The New York Times - USA (2020-10-10)

THE NEW YORK TIMES, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2020 Y A

Tracking an OutbreakThe Resurgence

vacation destinations. The most
optimistic economists began cele-
brating a so-called V-shaped re-
covery, featuring a bounce-back
just as steep as the plunge that
had preceded it.
Hopes had also been buoyed by
a landmark agreement forged by
the European Union to raise a 750
billion euro ($883 billion) relief
fund through the sale of bonds
backed collectively by all mem-
bers. That move transcended
years of resistance from debt-
averse northern European coun-
tries, while signaling that the Eu-
ropean bloc — not generally
known for cooperation in the face
of crisis — had achieved a new
state of solidarity.
But most economists assumed
that better days would last only so
long as the virus could be con-
tained. Restrictions imposed by
governments appeared less im-
portant than the willingness of
consumers to interact with other
people, returning to workplaces
and shopping areas.
In a report this week, Oxford
Economics, a research institution
in London, analyzed data across
the eurozone, noting that much of
the improvement in the late sum-
mer was the result of factories
springing back to life after shut-
downs. For expansion to continue,
people have to buy the products
the factories are making. The will-
ingness to spend is influenced by
confidence — whether people feel
safe enough to move about;
whether they fear they could lose
their jobs.
By September, as coronavirus
cases climbed anew, consumption
was falling off.
“With the health situation un-
likely to improve in the near term,
we expect the recovery to slow
again over the next few weeks,”
concluded the report, which was
written by Moritz Degler, an Ox-
ford Economics senior economist.
The economic slowdown is un-
folding just as some European
economies begin to taper off the
extraordinary sums they have ex-
pended to protect workers from
joblessness, prompting worries
about a seemingly inevitable in-
crease in unemployment.
In Britain, the government, led
by Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
has been aggressively subsidizing
wages at businesses hurt by the
pandemic so long as employers do

not fire their workers. The public

covered 80 percent of wages when

the program began in the spring.

Even after a gradual easing, the

government is picking up 60 per-

cent of the cost this month.

But the furlough program,

which has cost the Treasury 39 bil-

lion pounds (about $50 billion), is

set to expire this month. The over-

seer of the public finances, Rishi

Sunak, has been expressing wor-

ries about the size of Britain’s

debts, while pledging to square

the books. Under a slimmed-down

replacement program he an-

nounced last month, the govern-

ment would cover only 22 percent

of wages going forward.

But the rapidly deteriorating

economic outlook has forced Mr.

Sunak to go back to the well. On

Friday, in anticipation of tighter

limits on businesses, he an-

nounced a new furlough program

that would cover two-thirds of

wages at businesses that are re-

quired to shut down as virus cases

increase rapidly, and that would

also increase grants. The meas-

ures could be particularly signifi-

cant in industrial areas in the

north of England, where a surge of

electoral support for the Conser-

vative Party in last year’s elec-

tions helped keep Mr. Johnson in

office.

Fears of diminishing fortunes in

Britain have been amplified by the

possibility that the nation could

crash out of the European Union

at the end of the year — complet-

ing the tortuous process of Brexit

— absent a deal governing future

trade. That would risk job-killing

chaos, especially at ports.

On the other side of the English

Channel, the fall has brought a re-

alization that complex hurdles re-

main before the European Union’s

relief fund can be administered,

limiting prospects in the worst-hit

countries like Spain and Italy.

The Spanish prime minister, Pe-

dro Sánchez, on Wednesday an-

nounced a stimulus spending plan

worth €72 billion ($85 billion),

with four-fifths of the money

planned to come from the Euro-

pean fund.

Spain may have to wait for that

money. The fund is supposed to be

operational by January, yet al-

most certainly will confront de-

lays as European Union members

debate conditions on its distribu-

tion — especially rules aimed at

forcing Hungary and Poland to

abide by the democratic norms of

the bloc.

The continent’s prospects for

recovery are further restrained by

rules that limit debts by members

of the European Union and curb

spending. Those strictures have

been suspended, but they will re-

turn eventually, limiting growth

prospects.

Italy is counting on receiving

€209 billion ($246 billion) from the

European relief fund, but the gov-

ernment is also pledging to bring

down its public debt, which ex-

ceeded 134 percent of annual eco-

nomic output at the end of last

year. Such austerity, just as the

pandemic increases costs for

medical care, will almost certainly

plunge Italy into a longer and

deeper recession.

FINANCES

New Spread Thwarts Europe’s Hopes for Extended Economic Recovery

From Page A

Beachgoers near Malaga, Spain, in August. The Spanish government has warned that new virus restrictions may produce an economic contraction of over 12 percent.

SAMUEL ARANDA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Above left, London’s financial district. Above right, the Louvre museum in Paris. Both Britain and France have downgraded their economic outlooks as infection rates rise sharply throughout Europe.

ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES DMITRY KOSTYUKOV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A federal judge on Friday al-
lowed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to
move forward with new restric-
tions on gatherings at synagogues
and other houses of worships,
finding that the rules did not vio-
late the free exercise of religion
for Orthodox Jews.
The ruling in federal court in
Brooklyn came after Agudath Is-
rael of America, a national Ortho-
dox Jewish organization, sued Mr.
Cuomo this week over his latest
executive order detailing an array
of new restrictions to address ris-
ing coronavirus cases in neigh-
borhoods with large populations
of Orthodox Jews.
After an emergency hearing on
Friday, the judge declined to tem-
porarily block Mr. Cuomo’s execu-
tive order ahead of three Jewish
holidays over the weekend. She
said she sympathized with the or-
der’s impact on the Orthodox Jew-
ish community, but rejected the
argument that Mr. Cuomo had un-
constitutionally targeted a reli-
gious minority.
“How can we ignore the com-
pelling state interest in protecting

the health and life of all New York-

ers?” said Judge Kiyo A. Matsu-

moto of Federal District Court in

Brooklyn.

