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Staten Island JCC Daycare Cancels Classes After Receiving Concerning Message

The Jewish Community Center’s Berman Early Childhood Center in New Springville canceled classes Thursday after it received a “concerning message” from a caller, officials said.

The facility contacted the NYPD and the United Jewish Appeal⁣ Jewish Community Relations Council security team after receiving the communication, said Allison Cohen, the chief of communications and external affairs at the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center (JCC).

The nature of the call is not clear. The NYPD did not immediately have more information concerning the incident.

“Thanks to the quick response of NYPD and the FBI, the caller has been identified and deemed not to be a credible threat,” said Cohen. “Law enforcement will follow up with legal action.”

Police deemed it safe to resume operations, but officials decided to cancel classes for the day “out of an abundance of caution with the safety of our children and staff in mind,” added Cohen.

A normal school schedule is expected to resume Friday.

The facility, which opened in 2018, serves infants and young children, from 3 months to 5 years old. It offers several early childhood programs, with day care starting at 3 months old, Pre-K for All and the First Foot Forward program, a preschool for young children with disabilities.

The JCC evacuated its Sea View and Greenridge locations in spring 2022 after receiving an email containing a bomb threat, the Advance/SILive.com reported. During the summer of 2021, the Staten Island JCC in Sea View was evacuated after a staff member received a threatening email.

The incidents come amid a wider trend of threats directed at JCCs and synagogues in the United States.

Authorities late last year increased presence in Jewish communities in New York City after a hate crime threat that resulted in the arrests of two people.