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Diamondstein: Taking “every precaution.”
A phoned bomb threat — one of a series placed in Eastern states — led to the evacuation of Greater New Haven Jewish institutions Wednesday morning.
The call came in to the joint offices of the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Center at 9:22 a.m., according to Federation Chief Executive Officer Judy Alperin Diamondstein.
“There’s a bomb in your building,” Diamondstein quoted the female caller as saying. “Get everybody out.”
The caller might not have known that JCC and Federation operations have scattered to various temporary locations since a four-alarm fire last month. She didn’t make clear which building she was referencing.
Similar calls were reported Wednesday morning at over two dozen Jewish institutions in the U.S. Last week bomb threats were phoned in to 15 JCCs across the country and one in England (but not New Haven’s).
Following the call, the Federation evacuated its temporary offices and temporary exercise center at two different Woodbridge locations. It cleared a ServPro remediation crew working at the JCC building at 360 Amity Road. It also sent children enrolled in the JCC’s Yeladim pre-school program, temporary housed at B’nai Jacob Synagogue, and students at Ezra Academy school to a safe location while authorities bring bomb-sniffing dogs in to sweep the classrooms.
“I think they achieve their objectives by disrupting us and unsettling us,” Diamondstein said. “All we can do is take every safety precaution and safeguard the interests of our Jewish community.”
Click on or download the above audio file to listen a recent interview with Diamondstein on WNHH radio’s “Chai Haven” program about the Jewish community’s efforts to rebuild after the December JCC fire.