{"id":244428,"date":"2026-05-26T21:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/244428\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T21:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:42:15","slug":"new-nys-law-makes-it-a-crime-to-harass-congregants-going-in-and-out-of-churches-parochial-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/244428\/","title":{"rendered":"New NYS law makes it a crime to harass congregants going in and out of churches, parochial schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

It will now be a crime target or harass congregants heading to and from houses of worship or parochial schools \u2014 under a new state law crafted in response to soaring antisemitic incidents.<\/p>\n

The new law, tucked in a massive budget bill, establishes a new penalty for \u201ccriminal interference with access to a place of religious worship\u201d \u2014 a class B misdemeanor with a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a maximum $500 fine.<\/p>\n

The law, backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, would establish a 50-foot buffer zone around houses of worship, including synagogues, churches, mosques or other religious centers.<\/p>\n

\"AntizionistAnti-zionist protesters clash with police at a rally outside Park East Synagogue in New York on May 5, 2026. Yoav Ginsburg for NY Post<\/p>\n

The language also includes educational institutions such as parochial schools, including yeshivas.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery New Yorker should be able to enter their house of worship and practice their religion without fear,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n

Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we\u2019re witnessing an alarming rise in hate-fueled attacks and blatant antisemitism, I\u2019m grateful my buffer zones legislation has passed and New Yorkers will be safer because of it,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rabble rousers could be charged with a crime if they intentionally engage in a course of contact that makes congregants have \u201creasonable fear for their safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The measure comes after months of hostile anti-Israel protests, including outside of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan and the Young Israel Synagogue in Midwood, Brooklyn. It follows city Mayor Zohran Mamdani vetoing a local bill that would have created \u201cbuffer zones\u201d around educational institutions.<\/p>\n

\"AntizionistIt will now be a crime target or harass congregants heading to and from houses of worship or parochial schools \u2014 under a new state law crafted in response to soaring antisemitic incidents. Yoav Ginsburg for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThis state intervention is not only necessary, it has become critically urgent following the veto by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani of the City Council\u2019s school safety perimeter transparency and reporting bill,\u201d said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D-Brooklyn).<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf New York City fails to take the necessary steps to protect vulnerable New Yorkers, the State of New York must act. This is precisely what we are doing with the passage of today\u2019s 50-foot buffer zone bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City Council issued a revised bill last week that narrows the no-protest zones to cover elementary schools, high schools and nurseries, but excludes colleges and universities to try to satisfy Mamdani\u2019s objections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It will now be a crime target or harass congregants heading to and from houses of worship or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3307,10685,57,9,11,10,49,51,50,7675,58],"class_list":["post-244428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-churches","tag-hate-crimes","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-religion","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}