OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
New York City protesters in Brooklyn defied De Blasio’s city orders and cut the locks off of playgrounds in their neighborhood, according to ABC 7 NY.
One June 15, members of the Orthodox Jewish community threw a rally outside of the Middleton Playground in Williamsburg.
The rally was an effort to urge De Blasio to reopen the gates to allow their children to play.
A video shows protesters using a bolt cutter to open the lock to the gate and enter the playground.
“This is the mayor’s job and he should come here and offer these people some relief,” said Joseph Lentol, D-NY State Assembly.
“I understand people’s frustrations,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “But if folks act prematurely, and that causes the disease to start spreading again, then that’s the kind of thing that will undermine our ability to get to Phase Two and stay in Phase Two.”
“They can’t keep them locked up, on the fifth floor, for three months,” said Rabbi David Niederman. “It’s impossible.”
“If you have a dispute among local officials in New York City, they should sit down and figure it out, but it’s up to the local government,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
More from ABC News:
The NYC Parks Department says just like all the playgrounds in the city, Middleton is currently closed.
They say the playground has been broken into at least 25 times in recent weeks.
Due to the repeated breaches, the Parks Department says they welded one of the four entrances shut on Monday morning as a short term fix.
They later unwelded the entrance and replaced it with locks and chains.
