“Last night, as thousands of New Yorkers partied in the streets, sheriffs entered this pottery shop, owned by a single mom of five,” said Councilman Chaim Deutsch.
By Josh Plank, World Israel News
Police in Brooklyn targeted a struggling Jewish businesswoman on Saturday night for alleged coronavirus violations while mostly ignoring large assemblies of Biden supporters just a few miles away.
Ilana Cagan, owner of Pottery and Glass Land, told Fox News that she and an employee were preparing orders to ship to customers but were not open when several deputies from the New York City Sheriff’s Office came to her store.
“They looked like I was selling drugs in my basement. That’s how many of them there were,” Cagan said.
A video showing one of the officers speaking with Cagan has since gone viral.
“I have five children. I’m a single mother. And I have zero income coming in right now,” she told the officers.
“And everybody else is open, and I’m not allowed to be open,” she said.
The officer said that she could make a complaint.
“Truly disgusting!!!” tweeted Donald Trump Jr. in response to the video.
Eric Trump tweeted, “So wrong.”
“I have a mortgage to pay, rent to pay for the store,” Cagan told Fox News. “I have all the regular house bills and I can’t pay any of them.”
She said that her Jewish neighborhood was being targeted in a “hypercritical” way, and several businesses on her block had already closed their doors permanently.
“I think I was able to open for two weeks out of the nine months [since lockdown measures began],” she said. “At this point, everywhere else is open and the numbers are higher around us.”
City Councilman Chaim Deutsch tweeted, “Last night, as thousands of New Yorkers partied in the streets, sheriffs entered this pottery shop, owned by a single mom of five.”
“With no income coming into her ‘red zone’ business, the owner was harassed while preparing craft kits to sell for the upcoming holiday,” Deutsch said, encouraging others to support local businesses like Cagan’s.
Deutsch has been fighting to have the area’s red zone status changed to orange, allowing business owners to once more earn a living.
“I spoke with the Governor’s office this morning and our efforts have been successful. Non-essential businesses can reopen, aside from ‘high-risk’ businesses, such as gyms,” Deutsch said on Monday.