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The incident happened during a basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 4 between girls' varsity teams from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers and The Leffell School, a private Jewish school located in Hartsdale, Yonkers city officials said.
During the third quarter of the game, which took place at Roosevelt High School, members of the Leffell School's team were injured by an alleged physical style of play by Roosevelt team members. This prompted the Leffell School to end the game early, which led to players from Roosevelt High School shouting antisemitic remarks at the team, according to a report by ABC News.
According to Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, one girl from Hartsdale was called an "(expletive deleted) Jew," and security guards were needed to escort the Leffell School team safely off the court.
In the aftermath of the incident, Yonkers Public Schools Interim Superintendent Luis Rodriguez and Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano released a joint statement condemning the remarks.
"The Yonkers Public Schools along with the City of Yonkers sincerely apologize to the students and community of The Leffell School for the painful and offensive comments made to their women’s basketball team during a recent game with Roosevelt High School- Early College Studies," Rodriguez and Spano said in their statement on Sunday, Jan. 7.
They continued, "Collectively, we do not and will not tolerate hate speech of any kind from our students and community. The antisemitic rhetoric reportedly made against the student athletes of The Leffell School are abhorrent, inappropriate and not in line with the values we set forth for our young people."
Rodriguez and Spano also said that officials began an investigation after the incident that involved game officials, coaches, and students, including personnel from The Leffell School. After several interviews and reviews of game footage, the coach and one player from the Roosevelt basketball team were dismissed, they said.
"The investigation is ongoing. Should the district determine other students were involved in the incident, further action would be taken by the school district where appropriate," Rodriguez and Spano added.
The Yonkers school district will now offer counseling and guided training sessions among the school community to stop a similar incident from happening again, officials said.
Spano also detailed specific action he would take in a statement on Monday, Jan. 8.
"Antisemitism at any level is unacceptable, as is racism of any sort. It's even more disturbing when it occurs among our young people," Spano said, adding, "In addition to all appropriate disciplinary measures against any student who exhibited antisemitic behavior, I will work with the Board of Education to convene a meeting of educational, civic and religious leaders to discuss this incident and come up with recommendations as to what steps we can take as a community to prevent anything like this from happening again.”
Additionally, Feiner said he would be taking action by asking the New York State Board of Regents to investigate the incident.
"No one should be subject to abuse and hate on the grounds of any school district in New York State because of their religion," he wrote in a letter to the Board, continuing, "As history has taught us, silence from good people, particularly silence from leaders, can lead to horrendous consequences."
This is a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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