Rosh Hashanah Prompts Major Shift In NYC Security

New York, NY - People all across the tri-state are preparing for a happy and safe Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown, and as a precaution, security is being stepped up at many houses of worship.
Amid the calls for renewal and introspection, this Rosh Hashanah will also mark a noticeable shift in how law enforcement across the region treats the high holy days.
Stepping up security is at least partly a result of recent threats against synagogues in New Jersey, and May's thwarted attack on a synagogue in the Bronx. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly says the department is taking several precautions. Kelly said the proactive security measures wasn't a response to any specific threat.
"We have what we call house of worship radio motor patrol cars. They are put in as an overlay security element," said Kelly. But some rabbis are literally taking security measures into their own hands, training to defend their temples and their congregations. Beefed up security for the Jewish New Year is certainly a familiar theme abroad, and in his taped video message of hope, President Barack Obama restated his hope for reconciliation between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
In May, the FBI arrested four men in New York City in an alleged plot to detonate a bomb outside a Riverdale, New York synagogue. As a result of the near attacks, Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx received $25,000 to upgrade their security systems.

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