WATCH: Orthodox Jews Cut Open Bill de Blasio’s Locked Parks

Orthodox Jews used bolt cutters Monday to cut through gates that had been welded shut by New York City authorities earlier in the day to prevent children in Jewish neighborhoods from playing, ostensibly because of fears of coronavirus.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has continued cracking down on religious observance, and on religious Jews in particular — while supporting large, crowded Black Lives Matter and transgender demonstrations in the city over the past several weeks.

The community has been eager to use the parks again, but the city has removed children from them. As Breitbart News reported earlier Monday, the city actually welded shut the gates to prevent families from gaining access to the parks.

De Blasio personally oversaw the breakup of a  Jewish funeral procession in April, and criticized the community directly for violating social distancing guidelines. He has been sued, along with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for religious discrimination based on their differential enforcement of coronavirus restrictions during the past few weeks.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.