MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Nassau County on Wednesday implemented a controversial ban on face masks in public to combat antisemitism and crime, leading to a barrage of criticism from groups who said the legislation threatens people's health and free expression.
The law was signed by Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at a ceremony in Mineola, following its passage earlier this month in the GOP-controlled Nassau County Legislature, where dozens of public speakers showed up in support and opposition.
The Mask Transparency Act makes it illegal to wear a mask “for the purposes of concealing an individual's identity in public places.” Violation of the law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The measure exempts people who wear masks for health, safety, “religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn.”
Blakeman highlighted hate crimes as a key motivator for the law during the signing ceremony, where some members of the audience wore shirts that read, “End Jew Hatred.”
“We’ve seen people who wore masks and engaged in antisemitic acts, engaged in violence,” the county executive said.
Joey Borgen, who was attacked by a group of masked men in 2021 as he headed to a pro-Israel rally in Times Square, was invited by Blakeman to recount the antisemitic gang assault.
"They all proceeded to attack me, beat me up with weapons, they maced me, pepper-sprayed me, shouted horrible antisemitic slurs at me," Borgen said.
Legislator Howard Kopel has said the measure was introduced in response to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the latest Israel-Hamas war.
After a rise in masks at protests this past spring and summer, Gov. Kathy Hochul had floated the idea of banning face masks in the subway system, though no such ban has been enacted. Such a law could be especially difficult to enforce in New York City, where mask-wearing has become commonplace since the pandemic.
Nassau’s mask law comes on the heels of another controversial law signed by Blakeman this year that bans transgender females from playing on women’s sports teams at about 100 sporting facilities in the county.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which has already sued over the trans athlete ban, said the mask ban is an infringement on free speech rights and accused Blakeman of choosing to “chase a culture war over protecting the rights and well-being of his own residents.”
“We’ll say it again: masks protect people who express political opinions that are controversial,” said Susan Gottehrer, Nassau County regional director of the NYCLU. “Officials should be supporting New Yorkers’ right to voice their views, not fueling widespread doxxing and threatening arrests. Masks also protect people’s health, especially at a time of rising COVID rates, and make it possible for people with elevated risk to participate in public life. We should be helping people make the right choice for themselves and their loved ones — not letting the government exile vulnerable people from society.”
Blakeman hasn’t gone into specifics about the exemptions or said how people can respond to police questioning.
“What our police will do is make an evaluation as to whether they believe you are in fact telling the truth,” he said Wednesday. "One thing about our police officers, they're very street smart and they're very professional."
The NYCLU expressed concerns about how the ban would be enforced, saying it could subject medically vulnerable people to police harassment.
“The ban’s so-called health and religious exceptions will result in police officers — who are not medical or religious experts, but who do have a track record of racially-biased enforcement — to determine who needs a mask and who doesn’t, and who goes to jail,” Gottehrer said.
In testimony to legislators this month, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said officers would know the difference between someone wearing a mask for criminal reasons and someone wearing it for medical or religious purposes.
“We are not going to just arrest someone for wearing a mask. We are going to go up to the person and talk to them and find out,” Ryder said, according to Newsday .
A newly formed group called Nassau Residents for Good Government, which says it's "working to bring transparency, accountability and integrity to Nassau County government," also criticized the law, describing it as “sham legislation that won’t actually fight antisemitism” and is all but certain to be overturned.
In a statement, the group said in part: “Nassau residents will not be protected by this legislation. It will not be in any way effective in combating antisemitism. In advancing a bill that they know will not hold up in court, it appears that the purpose of the mask ban legislation is purely to score political points.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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