New York Governor Lifts Mask Mandate for NYC Subways

Michelle Kaske and Keshia Clukey
·3 min read
9

(Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Kathy Hochul lifted the state’s mask requirement for public transit, removing one of the last remaining government mandates of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Hochul announced the decision on Wednesday after months of confusion among commuters befuddled by varying national, state and local rules on where face coverings are required. Covid numbers are stable, putting the state “in a good place now,” she said.

“We haven’t seen any spikes, and also people are getting back to work, back to school,” Hochul said during a press conference at a health center in New York City, shortly before receiving her omicron-targeted booster that’s being made available this week. “We have to restore some normalcy to our lives.”

Effective immediately, masks will no longer be required for mass transit, correctional facilities and shelters. Mask mandates remain in effect at adult-care facilities, as well as at other health-care facilities regulated by the state, Hochul said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York state agency that runs the city’s subways and commuter rail lines, is urging customers to respect fellow passengers’ decision on whether to mask up.

“What people really want and New Yorkers have always followed is have a live and let live environment,” Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chief executive officer, told reporters at a Manhattan subway station on Wednesday. “That is the ethos of the public transit system in New York. People really tolerate each other and figure out how to get along with people who are very different, every day.”

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration dropped a mask mandate for the country’s planes, trains and other modes of transportation after a U.S. judge overturned the federal mandate on April 18.

The TSA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommend the use of face coverings, but both said orders requiring masks on public transportation would no longer be enforced.

Mask compliance on New York City’s subways, buses and commuter trains has waned over the past few months as people gradually feel more comfortable in crowded public spaces. Many riders haven’t been following the mask requirement for some time, Tegwyth Alderson, 27, who works in the restaurant industry, said during a subway ride in Manhattan on Wednesday.

“People have kind of stopped listening to it anyway, for better or for worse,” said Alderson, who wears a mask on the subway.

Different Rules

Illinois and New Jersey were among the states that followed suit. Major cities including Chicago and Atlanta dropped their mask mandates on their transportation systems.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey lifted its mask mandate at its New Jersey facilities but sill required masks at its New York facilities.

“In general their guidance has been completely consistent,” Port Authority executive director Rick Cotton said during a press briefing on April 28. “We have tried to respect those two judgments.”

Likewise, Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. stopped requiring U.S. drivers and riders to wear masks but deferred to local rules in places like New York, which still required masking.

Read More: Transit Systems Grapple With Mask Rules as TSA Lifts Mandate (3)

After the federal mandate was lifted, Hochul said she was following a directive from the New York Department of Health to require masks on public transit.

(Adds quotes from MTA and transit system rider.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.