Andrew Cuomo Mask Bans Wants a new mask ban. Proposed an "unmasking law" to crack down on antisemitism. Mask Use Currently stigmatizing mask use. Ran a since-deleted campaign ad featuring an Al- generated "criminal" putting, on a KN95 mask in order to shoplift. Zohran Mamdani Mask Bans Firmly opposes mask bans. Says they "undermine public health, basic rights, and won't make us safer" and would be like stop-and-frisk. Wants to curb hate through intervention and increasing prevention funding by 800%. Mask Use Publicly supportive of masks. Attended a mask-required Rosh Hashanah service in 2025. Features masked supporters in campaign social media. Curtis Sliwa Mask Bans Said protesters "should not be allowed to wear masks,' shouting, "REMOVE those face coverings!" during a debate. Stated,"I don't think anyone should be wearing a mask in the city unless they have a religious or medical reason." Mask Use Strong anti-masker. Hosted a mask-burning event in 2021 and openly defied mask mandates. Has framed mask wearers as "overly cautious" or victims of "bureaucratic fear tactics."

Covid in the NYC Mayoral Race Andrew Cuomo Pandemic Plans Policies led to deadly outbreaks in nursing homes among senior and disabled NYers, and contributed to his resignation in 2021. Plans to use his 2020 pandemic policy blueprint for the next public health crisis. (Air) Quality of Life Infrastructure plans do not specifically mention air quality. Wants to streamline the outdoor dining permit process and enforce cleanliness standards. Zohran Mamdani Pandemic Plans Plans to secure PPE, ensure surge capacity, and strengthen healthcare worker safety for future pandemics. Would expand funding for NYC Health + Hospitals and maintain programs like Test and Trace. (Air) Quality of Life Plans to upgrade HVAC systems in 500 schools "to improve air quality and reduce airborne illness." Proposes expanding Open Streets and making outdoor dining year-round with a simpler permitting process. Curtis Sliwa Pandemic Plans Opposed lockdowns and vaccine mandates for COVID-19. Supports "targeted, science-based esponses" instead of broad restrictions. Would partner w/ community + religious institutions as local response hubs. (Air) Quality of Life Opposes making Open Streets and outdoor dining permanent. No known policies on air quality.

Boosting what @jews4maskrights.bsky.social shared in The Other Place:
This is where the mayoral candidates stand on mask bans and COVID safety.
We wanted to help New Yorkers make informed decisions on policies that don’t usually get much coverage.
Now go vote! 💙
#NoNYMaskBan #CovidIsntOver

Masks are an essential public health tool to help protect against COVID-19 and more. #NoNYMaskBan

Andrew Cuomo and Whitney Tilson both include mask bans in their NYC mayoral race platforms. As Jewish New Yorkers specifically united against mask bans, we remain firmly opposed to these policies, and think anyone pushing a mask ban should not be mayor. Jews deserve real, effective responses to antisemitism — not to be exploited as political pawns to justify policies that endanger all New Yorkers. Given uncertain vaccine access, emerging COVID variants, rising authoritarianism, and hazardous air quality, promoting mask bans is dangerous and irresponsible. - Jews for Mask Rights

Early voting is currently underway. You can vote today, June 20th, until 4pm. Polls are open over the weekend from 9am to 5pm. Election Day is Tuesday, June 24th, and polls are open from 6am to 9pm.

Regarding mask bans as a campaign platform in the 2025 NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary.

#NoNYMaskBan

who could’ve ever expected this shit again #NoNYMaskBan

Masks should NOT be banned.

Masks are a critical public health tool that help protect people from COVID and Long 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. #NoNYMaskBan

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

#NoNYMaskBan

Eric Adams calls for broader protest mask ban in NYC after ‘No Kings’ march The mayor says masking at protests encourages bad behavior.

Masks should NOT be banned! #NoNYMaskBan

gothamist.com/news/mayor-a...

