At-Risk Hell’s Kitchen Resident Hits Out at Proposed Mask Ban

An immunocompromised Hell’s Kitchen resident is concerned that a proposed ban on mask wearing in New York State could threaten her ability to safely leave her home.

Michele Sommerstein was relieved when she received a power wheelchair in December of 2023. Save for an occasional doctor’s appointment, she hadn’t left her apartment on 11th Avenue in seven years. Now, just six months later, Michele is concerned that her new-found freedom could be taken away from her if New York State reinstates a controversial ban on mask wearing.

Michele, who has mild lung disease, never leaves her apartment without a mask. She’s already had COVID-19 once and doesn’t want to take any chances.

A longstanding 1800s ban on wearing masks during protests in New York State, originally introduced to discourage tenant demonstrations, was repealed in 2020 when the world began wearing masks to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Four years later, in mid-June, Democratic lawmakers introduced identical bills in the State Assembly (sponsored by Jeffrey Dinowitz) and Senate (sponsored by James Skoufis) that would prohibit mask wearing for people “involved in lawful assembly … whereby the person or the person’s face is disguised so as to conceal the identity of the wearer.”

The bills follow a series of incidents of protestors allegedly making antisemitic remarks while wearing face coverings, prompting NY Governor Kathy Hochul to announce in June that she was considering a ban on face masks in the subway system . The proposal has yet to be introduced. “We will not tolerate individuals using masks to evade responsibility for criminal or threatening behavior,” she said at the time.

Michele, who is Jewish, fears any form of mask ban will only make her — and society at large — less safe. “I’m so terrified that as it is, I have to be very careful when I go out. I don’t go out in crowds,” Michele said. “I’m not going to protests, if I’m hanging out with friends they have to wear a mask. I cannot mess around.”

She added, “We’re already in a surge of COVID cases — so let’s ban COVID masks, what could go wrong? I mean, it’s just like, let’s just do ourselves over.”

She has already faced verbal harassment from people due to wearing a mask, which she fears would increase, with a mask ban leading to further stigma. “Sometimes when I’m out and about people, mostly men, will fake cough as they go by,” Michele said. “And on one hand, it’s laughable, but it’s awful.”

In their current form, the Assembly and Senate bills provide an exception for people wearing “personal protective equipment” for their own safety during a “declared public health emergency,” which New York is not currently experiencing. An exception would also apply to a person wearing a covering “for religious observance or customs.”

To Michele, that language is too vague. And, as she points out, “it’s up to the police to decide how they want to interpret that and parse it.” She’s also confused by the term “lawful assembly.” “No one knows what that means,” Michele said. “It can mean a protest or rally,” but would a group riding the subway also be considered “an assembly of people? What’s the boundaries of that?” She has contacted her state representatives, expressing her disapproval of the bills.

Hell’s Kitchen State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal told us in a statement: “I generally admire the goal of this bill but have concerns about how it might be applied too broadly. The bill doesn’t require that concealing one’s identity is the intention. I’m considering alternative legislation that will be more narrowly tailored and focus on the intent of the person wearing the mask.”

Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, whose district covers Michele’s area of Hell’s Kitchen, told W42ST: “Everyone has a right to be safe in public and that includes being safe from COVID and other illnesses. The number of COVID cases and hospitalizations are once again on the rise, and we know that masks are an important tool in stopping the spread of viruses. It is important that people continue to have the option to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID and other illnesses, including by wearing medical masks. We must be extremely cautious if legislating on this issue, taking care to preserve the religious, health and constitutional rights of all.”

Michele recalls the first day she left her house after seven years, after she received a custom motorized wheelchair. She remembers taking in the clouds, the breeze, and, less romantically, the “dog crap.” Overall “it’s been very healing,” she said. Her apartment has windows, but they face into an internal courtyard rather than the street.

She’s also been surprised to see changes in the neighborhood, like the new Target around the corner. “My favorite thing is to go down the pier, I love being by the water,” said Michele.

Michele isn’t alone in her opposition to a mask ban. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement last month, reported by the AP , that, “The Governor’s concerns about masks disguising criminal activity won’t be quelled by banning anonymous peaceful protest. Mask bans were originally developed to squash political protests and, like other laws that criminalize people, they will be selectively enforced — used to arrest, doxx, surveil and silence people of color and protestors the police disagree with.”

For the past two months Michele has been expressing her fear of a mask ban through colorful digital collages. “Protecting myself and my community against COVID shouldn’t be illegal,” one reads, while another states, “The NY mask ban is like telling marginalized people choose one: protect yourself from COVID or protest your oppression but you can’t do both at the same time.”

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