Kathy Hochul contemplates reinstating mask mandate in response to recent antisemitic events

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is considering a ban on face masks in the New York City subway following a series of antisemitic acts by masked individuals.

Hochul said at a Thursday news conference that she was working with lawmakers to bring back a law banning face masks in public that was repealed in 2020 due to COVID-19.

The ban would include “common-sense exceptions” for health and religious reasons, Hochul said. She did not provide a timeline for bringing back the ban and said that the specifics of it are unclear, ABC News reported.

“We understand how complex this issue is, and we’re just listening to people and addressing their needs and taking them very seriously,” she said.

The move comes after masked anti-Israel protesters told passengers on a subway train Monday to “raise your hand if you’re a Zionist … this is your chance to get out.”

Earlier that day, protesters wearing keffiyehs unfurled a banner at Union Square with the words “Long Live October 7.” Another video circulated of an unmasked man shouting, “I wish Hitler was still here. He would’ve wiped you all out.”

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

“It is frightening to people,” she added during a CNN segment. “You’re sitting on a subway train, and someone puts on a mask like this and comes in. You don’t know if they’re going to be committing a crime, they’re going to have a gun, or whether they’re just going to be threatening and intimidating you because you are Jewish, which is exactly what happened the other day. Absolutely unacceptable in the state of New York.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also expressed his support for the idea of bringing back an anti-mask law.

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“Now is the time to go back to the way it was pre-COVID, where you should not be able to wear a mask at protests and our subway systems and other places,” he said in an interview on 77 WABC’s Cats and Cosby on Thursday.

New York’s previous anti-mask law had been in place since 1845 during protests over rent.