Mayor-elect Eric Adams expressed unequivocal support Tuesday for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s vaccine-or-mask requirement for New York State businesses amid the spread of the Omicron variant.
“I support what the governor is doing. It is a non-invasive way of just telling New Yorkers that this is a serious moment,” he said on PIX 11. “These spikes are coming and going, new variants, and from time to time, we have to adjust.”
He added, “I think New Yorkers realize that we don’t want to shut down our city and we are going to use soft touches, make sure credible community leaders assist us, etc.
“It’s really having people do the right thing, and you know what, the overwhelming number of New Yorkers are going to do so.”
Adams, currently the Brooklyn borough president, promised to adopt a tactful approach toward enforcement of the regulation, which will remain in force until Jan. 15.
“We’re not going to be dragging people off to jail because they’re not wearing a mask,” the retired NYPD captain vowed. “You will not see people being treated in a harsh way, [or see the use of] heavy-handed policing to get this issue addressed.”
On Friday, Hochul ordered all offices, restaurants, shops and other businesses in the Empire State to require staff and customers either show proof of vaccination or wear masks. Non-compliance with the policy could result in owners facing a $1,000 fine per violation.
Some business owners in the Big Apple have fumed about the governor’s “shortsighted” decree, designed to address the recent uptick in COVID-19 spread in upstate and Western New York.
The blanket regulations apply to the entire state — even as New York City’s most recent seven-day positivity rate was 2.7 percent, the state’s lowest by far, as all nine other regions are at 4.5 percent or higher.
The incoming Nassau County executive declared Monday he won’t enforce the mandate, joining nearly a dozen county authorities across the state.
Meanwhile, Adams was non-committal on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s private-sector vaccine requirement — scheduled to take effect Dec. 27, five days before Adams takes office.
The next mayor said nearly 100 business heavyweights with whom he spoke Monday were “concerned” about the sudden requirement and pledged to “evaluate” the policy when he takes over City Hall on Jan. 1.
“It’s about the science,” he said Tuesday morning on PIX 11. “If my Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of Health at the state level and the CDC say, ‘Eric, it’s something we need to do,’ we’re going to do that. It’s always about following the science, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
