Thank you for not supporting this bill. I am vehemently against it. I have been harassed on the streets of Astoria multiple times by men because myself and young child were wearing masks. We still wear masks to protect my medically vulnerable child and to protect ourselves from a COVID infection, as we don’t want to chance getting long COVID. If this bill were to pass it would make it more dangerous for us to wear masks in public. Also, we are no longer in a health emergency so no one would be allowed to wear masks at protests or any “gathering of people”. The NYPD makes up their own rules and could choose to interpret this law however they choose. It is my right to wear a mask wherever I choose to protect my body as well as vulnerable members of my family. I would love to be contacted by the senator to discuss my concerns in more detail. This bill does not make the streets safer for me and my family on the streets of NYC. It makes it more dangerous.

Thank you for supporting this Bill.

As a person with asthma and allergies, a weakened immune system, and a father with a severe health condition, I highly oppose this bill. Only allowing masking by less than 3 people "in a legal assembly" which is literally anywhere for any purpose, "during a declared public health emergency" is absurd. This puts me and my family in immediate danger. I mask for air quality, for many chores, for hiking, my son's play group masks so we don't bring germs home to our families. This is serious overreach. It's hard enough to be a person who masks now, this would lead not only to personal harassment, but legal harassment too. I can't wait for you to declare an emergency to judge if I need a mask or not, that's between the air and my lungs.

This bill would endanger New Yorkers' lives and health. Please oppose this bill.

I strongly oppose this bill. A mask ban makes New York less safe. There is no credible evidence that mask bans will stop crime, but there’s a lot of evidence that masks protect peoples health from concerns such as COVID, flu, allergens, wildfire smoke etc. Health exceptions and religious exceptions are not enough to address the problems of a mask ban. This bill as written would only allow a limited health exception “during a declared public health emergency,” which ended last year for COVID-19. But COVID is not over, and New Yorkers are still dying from COVID, and developing long-term serious health issues from COVID. Also, people should not have to disclose their health status, which would lead to harassment and discrimination. A mask ban makes New York less safe because it doesn’t take into consideration the safety of all New Yorkers. Many marginalized groups will be more unsafe if a mask ban is passed; a mask ban will increase harassment of higher risk and immunocompromised people, increase attacks on Asian people (who have been attacked for wearing a mask) and increases profiling of Black and Brown communities. Finally, as someone who works in public health, I am appalled that you are criminalizing masks; it’s one of the worst things you can do to a critical public health tool that has saved many lives. The mask ban bill is outdated; scientists didn’t discover viruses until 50 years after the ban was made law, and almost 200 years later the COVID pandemic has killed almost 100,000 New Yorkers. Ending the ban was the right decision, based on science. Please withdraw this poorly thought out bill that recklessly puts the health and safety of all New Yorkers at risk.

I have long covid. If this bill were passed, it would be illegal for me to "assemble" as I cannot go anywhere without masking. This would include, for example, if I wanted to protest the lack of investment in long covid treatments. Disabled people like myself have the right to protest, and this bill would take that away.

This bill will also have a chilling effect on other people masking. Given the risks of covid, dirty air, and other respiratory illnesses, everyone has a valid reason to mask. It's also in my personal self interest for people to do so, as more masking means fewer variants and makes public space more accessible for me.

This bill does not have a real health exemption - it limits it to a "public health emergency" (which was prematurely ended for covid last year). Even if it was amended to have one, how would that be enforced? Would I have to go to court to prove I'm disabled enough to have the right to mask? Would there be a government registry of people who are "allowed" to mask? Given the risks faced by vulnerable people, such an exemption would not work in practice.

It is not possible to have a mask ban that is pro- public safety. Any ban in any form would serve to exclude people from public life and make vulnerable people less safe. The only response is to oppose any attempt to discourage masking, and in fact do more to encourage it.

Re: Senate Bill S9867
As someone who used to live in New York and travels there to visit on occasion, I'm writing this comment to express my opposition to the proposed mask ban set forth by this bill. Banning masks during a time when covid is still spreading widely and continues to kill people every day is unwise from a health perspective, and it also puts disabled, immunocompromised, and chronically ill people at higher risk of catching covid. Masks have proven effective in slowing the spread of covid and they're also helpful for protecting against poor air quality due to pollen, wildfire smoke, and pollution, and even during times when covid numbers are low, masks also help prevent people from catching or spreading other airborne viruses such as colds and the flu.