WILLIAMSBURG — A prominent rabbi and waterfront developer drowned after getting sucked under by strong currents off a Florida beach on Tuesday in an incident that also killed another rabbi, according to officials there.
Rabbi Isack Rosenberg, 67, a top religious leader at Yetev Lev D'Satmar at 14 Hooper St. and the developer behind the stalled Rose Plaza development on the South Williamsburg waterfront, died after he was rescued from the waters off of Haulover Beach in Miami while on a trip with three friends from Brooklyn, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department spokeswoman Detective Marjorie Eloi.
"It was very windy. There was a very strong current today," said Erika Benitez, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. "They were swimming in unguarded waters which is very dangerous."
Rescue workers got a call that swimmers were in distress just before 11:30 a.m., said Benitez.
Off-duty police officer George Waisman rode through the waves on a jet ski looking for the victims lost at sea, said Captain Miguel De La Rosa of the Bal Harbor Police Department, one of whom was tracked down about 200 yards from the shore.
Ofc. Waisman off duty, attempted to rescue swimmers off Haulover Beach. 2 were taken to the hospital, 1 drowned. pic.twitter.com/sHPXttQh53
— Bal Harbour Police (@balharbourpd) May 17, 2016
Three men had to be rescued from the fierce currents, according to Miami-Dade police.
Rabbis Rosenberg and Chaim Parnes, 66, who was also a diamond dealer, were both taken to at Aventura Hospital and pronounced dead, according to Miami-Dade police. A third victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in stable condition.
News of Rosenberg's death quickly traveled back to his Williamsburg congregation.
"It's too soon to put into words," one member of the congregation, who declined to give his name, told DNAinfo New York. "He was a part of everybody."
In addition to being a religious leader, congregants at the Satmar remembered the rabbi as a financial pillar of the community. He owned Certified Lumber, was a successful businessman and helped rush the construction of the Hooper Street synagogue in a matter of two weeks back in 2006.
"Anybody came to him he gave money, he never said no," said Joel Klein, 24.
A worker at Certified Lumber said the owner's death was a private matter and declined to comment further.
