Thursday, October 27, 2005
Synagogue faction allegedly wrecks school
The clash between warring factions of the Satmar Hasidic sect in Williamsburg just got more heated, with 26 people arrested for allegedly wreaking havoc inside a school adjacent to a synagogue.
"It looked like a hurricane came through there," a police source said. "Everything was just busted up and thrown around."
The school was stormed by the suspects Tuesday night, police said.
The suspects, all men ages 18 to 25, walked into the Yetev Lev Bikur Cholim synagogue on Rodney Street, then broke down a wall to access the school affiliated with the synagogue and started breaking and throwing anything they could get their hands on, the source said.
The suspects were charged with burglary, criminal mischief and petty larceny.
The incident was clearly a by-product of the wild confrontation earlier Tuesday in which more than a hundred cops were called to the synagogue to quell a disturbance involving more than 1,000 worshipers, police said.
Some at the synagogue Wednesday tried to downplay the burglary incident, saying the 26 men were simply there watching TV and smoking cigarettes.
Police sources, however, said it appears those arrested are affiliated with Aaron Teitelbaum, the leader of a Satmar congregation in upstate Kiryas Joel.
Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, the grand rebbe of the Satmar community, in 1999 tapped his younger son, Zalman, to lead the Brooklyn congregation, passing over the older Aaron.
The two factions have been warring ever since.
According to a 2004 court decision in Brooklyn, Zalman was designated to succeed his father, adding tension to the feud. The decision also said the father should resolve the dispute between the brothers, but a decision by an Orange County judge last week was interpreted by the upstate faction as a victory for them.
Scott Mollen, lawyer for Zalman's supporters, said there is no doubt the suspects were from Orange County.
"They tried to give impression to people they were only in the reading room ... " Mollen said. "Only someone who believes in Alice in Wonderland and is willing to suspend common sense and reality would believe New York City policemen would arrest people for reading."
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-syna1027,0,2404275.story?coll=nyc-moreny-headlines
The clash between warring factions of the Satmar Hasidic sect in Williamsburg just got more heated, with 26 people arrested for allegedly wreaking havoc inside a school adjacent to a synagogue.
"It looked like a hurricane came through there," a police source said. "Everything was just busted up and thrown around."
The school was stormed by the suspects Tuesday night, police said.
The suspects, all men ages 18 to 25, walked into the Yetev Lev Bikur Cholim synagogue on Rodney Street, then broke down a wall to access the school affiliated with the synagogue and started breaking and throwing anything they could get their hands on, the source said.
The suspects were charged with burglary, criminal mischief and petty larceny.
The incident was clearly a by-product of the wild confrontation earlier Tuesday in which more than a hundred cops were called to the synagogue to quell a disturbance involving more than 1,000 worshipers, police said.
Some at the synagogue Wednesday tried to downplay the burglary incident, saying the 26 men were simply there watching TV and smoking cigarettes.
Police sources, however, said it appears those arrested are affiliated with Aaron Teitelbaum, the leader of a Satmar congregation in upstate Kiryas Joel.
Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, the grand rebbe of the Satmar community, in 1999 tapped his younger son, Zalman, to lead the Brooklyn congregation, passing over the older Aaron.
The two factions have been warring ever since.
According to a 2004 court decision in Brooklyn, Zalman was designated to succeed his father, adding tension to the feud. The decision also said the father should resolve the dispute between the brothers, but a decision by an Orange County judge last week was interpreted by the upstate faction as a victory for them.
Scott Mollen, lawyer for Zalman's supporters, said there is no doubt the suspects were from Orange County.
"They tried to give impression to people they were only in the reading room ... " Mollen said. "Only someone who believes in Alice in Wonderland and is willing to suspend common sense and reality would believe New York City policemen would arrest people for reading."
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-syna1027,0,2404275.story?coll=nyc-moreny-headlines
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