#Judge declines to block Cuomo’s COVID restrictions on synagogues

A Brooklyn federal judge on Friday declined to temporarily block Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new coronavirus capacity restrictions at synagogues and other houses of worship in COVID-19 hot spots.

Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, during an emergency hearing, ruled that the state restrictions do not violate the free exercise of religion for Orthodox Jews, the New York Times reported.

“How can we ignore the compelling state interest in protecting the health and life of all New Yorkers,” Matsumoto said during the hearing, adding that she sympathized with the order’s impact on the Orthodox Jewish community, according to the report.

The move comes after Agudath Israel of America and some of its Big Apple affiliates sued Cuomo over the synagogue capacity restrictions that went into effect Thursday ahead of three Jewish holidays this weekend.

The Orthodox Jewish organization argued in the suit that the new COVID-19 measures violate their constitutional right to free exercise of religion.

The Diocese of Brooklyn has filed a similar suit against Cuomo.

Cuomo on Tuesday announced orders to close non-essential businesses and schools and limit capacity in houses of worship in swaths of areas of Brooklyn and Queens experiencing COVID-19 upticks.

Restrictions in the areas where large Orthodox communities reside were divided into three color-coded zones — red, being the highest-risk, orange and yellow.

In red zones, houses of worship have a 25 percent capacity limit or 10 people maximum, in orange zones they have a 33 percent capacity limit with a maximum of 25 people and in yellow zones they have a 50 percent capacity limit.

Cuomo, during an interview on CNN Friday, responded to the lawsuits, saying, “This is not a matter of religious freedom.”

The governor’s orders this week sparked anti-lockdown protests in the largely Orthodox neighborhood of Brooklyn’s Borough Park.