New York Mask Mandate Back in Effect After Judge Grants Stay
The New York Times
An appeals court judge granted a motion to temporarily block a lower-court ruling that had struck down the state’s mask mandate.
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s indoor mask mandate will remain in effect after an appeals court judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a lower-court ruling from a day before that had abruptly struck down the mandate and created confusion across schools and businesses.
The decision on Tuesday came after a ruling on Monday by Justice Thomas Rademaker, of State Supreme Court in Nassau County, who had said the mask mandate violated the State Constitution. His ruling abruptly nullified the rule imposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last month, amid a surge in coronavirus cases driven by the Omicron variant, that required masks or proof of full vaccination at all indoor public spaces statewide.
Ms. Hochul immediately vowed to fight the decision, with Letitia James, the state attorney general, filing a motion to stay the ruling in an attempt to put it on hold while the state filed a formal appeal.
