You are reading

Hochul Lifts Mask Mandates on Mass Transit

Masked riders on the subway (Photo: Queens Post)

Sept. 7, 2022 By Christian Murray

The state’s mask mandate for public transit has been lifted, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

Hochul said the state will immediately end masking rules on subways, buses, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. The new policy also applies to airports, for-hire vehicles, correctional facilities, detention centers and homeless shelters.

The governor said that while the masks are no longer required, their use should be encouraged. Signs will be posted on the subway and in transit areas that will promote mask use but make clear that they are optional.

“We have to restore some normalcy to our lives,” Hochul said, noting that the masks are now optional.

“If you choose not to have a mask, it’s your own risk assessment. You make your own determination but do not judge your fellow passengers on what their choices are.”

Officials had stopped enforcing the mask requirement some time ago and people had largely stopped adhering to the rule.

The mask mandate was first put in place by in April 2020 by Hochul’s predecessor, Gov. Andrew Cuomo,

Masks, however, must still be worn in hospitals and adult care facilities, such as nursing homes.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Long Island ‘predator’ indicted on sex trafficking charges for forcing two victims into prostitution using violence, tattoos to intimidate them: DA

Mar. 29, 2023 By Bill Parry

A Long Island man was indicted on sex trafficking charges and faces up to 50 years in prison for allegedly forcing two women to engage in prostitution and assaulting and robbing them while weaponizing personalized tattoos as a twisted form of branding his victims, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on March 29.

Met Council leader warns of ‘catastrophe’ for low-income families in Queens due to lack of pandemic-era federal food aid

Mar. 28, 2023 By Bill Parry

As an accomplished legislator, law professor and media personality with broad experience in government and not-for-profit organizations, Met Council CEO and executive director David Greenfield is well aware of the power of words. With Passover arriving on Wednesday, April 5, and with federal pandemic food assistance no longer available to low-income families in Queens, the leader of the nation’s largest Jewish charity organization warned of a coming “catastrophe” and called for the city to step up to provide $13 million in emergency funding for pantries to help New Yorkers facing food insecurity and elevated costs of living in the borough.

Pair of Queens community organizations will activate public spaces to celebrate local cultures

Two Queens community organizations are among an inaugural cohort of five groups citywide that will lead new projects to celebrate local cultures and histories in public spaces under a new initiative called The Local Center in a partnership between Urban Design Forum and the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD).

At a time when New York is grappling with an uneven pandemic recovery and as displacement looms large for communities and neighborhoods across the five boroughs, this new endeavor will convene interdisciplinary teams to transform and activate the shared spaces where cultural traditions flourish — and importantly, center the community visions and leadership that is too often left out of the process.