Barring medical or religious exemptions, it is now illegal to wear a face mask in public in Nassau County.
The law was introduced by Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip (R-Great Neck), who argued for the law’s necessity in the wake of pro-Palestine protests across the country. Pilip – and others – have argued that protesters are wearing masks to conceal their identity and commit antisemitic acts.
“We’ve seen throughout the United States, and specifically in New York City, at Columbia University, people who wore masks and engaged in antisemitic acts, engaged in violence, tried to abridge people’s constitutional rights,” Blakeman said. “They occupied buildings, they tried to block roadways and bridges and disrupt traffic and people’s lives, and they engaged in violent acts as well, all while wearing a mask.”
Blakeman referenced laws designed to stop the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan, who historically wore white hoods covering their faces, as precedent for banning masks.
“Nobody has a constitutional right to hide their identity in public,” Blakeman said. “This has been something that’s been in practice in many jurisdictions. We are just reinforcing it here in Nassau County with this building today.”
The Nassau County Legislature voted Aug. 6 to approve the measure by a margin of 12-0, with the seven Democrats in the Legislature abstaining. Members of the Democratic Minority Caucus had said at the meeting that while they supported the idea of the bill, Pilip’s bill – the Mask Transparency Act – went too far in making the act of wearing a mask a crime.
Democrats proposed an alternative where one would face elevated charges for committing a crime while wearing a mask, but it was ignored by the legislature’s GOP majority..
“Bruce Blakeman’s decision to sign the mask ban law is nothing more than political theater and a blatant waste of taxpayer money,” Minority LeaderDelia DeRIggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said. “This law is destined to be struck down in court, further tarnishing Blakeman’s already losing record of lawsuits. It’s deeply disappointing that Blakeman and his Republican colleagues chose to ignore any opportunity for bipartisan compromise or even consider the Democratic bill — a bill that upholds the rule of law, offers a fairer approach for residents, and imposes firmer penalties on actual offenders.”
Assemblywoman Michelle Solages also criticized the law.
“Nassau County’s mask ban is not just bad policy — it’s unenforceable, especially at a time when Covid transmission remains high,” Solages said. “This is nothing more than a political stunt designed to divide, not protect. While concerns about hate-fueled violence are valid and serious, any response must not infringe on constitutional rights or compromise public safety protocols. The law is so broad that it could punish individuals for covering their faces for medical or religious reasons, even when they are protecting themselves from illness.”
Despite the opposition from county Democrats, the ceremonial chamber of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative building was filled with supporters of the bill. Among those supporters was Joseph Borgen, who was the victim of an antisemitic hate crime in 2021 at the hands of five masked offenders. The five men attacked Borgen while shouting antisemitic epithets – specifically, anti-Israel epithets.
“Three and a half years ago, I was attacked by a group of pro-Palestinian thugs who all covered up their identity with masks,” Borgen said. “To give you an example of how this bill would help my situation, specifically, just two or three months ago, they indicted another individual in my case, and the reason why it took over three years to get justice for this individual is who couldn’t identify him 100% positively. If he was not wearing a mask, I guarantee you he would have been arrested along with all the other thugs years ago.”
The law empowers Nassau police officers to approach and question any individual wearing masks, with Blakeman adding he trusts the officers to assess and determine if the individuals should be charged with a violation of the Mask Transparency Act.
“If someone’s wearing a mask, we want our police to have the ability to question them,” Blakeman said. “One thing about our police officers, they’re very street smart, and they’re very professional and they’re very polite, but they can sniff out somebody who’s lying in most circumstances. This gives them the ability to stop them and ask them, ‘What are you doing?’ At that point, our police can make an evaluation as to whether they believe that you are telling them the truth, and what they can do is further question you, they could potentially detain you if you gave evasive answers, like you don’t know where you’re going to or you don’t know what your medical condition is. We’re not looking to harass innocent people. We’re looking to stop crime.”
Nassau County Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Smith said that police officers will undergo additional training to enforce the law.
“The training is already ongoing,” Smith said. “Any police officers on the street are trained by their direct supervisors. We train to be observant at all times to be suspicious, that’s what we do — question people’s motive at times to stop criminal activity and deter crime. This is a great tool for us to do that.”
– Additional reporting by Benjamin Fiebert
