Section 1, politicians call for investigation of antisemitic incident at Yonkers HS game

On Monday, Jan. 8, this article included a photograph of a March 1, 2023 girls basketball game between The Leffell School and Alexander Hamilton High School in Elmsford. Alexander Hamilton High School and its players had nothing to do with the Jan. 4  incident at the game in Yonkers between The Leffell School and Roosevelt High School, and the photograph should not have been used. We removed it promptly and apologize to Alexander Hamilton High School and the girls basketball team.

Section 1, the governing body for high school sports in the Lower Hudson Valley, is among those investigating an antisemitic incident at a girls basketball game last week between Roosevelt High School in Yonkers and The Leffell School, a Jewish school in Hartsdale.

A coach and a player from Roosevelt have been dismissed from the team after players from The Leffell School were subjected to antisemitic taunts at Thursday's game, including profanity directed at Jews and calls to "Free Palestine."

In a statement released Sunday night, Section 1 called itself "dismayed" by the allegations and said the reported slurs and other "hostile language" went against the section's stated "values and policies."

Although having the authority to do so, it made no mention of the section taking any action, and put the onus on the two schools to handle the matter. "The Section One Athletic Council and Executive Committee will continue to monitor the situation and stand ready to support both schools involved," it wrote.

In a joint statement Sunday, Yonkers Interim Superintendent Luis Rodriquez and Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said that the school system had dismissed a coach and a player from the team. They said that as soon as the Roosevelt administration learned of the incident, it investigated what took place, including interviewing witnesses and reviewing video.

“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," their statement said. "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."

Yonkers' investigation is ongoing, their statement said.

That may not be enough for outraged public officials.

Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner has sent a letter to the state Board of Regents, which he shared with Patch.com, calling for the board, which makes statewide education policy, to investigate the incident. He wants them to look into whether Yonkers responded appropriately and to develop guidelines for how school districts should respond when behavior on school grounds subjects "anyone to abuse and hate for one's religion or ethnicity."

"Was the incident that occured (sic) handled appropriately? Feiner wrote. "Was any student discipline imposed strong enough? What action steps should all school districts in New York State take to reduce the possibility of these kind of hateful incidents taking place in the future?"

State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, said that the response from the Yonkers Public Schools lacked outrage. She called for "consequences" and a full investigation.

"The Jewish community is increasingly under attack, and we cannot allow antisemitism to be normalized," she wrote. "As New Yorkers, and Americans, we have a responsibility to look out for one another, and uphold tolerance and respect. I hold our school districts, and all people, to this higher standard, and demand more of a response."

In a statement released Monday morning, state Assemblywoman MaryJane Shimsky, D-Dobbs Ferry, whose district includes Hartsdale, said the alleged antisemitism was "deeply disturbing," and called for the New York State Board of Regents to join with the City of Yonkers and Yonkers City Schools in further investigating the matter.

A student on the Leffell School team wrote a commentary for the school newspaper on the night of the game that described what she experienced.

Senior Robin Bosworth alleged members of the host Roosevelt team verbally abused her team, which plays in the public school league, although Leffell is private.

She wrote that things escalated to the point where Roosevelt became overly physical.

Leffell decided to end the game after three quarters.

It was not made clear what actions, if any, officials from Roosevelt or the referees officiating the game took.

“At the end of the (third) quarter, players on the opposing team started shouting ‘Free Palestine’ and other antisemitic slurs and curses at us,” Bosworth wrote. “Attacking a team because of their school’s religious association is never acceptable, but especially due to the current war in Israel and the world’s rise in antisemitism, this felt extremely personal to me and many members of my team. I have played a sport every athletic season throughout my high school career, and I have never experienced this kind of hatred directed at one of my teams before.”

The Leffell School was formerly the Solomon Schechter School. It has a K-5 school in White Plains and a 6-12 campus in Hartsdale.

Section 1 last year adopted a new "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy," which set a uniform approach for schools to take when there is a incident of harassment, bullying or discrimination at a sporting event. Schools are supposed to start with a prompt investigation, leading to several possible actions from counseling to joint team practices.

The section began working on the policy last year after a rash of incidents at events.

Section 1's statement about the Yonkers incident said: "This kind of behavior will not be tolerated, and it is our expectation that a full investigation and appropriate responses by the schools involved will take place."

"It is the responsibility of the school district administration to take prompt action consistent with the district’s code of conduct, with a defined goal of ending discrimination and establishing a more positive school culture."

While allegations of racist behavior by players and fans at local high schools basketball games have occurred in recent years, this is the first public report of a verbal attack linked to religious prejudice.

The allegations come amid a rise in reports of antisemitism nationally and internationally, in the wake of the October attack by Hamas on civilians inside Israel and Israel's subsequent invasion of the neighboring Gaza Strip.

It was unclear as of early Monday whether the game will, for the purpose of records, be treated by Section 1 as a forfeit by Leffell or simply treated as if it never were played.

Bigotry at local schools: Nyack latest Lower Hudson school district to see, address racist or antisemitic incidents

The outcome would likely not have an impact on future playoff seedings since prior to the game both teams seemed likely out of the post-season discussion with Leffell 0-6 and Roosevelt 1-5.

Roosevelt's only win was over another Yonkers public school, Riverside, which Leffell is scheduled to play Monday afternoon in Yonkers. As of early Monday morning, there was no word yet whether that game would go on as scheduled.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Calls grow for investigation of antisemitic incident at Yonkers game