De Blasio Visits HyperCacher Site

By COLlive reporter

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the HyperCacher kosher grocery in Paris, which was attacked by a Muslim terrorist and where four shoppers were murdered.

The visit was part of a solidarity trip to the French capital still reeling from a string of terror attacks on the store, a satirical magazine and police officers two weeks ago.

The visit was to “send the clear message that together we will fight terrorism and anti-Semitism at every turn, and that crude attempts to intimidate free expression will not succeed,” a statement from his office said.

Part of the delegation of the Paris City Hall was Rabbi Levi Matusof, who told the Mayor of his Chabad association, to which de Blasio responded that he lives near the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn and recently visited there.

Lubavitch Headquarters was the site of a bloody stabbing of a Yeshiva student visiting from Israel last month. Following the attack, the Mayor came to discuss his administration’s commitment to safeguarding the residents.

In Paris, the Mayor said: “We share the same values, it’s an honor to be here. Paris and New York City have walked in the same shoes [as victims of terrorism].”

The NYPD sent a ceremonial unit to France last week to attend services for law enforcers there killed during the terrorist attack. The team is also working with police in Paris as part of expanded training for “active shooters” who arm themselves with high-powered rifles and open fire, NBC 4 New York reported.

De Blasio, who later met the leadership of France’s Jewish organizations, told Matusof about his friendship with Crown Heights activists Chanina Sperlin and Devorah Halberstam.

Lubavitcher singer Yoni Shlomo, who lives near the kosher grocery and was in the vicinity at the time of the terror attack, also attended the ceremony.

“I think what’s important is that the mayor is here today fighting terrorism and anti-semitism,” Matusof told the New York Post. “And combating all extremism, fascism, radicalism. Most importantly we are continuing in Paris, in France, the Jewish flag is up and rising. We’re not putting down our hands.”

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