New York State’s newly enacted budget establishes a 50-foot buffer zone around houses of worship and extends that protection to religious schools and community centers statewide, making harassment or intimidation within those perimeters a misdemeanor offense, according to the Queens Jewish Link.
The legislation adds religious schools and community centers to the list of protected institutions. Anyone who engages in harassment or intimidation inside the 50-foot zone faces a misdemeanor charge under the new provision.
The budget measure follows a protest in January outside the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, where demonstrators gathered outside the synagogue and surrounding Jewish institutions chanting slogans in support of Hamas, the Queens Jewish Link reported. Elected officials, faith leaders, and civil rights organizations condemned the incident.
Assemblyman Sam Berger and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, who championed the measure in the state legislature, visited Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills and the neighboring Yeshiva of Central Queens to present the new law to community members.
“As a school located across from the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, we understand firsthand the importance of ensuring that individuals can access houses of worship free from intimidation, harassment, and obstruction,” said Malka Fishman, executive director of the Yeshiva of Central Queens. “This law strengthens protections for our community and reaffirms New York’s commitment to religious freedom and public safety.”
Rabbi Daniel Rosenfelt, rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, said the legislation “provides an important layer of protection for houses of worship and other community institutions, helping to preserve the sanctity and security of these spaces.”
“What we witnessed in Kew Gardens Hills this January was despicable, with agitators terrorizing our neighborhood,” Berger said in a statement quoted by the Queens Jewish Link. “This new 50-foot buffer zone law makes clear that those who seek to harass or threaten our community will keep their distance or face real consequences. At a time when too many excuse anti-Semitic intimidation, we in the Assembly are standing up to those like Mayor Mamdani whose actions harm our very way of life.”
Assemblywoman Rozic said the government has “an obligation to ensure that every New Yorker can enter a house of worship, school, or community center without having to run a gauntlet of hate speech” amid what she described as “an alarming rise in anti-Semitism, intimidation, and violence.”
Featured image: Bushwick Daily image
