Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres accused Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday of dragging her feet on a law to ban public mask-wearing as a way to thwart hate-spewing bigots — a day after a mob of keffiyeh-clad anti-Israel protesters took over a Barnard College building.
Torres said such legislation is long overdue, and urged the governor to champion restrictions on the wearing of face masks during public demonstrations as part of the new state budget, expected to be adopted by April 1.
“Your lip service to a mask ban means nothing without legislation and executive orders that match the words with deeds,” the Democratic congressman said in a sharply worded letter to the governor obtained by The Post.
“The People of New York need decisive action from a governor who has been absent in the fight to unmask hate.”
Torres also accused New York officials, including Hochul, of violating federal anti-discrimination law by failing to prevent the harassment of Jewish students on college campuses.
“The State of New York’s acceptance of masked harassment and intimidation against Jewish students on college campuses violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of race, color, or national origin,” he said.
“As governor, the buck stops with you.”
New York long had a ban of mask wearing, which was repealed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as face-covering mandates were imposed to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
Proponents of reviving the mask ban argue that protesters and vandals cover their faces to hide their identity and avoid responsibility and accountability for their actions.
Torres noted that mask bans were put in place across the country to expose and arrest Ku Klux Klan members who terrorized and killed black residents.
“Contrary to false narratives, mask bans have a long history of defending civil rights rather than
endangering them,” the congressman said.
“No one at the time—except the KKK and its sympathizers—would have said that the KKK had a First Amendment Right to mask itself.”
A recent poll conducted for the civil rights coalition #UnMaskHateNY found that 75% of New Yorkers support a mask ban and 76% of Jewish voters are concerned about being singled out for discrimination, the highest of any group.
“The time has come for the governor to side with the people over the interest groups,” wrote Torres, who is weighing a run for governor against fellow Democrat Hochul next year.
Torres previously ripped Hochul for not mentioning a mask ban as a priority in her State of the State policy address in January.
Hochul spokesman Sam Spokony responded that “Governor Hochul has repeatedly expressed support for restricting masks and will review any mask ban that passes the Legislature.”
Hochul told reporters in late January, “I have said I would consider language that says if you commit a crime while wearing a mask, there should be enhanced penalties and the process is not over yet.”
A bill introduced in the legislature would not ban mask wearing outright, but create the low level crime of “masked harassment”.
The violation-level penalty would specifically target someone who harasses another while wearing a mask for the “primary purpose of menacing or threatening violence.”
There would be exemptions from mask restrictions for medical or religious purposes.
