A Staten Island judge lifted mask mandates for toddlers citywide Friday — but Mayor Eric Adams vowed shortly after to keep the rule in place, citing a new COVID-19 variant and saying the city is appealing the judgement.
The ruling by Richmond County State Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio struck down the city rule requiring kids ages 2 to 4 wear masks — rendering it immediately unenforceable in schools and daycares and calling it “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable,” according to court documents.
“It’s effective immediately,” attorney Michael Chessa said Friday after arguing for a permanent injunction of the ongoing face covering requirement. ��It strikes down the order from the department of health.”
“All throughout the city every child ages 2 to 4 everywhere doesn’t have to wear a mask,” he said.
But just hours after the judgement, Adams said the city will seek an appeal and requested a stay to keep the controversial rule in place when youngsters return to school Monday.
“I think it’s imperative that due to the rise in cases that we’re seeing, as slight as they are; our plans were to take a week to assess the numbers before removing masks to 2 to 4 year olds,” said Adams.
“Of course, we’re going to comply with any ruling from the judge. Our legal team is going to put in place an appeal and ask for a stay,” he said. “We truly believe this is within our powers to execute what is best for the City of New York,” he added.
Adams said the city’s overall positivity rate has climbed to 2.67 percent over the past week, higher than the rolling monthly average of 2.33 percent.
The city’s medical professionals advised Adams to keep the mask mandate in place for toddlers, in part because there is no vaccine available yet for the age group, said City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.
In oral arguments, Chessa argued the mask mandate for tots, implemented in November, was unconstitutional, and Judge Porzio agreed.
“I am just happy for myself and all the parents I have come in contact with throughout this process. It give us the choice to decide if we want our kids masked or not. Nothing about this is anti mask. Its pro parental choice,” said Chessa, who his the father of a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old.
Parents on Friday cheered the ruling, calling it about time the much-debated masking rule be scrapped.
“I’m so happy that the judge came to the same common sense solution just to have a choice, a mask choice,” said Lisa Marks, the mother of a 3-year old girl, who she believes was hindered developmentally by the masks.
“She joined a class of kids, and she wants to be able to bond with them and develop friendships. Having something cover your face, kids can’t read emotions,” she said.
Danyela Souza Egorov, the mother of a 4-year-old, added: “We are excited to have his last months of preschool mask free,” she said.
For months, parents have protested the requirement, insisting that masking young children is unscientific and hampers their social growth. On Friday, United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew said he neither supported nor condemned the ruling.
“The mask mandate for the youngest children is now in the courts. While it works its way through the legal process, we need to keep the focus on other measures that are helping to keep schools safe — encouraging vaccinations for those eligible, aggressive testing, and following cleaning and ventilation protocols,” Mulgrew said.
Following weeks of pressure to ditch the rule, Mayor Eric Adams said last week the mandate for the Big Apple’s youngest would be removed starting Monday if severe COVID-19 case counts remain low.
On Friday, he encouraged New Yorkers to once again wear masks if they’re in a shared public setting where the vaccination status of others is unknown — but stopped short of implementing a mandate.
“If you don’t know the vaccination status of people in a room, wear your mask,” said Adams. “We’re seeing a slight uptick and we want you to be prepared, not panic. That’s the theme that we’re doing here.”
