officers, in a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
"While the nation awaits further details of what occurred, initial reports suggest that this senseless act of gun violence was an anti-Semitic attack," Cuomo said in a statement. "We stand together with the Jewish community in this difficult time as we always have before."
The NYPD deployed heavy weapons teams, including members of the critical response command and the strategic response team, officials said, though there are no specific threats to the city.
Patrol cars would also be making additional visits to houses of worship, police said.
Local
“We will not allow hatred to grow in New York City. We will not allow the voices of hate here, we will not allow acts of violence here,” De Blasio said in a Saturday night news conference in front of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan. “We need to send a message that we will never tolerate anti-Semitism.”
The synagogue's Rabbi Arthur Schneier thanked law enforcement for the extra protection.
“I know that all New Yorkers stand with our brothers and sisters in Pittsburgh, and we pray for the freedom we have enjoyed in this blessed land,” he said.
Nassau County also increased and intensified patrols around houses of worship on Saturday, the county executive and police commissioner said.