When announcing the execu-

tive order, Mr. Cuomo set new ca-

pacity limits for houses of wor-

ship. In zones with the highest in-

fection rates, houses of worship

would be limited to 25 percent ca-

pacity or a maximum of 10 people,

while those in a less severe hot

spot could have 50 percent capaci-

ty.

Judge Matsumoto, noting that

the order also shut down non-

essential businesses and schools

in the hardest-hit zones, found

that the new rules were not moti-

vated by an intention to discrimi-

nate against Orthodox Jews. The

religious burdens caused by the

restrictions were outweighed by

the need to stop “the most signifi-

cant health crisis in living memo-

ry,” she said.

Lawyers for Agudath Israel, an

umbrella group with affiliated

synagogues around the country,

had argued that the new rules

were unconstitutional. Orthodox

Jews are disproportionately af-

fected, they said, because they are

prohibited from driving during re-

ligious holidays and cannot travel

to synagogues in neighborhoods

with fewer restrictions.

In a tweet after the ruling, Agu-

dath Israel called the decision a

“crushing disappointment” while

reminding its followers to adhere

to health guidelines.

The judge’s decision means that

Mr. Cuomo can impose the new re-

strictions, which went into effect

on Friday, as the lawsuit pro-

gresses. Anyone who violates the

order against mass gatherings

can be subject to a daily fine of

$15,000.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of

Brooklyn also filed a similar law-

suit against Mr. Cuomo, arguing

that the restrictions would effec-

tively force at least two dozen

churches in Brooklyn and Queens

to close. After a separate hearing

on Friday, a different judge said he

would decide at a later time

whether to block the executive or-

der.

The legal actions underscored

the challenge facing New York of-

ficials as they try to fight off a sec-

ond wave of virus infections and

navigate a crisis at the intersec-

tion of public health, religion and

politics. Some areas in New York

City had infection rates of around

8 percent, officials said, far higher

than the 1 percent rate for the rest

of the city.

The restrictions were intended

to curb worrisome outbreaks of

the coronavirus in Brooklyn,

Queens and New York City’s

northern suburbs, including sev-

eral areas with large Orthodox

populations. Orthodox syna-

gogues have in recent months be-

come scenes of large gatherings of

worshipers clustered together,

many not wearing face coverings.

“This is the last thing I want to

do,” Mr. Cuomo said earlier this

week. “It’s a difficult conversa-

tion, and you’re right on the line of

government intrusion on reli-

gion.”

Mr. Cuomo’s announcement

came on the eve of three Jewish

holidays this weekend — Hoshana

Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret and

Simhat Torah.

Lawyers for the state argued

that the restrictions did not un-

fairly target the Orthodox Jewish

community, saying it was not a vi-

olation of the Constitution to ac-

knowledge that religious gather-

ings have a higher risk of spread-

ing the virus.

“The First Amendment’s pro-

tections do not require that the

government ignore reality and

common sense,” a lawyer for the

state wrote in a court filing on Fri-

day.

The lawsuits followed height-

ened tensions over the new lock-

downs, which prompted ultra-Or-

thodox Jews in the Borough Park

neighborhood of Brooklyn this

week to protest, light masks on

fire and attack at least three peo-

ple, including two local men ac-

cused of disloyalty to the Hasidic

community.

A leader of the protests, Heshy

Tischler, said on Friday that he

would be arrested on Monday for

inciting a riot. The incident in-

volved a reporter for Jewish Insid-

er, Jacob Kornbluh, who said he

was assaulted and hit in the head

by a crowd during a protest this

week.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the

video footage of the attack was

“disgusting to watch,” adding that

an arrest was expected. The New

York Police Department declined

to confirm Mr. Tischler’s state-

ment and said the matter was part

of an active investigation.

Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, ex-

ecutive vice president of Agudath

Israel of America, said in an inter-

view on Friday that he was unhap-

py about the violent protests in

Borough Park, but thought the

protesters did not represent most

members of the ultra-Orthodox

community.

Judge Matsumoto’s ruling

came down roughly two hours be-

fore the start of a series of reli-

gious holidays during which Or-

thodox Jews do not use technol-

ogy, which meant there was not

enough time for leaders to strate-

gize about next steps, Rabbi

Zwiebel said.

The governor’s new restrictions

will affect hundreds of syna-

gogues and tens of thousands of

Orthodox Jews in New York, ac-

cording to the lawsuit.

The rabbis in the lawsuit said

their synagogues had already im-

plemented strict protocols in com-

pliance with earlier state man-

dates, including splitting services

into separate gatherings and re-

quiring congregants to wear a

mask.

“There is simply no justification

for the unwarranted, unnecessary

and unconstitutional restrictions

imposed this week,” lawyers for

Agudath Israel wrote.

FEDERAL COURT

Judge Sides With Cuomo, Allowing Limits on Synagogue Gatherings in Hot Spots

By NICOLE HONG

and LIAM STACK

Joseph Goldstein and Benjamin
Weiser contributed reporting.

Finding that the rule

was not meant to

discriminate, but

rather to protect.