BACKGROUND:

• In March 2025, Governor Hochul announced she was working to push a mask ban through in the state budget. Thanks to everyone who has spoken out against this! The pushback is making a difference.

• In January 2025, several problematic mask ban bills were introduced in the NY State Legislature: 

• A3133/S3070 - “Establishes masked harassment when a person wears a mask or other face covering that intentionally hides or conceals their face for the primary purpose of menacing or threatening another person or placing another person or group of persons in reasonable fear for their physical safety.”

• Bill sponsored and co-sponsored by Democrats.

• The bill includes a limited health exception.
  

• S723 / A3826-  “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. 
  

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

• Previously, in 2024, the NY State Legislature introduced several problematic mask ban bills: A10057A/S09867 and A10043/S09194. 

• Thank you to everyone who spoke out and helped stop this legislation from passing in 2024!

ACTIONS:

1. Contact your NYS Senator and Assemblymember. Urge them not to include any anti-mask legislation in the State Budget. Talking points and sample scripts below.

• Find your NY State Senator and their contact info: https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator

• Find your NY State Assemblymember and their contact info: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/

• Let us know how your calls go with your legislator and their response. You can email us here or fill out a form here. Thank you!

• Save their phone number in your phone and call them regularly.
  

3. Contact NYS Senate and Assembly leadership. Urge them not to not to include any anti-mask legislation in the State Budget.

• NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie 

  • Phone: 518-455-3791

  • Email: Speaker@nyassembly.gov

  • Twitter/X: @CarlHeastie

  • Bluesky: @SpeakerCarlHeastie.bsky.social

  • Threads: @CHeastie

  • Instagram and Threads: @CHeastie

• NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins

  • Phone: (518) 455-2585 or (518) 455-2715 (More numbers here)

  • Email: scousins@nysenate.gov 

  • Twitter/X: @AndreaSCousins

  • Bluesky: @leaderasc.bsky.social

  • Threads: @AndreaStewartCousins

  • Instagram and Threads: @AndreaStewartCousins

3. Contact Governor Hochul.  Urge her not to ban masks and not to include any anti-mask legislation in the State Budget. 

• 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

• Bluesky: @govkathleenhochul.bsky.social

• Threads: @govkathyhochul

• Instagram and Threads: @GovKathyHochul

4. Contact NYS Senate and Assembly Health Committee Chairs. Urge them not to support mask ban legislation and not to include any anti-mask legislation in the State Budget.

• 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 A3133 introduced in 2025. 

  • Phone: Albany Office - 518-455-5585

  • Email:  paulina@nyassembly.gov

  • Twitter/X:  @AmyPaulin

  • Bluesky: @amy4assembly.bsky.social

  • Instagram: @AmyPaulin1

5. Contact your local elected officials, including City Council Members and NYC Borough Presidents. If you live outside of New York City, contact your Mayor, City Council Member, and other local elected officials. Urge them to speak out against mask bans and efforts to criminalize and restrict masks.

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

• Research to see if there have been any efforts to ban masks in your city or county. For more information on the mask ban legislation that passed in Nassau County: https://covidadvocacyny.org/nassau

6. Sign up for an account on the NY Senate webpage (https://www.nysenate.gov/) 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. 

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

• Instagram and Threads: @NYCMayor

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

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

Phone: 800-CALL-NYS

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.

14. Follow COVID Advocacy NY on social media for more updates.

SAMPLE SCRIPTS:

For NY State Legislators:

My name is ______. I live in your district in ______ (if you live in their district). I’m calling to oppose the inclusion of any anti-mask legislation, including sentencing enhancements, in the State Budget. Any law that would criminalize masking, whether as an enhancement or a ban, is dangerous for New Yorkers. That's why I'm asking the Senator/Assemblymember to speak up in conference and vocally oppose any legislation that penalizes masking in the budget or beyond, including sentencing enhancements. Masks should not be criminalized or restricted.