CDC US Disease Burden Estimates for Flu & COVID 2024-2025 shows millions hospitalized and tens of thousands died from the two mask-preventable viruses. Our government needs to prioritize prevention in public health, instead of banning masks. Tell Mayor Adam: #NoNYMaskBan www.nyc.gov/office-of-th...

When Jessica Wu & @msjulieslam.bsky.social met the 1st time on the @mta.info subway, poor air quality prompted the mask advocates to make an impromptu PSA, as @nychealthy.bsky.social encourages masking against airborne viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 —the only way to prevent #LongCOVID
#NoNYMaskBan

Now that we basically defeated the state level ban Chris Sommerfeldt's reporting on twitter that NYC Mayor Adams is pushing for a mask ban. The way so much of the burden of fighting for public health & civil rights has fallen to people who are already disabled by long covid is...sigh #NoNYMaskBan

Enough with this "mask bans are a key part of fighting antisemitism" BS. A mask ban (complete or otherwise) in NYC is dangerous and makes the city less safe for everyone, including for Jewish New Yorkers. #NoNYMaskBan

Text of email sent May 9, 2025, from Jews for Mask Rights: GREAT WORK! Mask Ban stopped in the budget! Not a complete victory, though, and more to do. Hi Friends! We are reaching out to you with a little bit of pre-Shabbos/Shabbat/Weekend news: New York State finally has a budget, and because of all the work you put in — signing, calling, organizing — we stopped a mask ban. This is a big deal. Governor Hochul did all she could to try to get a mask ban passed. She used the budget process, where she has the most legislative power, and she used a sneak attack by not naming it as a priority until two weeks before the budget was due. And thanks to your efforts, she got something so incredibly watered down that our opposition said this is a “nothingburger” and plan to continue. What we know: There is no mask ban. Masks are still legal. You cannot be arrested or stopped for wearing a mask. This is because of you and how hard you and others like you across New York fought against this unconscionable policy. Whether you made calls, got your neighbors and networks involved, and organized office visits, our collective actions made a massive difference. It gave legislators who knew this was a terrible idea the support they needed to push back against the Governor, who held up the state budget for the latest it has been in 15 years, for trying to include this nonsense.

Continued text of email: Unfortunately, this was not a complete victory. The budget includes a new secondary charge
of “evading arrest by concealing identity,” which is a class B misdemeanor that can only be charged if you are accused of another more serious crime. Legal experts believe the new charge is unlikely to be enforced, given its weak penalties and difficult burden of proof. We are cautiously optimistic that the new charge will rarely, if ever, be enforced. We're still talking to legal experts to understand exactly what this means, but we feel confident that this is significantly less harmful than what the Governor tried to force through back in mid-March. Unfortunately, the other side knows this too and has said that they see it as just the first step, and plan to continue pushing for a Masked Harassment bill. We’ll stay organized and ready to push back when this comes up again, likely before the legislative session ends mid-June.

Big news from @jews4maskrights.bsky.social tonight: The #NoNYMaskBan efforts worked to stop a mask ban in the NYS budget. It's *not* a complete victory, and the work continues, but this is still an example of advocacy in action!

“It’s frustrating that the groups that are supposed to protect Jews are making excuses for people in high positions of power doing Nazi salutes, and at the same time, they’re pushing laws that will endanger millions of New Yorkers and acting like that will protect us,” said the Jews for Mask Rights spokesperson. She suggested other measures that would address antisemitism and crime, such as bystander intervention training, which she said helped her some years ago when someone had yelled antisemitic slurs at her in the street. “Mask bans don’t stop antisemitism—they distract from it,” she added. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a flood. You can’t fight antisemitism with superficial laws.”

“Penalizing mask-wearing, even through sentencing enhancements, still punishes people for protecting their health and will disproportionately impact overpoliced communities.” Grateful to @lauralew105.bsky.social & @prismreports.org for covering the dangers of anti-mask legislation. #NoNYMaskBan

#NoNYMaskBan Call Script | Make calls against mask bans! — Jews for Mask Rights An interactive call tool to help you get the word out for #NoNYMaskBan!

