Listen to this articleNassau County lawmakers approved a bill Monday to ban masks in public places to prevent hiding identity, after a heated public debate.
Voting along party lines, with the 12 Republicans approving, and the seven Democrats abstaining, the “Mask Transparency Act” includes exemptions for those covering their faces for medical purposes, or for religious or cultural reasons.
Those in favor of the bill, which was proposed initially by Nassau Legis. Mazi Pilip, a Republican, said the ban would prevent violent protesters from hiding their identity.
Legis. Howard Kopel said the measure was introduced in response to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the latest Israel-Hamas war.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, spoke about considering a ban on face masks in the New York City subway system after video emerged of a masked man led a group of masked protesters in a crowded subway car to chant “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist… this is your chance to get out…” on June 10. The incident, which at least one witness told police they found threatening, drew widespread condemnation from public officials, prompting Hochul to propose banning masks on the subway. No specific plan has been announced to enact such a ban, which like the Nassau measure was floated in response to the rise in mask-wearing protesters.
The New York Civil Liberties Union criticized the Nassau mask ban as an infringement on free speech rights.
“Masks protect people who express political opinions that are unpopular,” the group’s Nassau County regional director Susan Gottehrer said in a statement. “Making anonymous protest illegal chills political action and is ripe for selective enforcement, leading to doxxing, surveillance, and retaliation against protesters.”
The Nassau bill makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for anyone to wear a facial covering to hide their identity in public.
The measure exempts people who wear masks for health, safety, “religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill.
“Unless someone has a medical condition or a religious imperative, people should not be allowed to cover their face in a manner that hides their identity when in public,” he said in a statement after the legislature’s vote.
Newsday reports that dozens of public speakers for and against the bill packed the legislative chambers.
Supporters said the bill would keep protesters who commit acts of harassment or violence from evading accountability. In contrast, opponents said it would infringe on the health privacy laws of people with disabilities and would likely not be enforced fairly across different communities.
On Monday, Democrats led by Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, introduced emergency legislation that they said “enhances penalties against criminals who use face coverings in the commission of a crime and are convicted of a misdemeanor or felony.” That bill did not make it onto the legislative agenda, according to Newsday.
Democratic Legis. Arnold Drucker said before the vote that the bill “overstepped and could be detrimental to First Amendment rights.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.