Tensions ramp up over photo of children playing on 9/11 Memorial

A photo of a family standing around and their child sitting on the 9/11 Memorial in Haverstraw Bay Park roiled ethnic tensions in Rockland County this week and gained the attention of Rockland County Executive Ed Day as well as a controversial Hasidic Jewish organization that recently put out an even more controversial video “The Jew in Rockland,” comparing the environment in Rockland County to pre-World War II Nazi Germany.

County Executive Day stated, “The ethnic or religious makeup of the family in question is not what matters here. What matters, and what I would ask everyone to focus on, is the desecration of this sacred site. I have reached out to Sheriff Falco and our Environmental Resources/Parks Coordinator to discuss ways to prevent this sort of behavior in the future through signage and patrols, and urge all parents to discuss with their children the importance of respecting site such as this one.”

The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council claimed Day had ulterior motives in posting the photo.

They said, “The story about Havestraw Park is that a photo of children climbing on a 9/11 memorial was first posted in the comment section of the Facebook Page of Rockland County Executive Edward Day, accompanied with an angry tirade against Hasidim. Instead of removing this tirade, Ed Day and his son Chris Day both adapted the photo to post it simultaneously as new posts on their respective Facebook pages; thus generating more hate comments against Orthodox Jews. OJPAC praises the many people from different communities who took to Facebook and Twitter to express outrage at the malicious act by Mr. Day who has multiple times criticized “The Jew in Rockland” video released by OJPAC without even once criticizing the hate pointed out in the video. The good people of Rockland County and beyond are hoping that the Day’s will bring communities together instead of dividing them.”

Day has repeatedly condemned the video “The Jew in Rockland,” while demanding others do so, while OJPAC and others have demanded that Day condemn anti-Semitic remarks on the Facebook page Block the Bloc Vote.

The memorial photo was first posted in the Facebook group North Rockland Community. Day’s post received over 830 likes.