#NoNYMaskBan Call Script
www.jewsformaskrights.com/resources/ma...

#NoNYMaskBan Call Script | Make calls against mask bans! — Jews for Mask Rights An interactive call tool to help you get the word out for #NoNYMaskBan!

We still need folks calling their state senators and assembly members to say #NoNYmaskBan www.jewsformaskrights.com/resources/ma...

We can beat this! New Yorkers: call your state Senator to say #NoNYMaskBan www.jewsformaskrights.com/resources/ma...

More info in our #NoNYMaskBan Action Toolkit: covidadvocacyny.org/stopmaskbanny

New Yorkers, have you called yet? It is outrageous Democrats are working to add a sentencing enhancement for wearing a medical mask while New Yorkers continue to die from COVID-19, be hospitalized, & go on to get #LongCOVID! This whole thing is outrageous and against public health. #NoNYMaskBan

New Yorkers, keep calling! Tell your electeds not to include any anti-mask legislation in the state budget! Masks should not be criminalized. #NoNYMaskBan

Laura shouldn’t have to brave a disabling disease to see her electeds. This is what @governor.ny.gov is enabling. Demand #noNYmaskban

At JFK airport, Julie Lam, Founder of MaskTogetherAmerica, wearing a zimiair KN100, holding a sign that says: #StopMaskBans with a virus as the “o” and Save Our Right to Mask, waiting to board a flight to Morocco to do photography.

Anti-Mask bullying is real, just like #LongCOVID, a.k.a. C19 organ damage. We need NY Gov Hochul to acknowledge that anti-mask policies are discriminatory & dangerous. New York must care about everyone, including people who wear masks. 3/4 of the adult population is HIGH RISK!
#NoNYMaskBan

SAVE Our Right to Mask. Stop Mask Bans. Masking = Love and Community Care. Mask Bans won’t stop crime. Instead, mask bans will greatly harm our country’s infection control against contagious diseases! Mask Bans are disability injustice, dis...

bit.ly/SaveMyRightT...
#NoNYMaskBan #StopMaskBans

A lot of people aren't thinking about the ramifications of criminalizing masking, especially with the importance of protests in the coming months. #NoNYMaskBan

New Yorkers, keep calling your NY State Senator and Assemblymember! They're trying to wear us down, but we've already gotten them to shift their mask ban policy. Our pushback is working! Keep going!

#NoNYMaskBan

New York Doctors - No Mask Ban March 26th, 2025 The Honorable Kathy Hochul Governor of New York State NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 Mayor Eric Adams City Hall New York, NY 10007 Assemblywoman Amy Paulin Legislative...

New York Doctors Coalition, New York State Academy of Family Physicians, New York State American Academy of Pediatrics, & over 300 physicians & other healthcare & public health workers voiced their opposition to NY's proposed mask bans earlier this year. #NoNYMaskBan
www.nydocs.org/our-work/no-...

COVID-19 is not over.

Everyone has a right to wear a mask.

NY should encourage masking and provide free N95 masks to everyone who needs them.

NY should NOT pass anti-mask policies in the state budget!

#NoNYMaskBan

Tell your NY legislators to "speak up in conference and vocally oppose any legislation that penalizes masking in the budget or beyond, including sentencing enhancements." #NoNYMaskBan

bsky.app/profile/jews...

New Yorkers, please call your NY State Senator and Assemblymember TODAY! Script below.

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

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

#NoNYMaskBan

New Yorkers, keep calling your NY State Senator and Assemblymember and urge them to speak out against any anti-mask legislation in the state budget!

#NoNYMaskBan

New Yorkers are still being hospitalized with COVID & still dying from COVID.

People are still getting #LongCOVID.

Masks also help protect against other contagious diseases, wildfire smoke, pollution, allergens, & other health concerns

NY Budget should not include anti-mask policy #NoNYMaskBan