Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Kelly Visit Kletzky Home In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- From near and far, the family of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky is surrounded by a grieving community and some are coming from thousands of miles away to pay their respects.
A steady stream of mourners, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, have all come to the Kletzky home in recent days hoping to console the inconsolable, reports CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.
PHOTOS: Death Of 8-Year-Old Leiby Kletzky | A Community In Mourning
"This is one of the most sad days in the city. It's very tragic," Bloomberg said Monday night. "I don't know why God sometimes does some things, but it is what it is."
Yaakov German was in the room for the mayor and police commissioner's 10-minute visit and said the little boy's heartbroken parents were told everything was done to find their son alive and that, "God should give them strength. The father talked back that God is giving them strength. They're happy that they had the kid so many years."
Bloomberg and Kelly were just the latest in an ever-growing group of people to come by and pay their respects. Men, women, a state senator and an NYPD inspector visited earlier Monday.
1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon has more on Bloomberg and Kelly's visit.
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"Nobody talking. Nobody talk," said family friend Jacob Vizl, who described the scene upstairs behind closed doors, the family clearly silent, grieving, crushed.
"They're taking it very, very bad," said Vizl.
"It's quiet, somber," said retired NYPD Sgt. Lawrence Bach.
The Kletzys have been in the Jewish custom of shiva, or seven days of intense mourning. A week ago, the dismembered body of their son was found in two different Brooklyn locations. Levi Aron, 35, was arrested and charged with the boy's murder.
Those making shiva calls said the visits are brief, no more than three minutes long. It is all the family can bear. The small apartment can only hold about 15 people at one time.
Bach, who spent 12 years on the beat in Borough Park, said he is haunted by Leiby's father's anguish.
"You can see the pain on the gentleman's face. It's hard to describe," said Bach. "Only he can feel the pain. You know, it's tough."
Binyomin Ginsberg came all the way from Minneapolis, Minn.
"Such a tragedy," said Ginsberg. "How could I not show support?"
Ginsberg had never met the Kletzkys prior to his visit.
"We're supposed to comfort the mourners, but in a sense, everybody coming is a mourner," said Ginsberg. "We're all mourning this child."
A community of mourners, thousands of them, are coming from far and wide because they simply are having a hard time staying away.
A friend of Leiby Kletzky's father said he counseled him to concentrate on continuing to raise his family and try to have joy together.
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