BACKGROUND:

• Governor Hochul and NYC Mayor Adams spoke out publicly in June 2024 about pursuing banning masks in NY, including at protests and on subways. 

• The NY State legislature is out of session until January 2025. However, there are rumors they may return for a special session in 2024 and a mask ban may be one of the things they could address.

• Two problematic mask ban bills were already introduced in the NY State legislature this year: 

  • A10057A/S09867 - “Establishes the offense of concealment of identity in a lawful assembly, unlawful assembly or riot.”

    • Bill sponsored and co-sponsored by Democrats. 

    • The bill would only allow a limited health exception “during a declared public health emergency,” which ended last year for COVID-19.

  • A10043/S09194 - “Establishes the crimes of deceptive wearing of a mask and aggravated deceptive wearing of a mask”

    • Bill sponsored and co-sponsored by Republicans.

    • The bill does not include a health exception.
      
      

ACTIONS:

1. Contact Governor Hochul.  Urge her not to ban masks. 

• Phone: 518-474-8390 (press 1 to leave a message, press 2 to speak to a person)

• Email: https://governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form

• Mail:
  The Honorable Kathy Hochul
  Governor of New York State
  NYS State Capitol Building
  Albany, NY 12224

• Twitter/X: @GovKathyHochul

• Instagram and Threads: @GovKathyHochul
  

2. Contact your NYS Senator and Assemblymember. Urge them to speak out against mask bans and not to support mask ban legislation. 

• Find your state elected officials and their contact info at: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

• Check to see if your NYS Senator or Assemblymember has taken a stance on mask bans on our New York Mask Ban Tracker at: http://bit.ly/NYMaskBanTracker

• Please let us know if your NYS Senator or Assemblymember speaks out publicly against mask bans.
  
  

3. Contact NYS Senate and Assembly leadership. Urge them to speak out against mask bans and not to support mask ban legislation. 

• NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie 

  • Phone: 518-455-3791

  • Email: Speaker@nyassembly.gov

  • Twitter/X: @CarlHeastie

  • Instagram and Threads: @CHeastie

• NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins

  • Phone: (518) 455-2585

  • Email: scousins@nysenate.gov 

  • Twitter/X: @AndreaSCousins

  • Instagram and Threads: @AndreaStewartCousins

4. Contact NYS Senate and Assembly Health Committee Chairs. Urge them to speak out against mask bans and not to support mask ban legislation.

• NYS Senate Health Committee Chair J. Gustavo Rivera

  • Phone: Albany Office - 518-455-3395

  • Email: grivera@nysenate.gov

  • Twitter/X: @NYSenatorRivera

  • Instagram: @NYSenatorRivera

• NYS Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin 

  • NOTE: Paulin is a co-sponsor for the mask ban bill A10057A. 

  • Phone: Albany Office - 518-455-5585

  • Email:  paulina@nyassembly.gov

  • Twitter/X:  @AmyPaulin

  • Instagram: @AmyPaulin1

5. Contact your local elected officials, including City Council Members and NYC Borough Presidents. Urge them to speak out against mask bans.

• Find your city elected officials and their contact info at: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

6. Sign up for an account on the NY Senate webpage and let them know you oppose each of the mask ban bills. There is a question on the right side of the webpage for each bill that asks if you oppose or support the bill. Write that you oppose the bill. In addition, if possible, add a comment expressing opposition to the mask ban bills. 

• S09867

• A10057A

• A10043

• S09194

7. Contact NYC Mayor Adams. 

• Email: https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/mayor-contact.page

• Phone: 311 or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC 

• Twitter: @NYCMayor and @NYCMayorsOffice

• Mail:
  Mayor Eric Adams
  City Hall
  New York, NY 10007

• Instagram and Threads: @NYCMayor

8. For those not in NY State, you could contact the NY’s Tourism Board and let them know you won’t be traveling to NY State or are canceling your travel plans to NY State due to the proposed mask ban. 

Email: info@iloveny.com

Twitter/X: @I_LOVE_NY

Instagram: @ILoveNY

More info: https://www.iloveny.com/

9. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed. See examples below.

