NYC Parents Still Fighting to End Toddler Mask Mandate

This week NYC parents condemned mayor Eric Adams as he continues to uphold his mask mandate for children under five.

As the New York Post reports, mother Ana Jelenkovic said “I find it all very dystopian and depressing that as a society and as a city we have come to just accept this policy.”

In March, Adams promised to remove the mask mandate on April 4. But the mayor cited a brief spike in Covid-19 cases from to the Omicron variant for delaying the mask removal.  

“I want to remove masks and see our babies’ faces as quickly as possible” Adams said this week, giving no timetable for when he’d lift the mandate.  

COVID-19 vaccines are currently unavailable for children under five, which Adams maintains as his primary reason for the mask mandate. The rule is limited to indoor spaces but is heavily enforced within city institutions such as public schools and daycares.

Parents are fed up with the likely possibility their kids will be masked through the next school year. Mother Danielle Pollack said, “it makes me question whether New York City is the right place to raise my family.”

Adams was elected last November on what he described as a centrist platform. But as The Post Millennial reported his Covid policies were mostly a continuation of those set forth by his predecessor. When faced with criticism over these policies, especially the masking of toddlers, Adams fired city official Daniela Jampel.

In NYC Covid cases have been on the decline since the Omicron bump and over 75 percent of the city is vaccinated. Children are the least affected by the more deadly effects of Covid but can be a vector of transmission.

Father Brian Robinson called the mask mandate “absurdity in its most pure form” expressing the unfairness of putting the onus on the youngest children. Adams himself tested positive for COVID-19 this year after being spotted maskless at several indoor events.

This is not the first time parents have criticized Mayor Adams and his Covid policy for kids. In May, several parents signed an open letter lobbying for the toddler mask mandate to be lifted.