NYC Mayor apologises for Jewish funeral criticism

New York: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has apologised after he criticised a large gathering for a Jewish funeral amid the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported.

In response to reports of the mass gathering of mourners on Tuesday night, de Blasio had warned "the Jewish community" that police would make arrests, the BBC reported.

The Hasidic Jews were mourning a late rabbi at the service in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighbourhood.

Following his comments, the Mayor was accused of anti-Semitism for his comments.

"If in my passion and in my emotion I said something that was hurtful, I'm sorry about that," de Blasio said in his apology on Wednesday.

"I have no regrets about calling out this danger and saying we're going to deal with it very, very aggressively."

De Blasio's original comments called the crowd "absolutely unacceptable".

After apologising for his comments, de Blasio said he "understood" that people were in pain, but there were consequences for those who attended.

"Some will be sick with that disease," he said. "It's just a fact, we know this," the BBC quoted the Mayor as saying.

"Some will spread the disease to others. People, as a result, will die."

It was not known how many people attended the funeral.