STUART H.

DITCHEK, MD, FAAP

April 29, 2020

The Honorable Mayor Bill DeBlasio

City Hall
New York, New York 10007

Dear Mr. Mayor:

As you know, I have been a vocal advocate for all of the mitigation rules that have positively impacted
our communities and are saving lives during the COVID pandemic. At times, I have been critical of
members of my immediate community and others when finding violations either inadvertent or
otherwise. Overall, compliance with the social distancing and mitigation rules has been adopted in
overwhelming numbers of Jewish families and individuals. The rare violations, while very troubling, do
not reflect the efforts of the dramatic majority of Jewish community members who disagree with any
breaches of social distancing. I would add that the Jewish community has been at the forefront of
assisting other communities in getting needed assistance and support during this crisis. The wording of
your tweet was not reflective of the realities across the vast majority of our New York Jewish community
and those of other states. I hope that in the future, you would address concerns with specific incidents
and not in generalities that can inflame emotions. This happened to have occurred on the same day that
many New Yorkers openly violated social distancing rules during the Blue Angel flyover as was widely
reported. Violations have been occurring across many neighborhoods at some point. I hope that we can
move forward and put this difficult issue behind us.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Stuart H. Ditchek, MD, FAAP