It may soon be illegal to wear a mask anywhere in New York State — not just Nassau County.
State Sens. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) and Steven Rhoads (R-Wantagh) proposed Thursday a law that would essentially expand Nassau’s Mask Transparency Act to be enacted statewide. The GOP-majority Nassau County Legislature voted of 12-0 with all seven Democrats abstaining before Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed the bill into law Wednesday. It makes wearing a face mask illegal, and punishable by a fine and possible jail time.
“Let’s be clear, we’re not talking about people wearing masks for medical reasons,” Martins said. “We’re not talking about people wearing masks for cultural and religious reasons. We’re talking about people wearing masks because they want to hide their identity, and the only reason that they would want to hide their identity is that they do not want to be identified when they commit crimes in this state.”
Blakeman emphasized that the Nassau law is aimed at reducing hate crimes —–- specifically antisemitic hate crimes in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel —–- committed by people wearing full face masks, and doesn’t seek to target people wearing masks for medical or religious reasons.
Martins and Rhoads again referred to precedent in laws that targeted the Ku Klux Klan from terrorizing African-Americans, Catholics, and other groups. New York State had a law in place for over 100 years that banned face masks, but it was overturned in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Gov. Kathy Hochul has expressed support for reinstating the ban, although Rhoads said they have not heard from the governor on the bill.
“It’s the same law, by the way, that was used to thwart organizations like the Ku Klux Klan who are committing violent acts of terror against a segment of our society. That’s the law that we’re looking to put back in place,” Rhoads said. “[For] when campuses return to session and we start to see these protests again.”
Rabbi Ronald Csillag joined the senators to express his support for their bill.
“When I was a kid growing up … the only people wearing masks on TV shows were bank robbers and criminals – other than Batman, and he concealed his identity for a different reason,” Csillag said. “Unfortunately, this whole issue came to light because of antisemitism.”
Nassau Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Smith told reporters that police have already undergone training to enforce the law fairly.
The full bill, officially proposed by Rhoads, can be viewed here.
