Hochul and Adams support mask ban on NYC trains and buses – NBC New York

Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a ban on face masks on all public transportation in New York City during a safety briefing this week, citing concerns that people could hide their identities while committing anti-Semitic acts.

Also, with an air quality warning in effect across much of the state this week and New York seeing an all-time high of COVID cases, she says the move will help prevent crime on public transit.

At a wide-ranging public safety press conference, Hochul began by addressing two recent incidents involving Jewish New Yorkers. The governor pointed to a vandalism on Tuesday at the home of the director of the Brooklyn Museum and a reported train incident the night before in which “a masked group occupied a subway car, frightened passengers and chanted things about Hitler and the extermination of the Jews.”

“We will not tolerate people using masks to evade responsibility for criminal or threatening behavior,” she said. “My team is working on a solution, but on the subway, people should not be able to hide behind a mask to commit crimes.”

Hochul said she has begun discussions with Mayor Eric Adams and state lawmakers about a possible crackdown on masks. A previous state law banning face masks in public was repealed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when masks became mandatory in most settings.

Shortly thereafter, Adams expressed his support in an interview on the radio show “Cats & Cosby.” He compared people who wear masks to “hide their faces” to the Ku Klux Klan.

“Dr. King did not hide his face when he demonstrated for the things he thought were wrong in the country. These civil rights leaders did not hide their faces. They stood up. In contrast, the Klan hid their faces,” Adams said Thursday.

“In our transportation system, people have been hiding under the guise of wearing a mask because of COVID to commit criminal and heinous acts. I think now is the time to go back to pre-COVID conditions where you are not allowed to wear a mask at protests and in our subway systems and other places,” he added.

The discussion of a mask ban on public transportation comes at a time when the number of positive cases in New York City is rising. Transmission rates across the city are nearly double what they were three months ago, according to city data. However, hospitalization rates have remained stable.

In recent years, wearing masks in public has not only become common practice for many New Yorkers, but was also mandatory throughout the MTA system and in most public places for much of the pandemic. Although conditions have improved significantly since the height of the pandemic, many immunocompromised and otherwise healthy individuals still wear masks daily on trains and buses to avoid contracting and spreading viruses.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality health alert for the New York City metropolitan area, effective Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The biggest concern, according to the department, is ozone, as the air quality index is expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Active children and adults, as well as people with respiratory problems such as asthma, should avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity, experts say. Authorities also recommend taking more breaks. People should pay attention to symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath and follow the action plan they have worked out with their doctor in advance.

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It is not yet clear whether there is further support for this in the New York State Legislature and how such a proposal would develop further, but the state would not be the first to consider such legal action against mask-wearing in public.

Lawmakers in North Carolina passed a mask ban this week that would prohibit people wearing a mask while committing a crime. The bill faced significant opposition because it originally prohibited people from wearing a mask for health reasons.

Hochul acknowledged that such a ban would be complex and would require significant balancing of health and religious reasons, protection from the elements and holidays such as Halloween.

“I assure everyone that we understand how complex this problem is. And we simply listen to people, respond to their needs and take them very seriously,” Hochul said.