10. Post your opposition to a mask ban on social media and share why you still wear a mask. Use the hashtag #NoNYMaskBan.

11. If you are Jewish, sign on to this sign-on letter to state leaders organized by Jews for Mask Rights. This letter is open to all Jewish people affected by this legislation, whether as New Yorkers, commuters, or tourists.

12. Spread the word! Share a link to this toolkit (http://bit.ly/StopMaskBanNY) and graphics below to encourage other people to take action.

13. Wear a mask! Post a photo of yourself wearing a mask on social media. If you hold a public event, require masks at your event and post photos with everyone wearing a mask.

TALKING POINTS:

• We are still in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. New Yorkers are still being hospitalized with COVID and still dying from COVID. People are still getting Long COVID and other serious health issues from COVID.

• Everyone is at risk of Long COVID and other serious health issues from COVID.

• Masks are a critical public health tool that help protect people from COVID.

• Masks also help protect against other contagious diseases, wildfire smoke, pollution, allergens, and other health concerns.

• Everyone has a right to wear a mask.

• A health exception is not enough.

• There should not be a mask ban. A mask ban puts the lives and health of all New Yorkers at risk. 

SAMPLE SCRIPTS:

For Governor: 

My name is _____ and I live in New York. I’m calling to urge the Governor not to ban masks. 

Explain in a sentence or two why you are against a mask ban.

Examples: 

• Mask bans endanger my health and the health of all New Yorkers. 

• I have Long COVID and wear a mask to prevent reinfection and getting worse.

• I wear a mask to help me stay safe and help protect my partner/child/loved one.  

• Anyone can get COVID and become disabled by Long COVID. I need to protect my health.
  

For NY State Legislators:

My name is ______. I live in your district in ______ (if you live in their district). I’m calling to urge the Senator/Assemblymember to speak out publicly against mask bans and not to support mask ban legislation, including bills  A10057A/S09867 and A10043/S09194. 

(Check the bill links above to see if your legislator is a co-sponsor. If your NY legislator is a co-sponsor, urge them to remove themselves as co-sponsor.)


EDITORIALS, OP-EDS, AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

• “Editorial: No hiding flaws of proposed mask ban,” Editorial Board, Albany Times Union, June 25, 2024, https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/editorial-no-hiding-flaws-proposed-mask-ban-19532220.php 

• “Editorial: Banning masks at protests is a bad idea,” Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 2024, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-06-27/editorial-banning-masks-at-protests-is-a-bad-idea 

• “A subway mask ban won’t fight antisemitism, but it will punish immunocompromised Jews like me,” Rikki Baker Keusch, Forward, June 18, 2024, https://forward.com/opinion/624613/hochul-mask-ban-subway-antisemitism-jews/

• “Drop It,” Letter to the Editor from Joe Rappaport, Executive Director, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, The Daily News, June 17, 2024, https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/06/17/readers-sound-off-on-netanyahus-visit-satanism-and-a-proposed-mask-ban

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Long COVID Justice Resist Mask Bans Resource List - https://longcovidjustice.org/resources/resist-mask-bans/ 

• Mask Together America #StopMaskBans  - bit.ly/StopMaskBans 

• ACT UP NY social media posts - https://www.instagram.com/actupny/ 

• Jews for Mask Rights letter campaign - https://www.jewsformaskrights.com/

• Artists in Resistance (A.I.R.) NYC and Mask Bloc NYC Statement - https://www.instagram.com/p/C8XX_-Aukcd/

• Jews For Racial & Economic Justice statement - https://www.jfrej.org/news/2024/06/nyc-jews-condemn-proposed-mask-ban-in-ny-state

• New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) post - https://x.com/NYCLU/status/1802041325988024346 

• Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID) post - https://x.com/BrooklynBCID/status/1801387921305465228 

• Memo of support from groups who worked to repeal the former NY mask ban in 2020, “Making Permanent the Repeal of the ‘Mask Ban’ - https://www.nyclu.org/uploads/2020/06/20200612-memo-maskrepealer.pdf