Explain in a sentence or two why you are against anti-mask legislation. Additional talking points below.

Examples: 

• Mask bans and anti-mask legislation 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.

There should be no anti-mask provisions in the budget at all, including this most recent proposal. Can we count on Senator/Assemblymember ___________ to tell leadership to leave this out of the budget?

(After your call: Let us know how your calls go with your legislator and their response. You can email us here or fill out a form here. Thank you! )

For Governor: 

My name is _____ and I live in New York. I’m calling to oppose the inclusion of any anti-mask legislation, including sentencing enhancements, in the State Budget. Any law that would criminalize masking, whether as an enhancement or a ban, is dangerous for New Yorkers. That's why I'm urging Gov. Hochul to remove any anti-mask language from the budget negotiations. Masks should not be criminalized or restricted.

Explain in a sentence or two why you are against anti-mask legislation. Additional talking points below.

Examples: 

• Mask bans and anti-mask legislation 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 other NY elected officials:

My name is ______. I live in your district in ______ (if you live in their district). I’m calling to urge your office to speak out publicly against anti-mask legislation. Masks should not be criminalized or restricted.
Explain in a sentence or two why you are against a mask ban. Additional talking points below.

Examples: 

• Mask bans and anti-mask legislation 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 more sample scripts for NY legislators and tips, see Jews for Mask Rights webpage at https://www.jewsformaskrights.com/resources/mask-ban-call-script
  

  TALKING POINTS:

• 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 or any anti-mask legislation included in the state budget.

• Masks should not be criminalized or restricted.

• Efforts to ban and criminalize masks discourage and stigmatize masking, an essential public health tool, and can lead to increased harassment of people wearing masks.

• A mask ban and criminalizing masks puts the lives and health of all New Yorkers at risk. 

• Criminalizing masks puts people's lives and health at risk and will likely be selectively enforced against marginalized communities, including Black, brown, immigrant, disabled, poor, trans, and queer people.
  
  
  EDITORIALS, OP-EDS, AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

• “Editorial: Mask ban doesn't belong in the budget, or anywhere else,” Editorial Board, Albany Times Union, April 2, 2025, https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/editorial-mask-ban-doesn-t-belong-budget-20252736.php

• “Opinion: New York doesn’t need a mask ban: Hochul and the state Legislature shouldn’t bother,” Editorial Board, NY Daily News, March 21, 2025, https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/03/21/new-york-doesnt-need-a-mask-ban/ 

• “Commentary: Mask bans are a threat to New Yorkers' health and freedom,” Donna Lieberman and Harvey Epstein, Albany Times Union, Jan 15, 2025, https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/commentary-mask-bans-threat-new-yorkers-health-20034131.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 

• “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 

• “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:

• In January 2025, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Jews for Mask Rights, and New York Doctors Coalition sent sign-on letters to Governor Hochul, President Pro Tempore Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Heastie calling on them to ensure no legislation banning masks advances in New York State this session. Nearly 100 organizations (including COVID Advocacy NY), 250 health care providers, and 300 Jewish leaders signed on in support of the letters. https://www.nyclu.org/press-release/nearly-100-organizations-demand-new-york-lawmakers-reject-a-state-mask-ban

  • NY Doctors Coalition, NY State Academy of Family Physicians, New York State American Academy of Pediatrics, and over 300 physicians & other healthcare & public health workers sent sign-on letter voicing their opposition to NY's proposed mask bans earlier this year. https://www.nydocs.org/our-work/no-mask-ban

• NYCLU Action Page - https://action.aclu.org/send-message/say-no-mask-bans-new-york

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

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

• COVID Advocacy NY Nassau County Mask Ban Action Toolkit - https://covidadvocacyny.org/nassau

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

• Fight for Our Future Stop Mask Bans - https://www.stopmaskbans.com/

• World Health Network Right to Mask Campaign - https://whn.global/right-to-mask/

• 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

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