Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday called for a statewide ban on face coverings at protests, arguing that current law doesn’t go far enough to deter disorderly conduct.
In an interview on NY1, Adams criticized the version of the mask restriction included in the state’s latest budget, which makes it a crime to wear a mask only while committing a separate offense. He called the measure “ill-advised” and too reactive.
His remarks came one day after more than 50,000 New Yorkers took part in largely peaceful “No Kings” demonstrations across the city opposing President Donald Trump.
“When you see people at a protest like that with masks on, some had gas masks on, it just emboldened them to do bad behavior,” Adams said. “And if we ban that from happening and people have to show their faces, they are less likely to commit some of the disorderly actions that we see at protests, even on our college campuses and what we saw in other municipalities.”
Adams also praised the way Saturday’s demonstrations were handled, both by protesters and police.
“Fifty thousand people on our streets, only 14 people were arrested,” he said. “Many of them were arrested for minor infractions that we stated we had a zero tolerance for disorderly actions.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul first proposed a mask ban last year after images circulated online showing masked protesters riding the subway during demonstrations against the war in Gaza. The idea drew immediate backlash from civil liberties advocates who argued that people should have the right to protest anonymously.
Hochul revived the proposal during this year’s budget negotiations and struck a deal with lawmakers in late April.
The new law makes it a Class B misdemeanor to wear a mask or obscure one’s face without a legitimate reason, with the intent to avoid identification or arrest, while committing a felony or Class A misdemeanor or fleeing the scene.
New York previously had a law that allowed police to charge someone for congregating in public while masked or disguised, but that law was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, when officials encouraged masking to prevent the spread of disease and required it on public transit.
On Sunday, Adams called on lawmakers to restore the broader pre-pandemic ban.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
