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12 COURIER LIFE, MAY 3–9, 2019 M BR B G
CLASS DISMISSED: A group of fi ve Williamsburg parents sued the city in Kings County
Supreme Court earlier this month for the right to not vaccinate themselves, but Judge
Lawrence Knipel dismissed the case on April 18. Photo by Paul Martinka
City closes two yeshivas in
Williamsburg that allowed
unvaccinated kids in class
BY COLIN MIXSON
The city announced on April 29 the
closure of two Williamsburg yeshivas
as punishment for allowing unvaccinated
kids to attend class, as
an outbreak of the highly contagious
measles virus continues to sweep
through Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish
communities.
The schools — Tiferes Bnos at
585 Marcy Ave. and Talmud Torah
D’Nitra at 1007 Bedford Ave. — violated
a neighborhood-wide emergency
order issued by Health Commissioner
Oxiris Barbot and announced by
Mayor Bill de Blasio on April 9 in a bid
to stem the spread of the potentially fatal
illness, which has infected 423 people
in Brooklyn, including 348 cases in
Williasmburg.
The city previously closed fi ve
other Williamsburg Jewish academies
for admitting unvaccinated kids,
and refusing to provide inspectors
with medical and attendance records,
including one Williamsburg yeshiva
that inspectors have connected to
more than 40 cases since January.
In addition to empowering the
Health Department to close schools,
Commissioner Barbot’s emergency
declaration authorized inspectors to
issue $1,000 fi nes to unvaccinated residents
of four Williamsburg zip codes
— 11205, 11206, 11211, and 11249 — and
the agency’s so-called “disease detectives”
have tracked down 57 people
who allowed themselves, or their children
to go without inoculation.
A group of fi ve Williamsburg parents
sued the city in Kings County Supreme
Court earlier this month for the
right to not vaccinate themselves, but
Judge Lawrence Knipel dismissed the
case on April 18.
Robert Krakow, an attorney for the
plaintiffs, said he was disappointed by
the judge’s decision, but that he’s fi led
an appeal and is hopeful that a higher
justice will issue a preliminary injunction
eliminating, or reducing the
fi ne on May 6.
Five Brooklyn measles cases — including
the original infection discovered
in October — were traced back to
trips from Israel, where another measles
outbreak infected more than 1,000
people last year.
Barbot earlier this month described
this as the largest outbreak of
the measles that New York City has experienced
since 1991, but the disease
has since spread by well over 100 additional
cases.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne
pathogen that produces symptoms
including fever, cough, and a
runny nose, and can cause diarrhea,
ear infection, pneumonia, encephalitis,
and death — with about one of every
1,367 kids infected dying due to fatal
complications from measles.
Symptoms can appear anytime
from seven to 21 days following exposure,
according to the Health Department.
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