Hochul Keeps Masks on New York Public Transit as Other States Drop Them
Hochul Keeps Masks on New York Public Transit as Other States Drop Them
(Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Kathy Hochul is an outlier as she continues to require masks on public transit, after the federal government and other major transit systems dropped the mandate.
“If we hadn’t seen these two variants I suspect we would’ve been able to say goodbye to masks in all settings,” Hochul said during a Covid-19 briefing Wednesday. “We will get there.”
Riders who rely on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees New York City’s subways, buses and commuter rails, still have to be masked. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the city’s three major airports, is no longer requiring masks at its New Jersey facilities but is still mandating masks at its New York facilities.
The MTA’s chair and chief executive officer Janno Lieber has said he would like to see no masks on the city’s trains and buses.
The New York State Department of Health issued a March 2 determination saying that passengers should continue to wear masks on public transit and at transportation hubs like airports. At the time, New York’s Covid-19 positivity rate was 1.4%. As of Monday, the rate was 6.2%, with 4,646 new cases, according to the state. On April 4, the state said it was no longer counting negative rapid antigen tests, which it said would affect the positivity rate.
On Tuesday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker lifted the state’s mask requirement for public transit and airports to align with the federal government. After his announcement, Metra, the commuter train system for the region surrounding Chicago, changed its policy. The Chicago Transit Authority also dropped its mask requirement but said “customers and employees who wish to continue wearing masks are encouraged to do so,” the agency said in a statement.
A U.S. judge on Monday overturned the federal mandate for passengers to cover their faces. While the U.S. Transportation Security Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommend the use of face coverings, both said orders requiring masks on public transportation would no longer be enforced.
Across the U.S., major public transportation operators including New Jersey Transit, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority dropped their mask rules.
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