Masks encouraged in New York, but no city or state mandate
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio “strongly” urged even vaccinated people to start wearing masks indoors. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said unvaccinated transit employees in the metropolitan area would undergo weekly virus testing. But both Democrats on Monday resisted calls to impose new mask or vaccination requirements to counter a rapidly climbing number of new COVID-19 infections.
De Blasio explained that the city’s “overwhelming strategic thrust” remains getting more people vaccinated. Cuomo said he lacks the legal authority to impose such local mandates on his own.
“The Legislature would have to come back, they’d have to pass a law to do that. So I don’t have any legal authority to mandate,” Cuomo said of a mask mandate. “The best I can do is say I strongly recommend that they do that.”