New York event planners have been inundated with soaring demand for beefed-up security — including hiring armed guards and bomb-sniffing dogs — from Jewish clients rattled by unprecedented levels of antisemitism over Israel’s war with Hamas, Side Dish has learned.
The explosion of pro-Palestine protests — with some cheering the barbaric Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7 — along with hate crimes that have included swastikas being tagged on properties in Manhattan and the Hamptons, have led to an atmosphere of extreme caution, several event planners said.
At a recent bar mitzvah in Tribeca, guests who did not want to be named said there were “seven tactical counter-terrorism officers from the NYPD with assault weapons guarding us.”
“People always had security, but it was more like a doorman or bouncer-type role,” said Jennifer Gilbert, founder of event planning company Save the Date.
“Now if it is anything Jewish, like a bar or bat mitzvah, there are two or three people there to make sure guests are safe.”
Randy Zablo, CEO of Foremost Kosher Caterers, said enhanced protections include greater pre-security, and large rooms being checked, sometimes with bomb-sniffing dogs, before the events begin.
“Instead of just having security at the front door, it’s now also at the back door and all exits,” he told Side Dish. “It isn’t meant to scare people away but to give them a greater sense of security.”
Zablo said the Hamas terror attacks initially cast a pall over events planned long before the Oct. 7 massacre that killed more than 1,400 in Israel.
“Nobody knew what the right thing to do was,” Zablo said.
However, nobody is canceling weddings, bar mitzvahs or a bris, he said.
In fact, there are even more events because of “pop-up” fundraisers for Israel added into the traditional fall gala mix.
“If anything, support for Israel has strengthened, and social events continue. No one is going to crawl under a rock and hide,” added Zablo, who works throughout the tri-state area, Washington, DC, and its suburbs.
The result has been an additional “line item” for party budgets — aside from the usual expenses like flowers, catering and entertainment — that can run up to $5,000, according to celebrity event planner Marcy Blum.
A three-person team of retired cops for five hours costs $2,000, another event planner said.
Blum — whose clients have included LeBron James, Nate Berkus, Jennifer Gates, Kate Bock and Kevin Love — said a couple planning to get married next year has brought up concerns about security.
“We were going through the budget, and the clients said they’d need security, from checking invitations to having people at the front door,” Blum said.
Some New Yorkers, however, have scrapped or altered their plans to throw a party overseas after the State Department issued a travel advisory on Oct. 27 due to “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.”
“One client who was going to honeymoon in Morocco decided to change the venue to the Caribbean,” said celebrity event planner Jung Lee, who has produced President Biden’s state dinners with France and South Korea, as well as the Tony awards.
In other cases, she said, a planned birthday bash in Africa is still happening — even though some guests have canceled for security reasons, and others are taking a wait-and-see attitude.
“Jews in general have dug in their heels,” Zablo said. “They aren’t going to be pushed back. We as Jewish people aren’t going to do that.”
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