New York's governor has shrugged off the leaders of several counties vowing to ignore her new COVID rules, saying that she trusts New ...
New York's governor has shrugged off the leaders of several counties vowing to ignore her new COVID rules, saying that she trusts New Yorkers to do the right thing regardless of their political rulers.
Kathy Hochul's new restrictions came into effect in the early hours of Monday.
Under her new plan, announced on Friday, masks are now required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement.
Several leaders of New York's 62 counties immediately said they would not enforce the rules - among them Livingston, south of Rochester; Madison, near Syracuse; Rensselaer in the Capital Region; and Dutchess and Rockland Counties, in the Hudson Valley.
But Hochul said she was not concerned by the five counties' flagrant disobeying of her rule.
'I do have faith in New Yorkers,' Hochul said at a press conference on Monday.
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, on Monday shrugged off leaders of some counties saying they would not enforce her mask mandate
Protesters against face masks are seen on June 8 in Kings Park, New York
A woman is seen protesting outside City Hall in Manhattan on August 9
'I believe the vast majority want to do what's right, they want to put this pandemic behind us.
'They want to make sure we never have to go back to the days of being in lockdown.'
She said she was not going to be 'heavy handed' with enforcement.
'I'm going to monitor what's going on in the various counties,' Hochul said.
'But I'm not attempting to be heavy handed.
'I have a close relationship with the [New York State] Association of Counties. I called them first while I was still contemplating this.
'I said: 'I want you to know that this is something I believe in.'
'They did not give me pushback. They understood.'
In New York 93.4 per cent of adults have at least one vaccine dose - well above the nationwide average - but cases are slowly ticking up.
Businesses now need to ask everyone to wear face masks, or check everyone is vaccinated
Rockland County, in red, is among those where the new rules will not be enforced
Under Hochul's rule, businesses or individuals who disobey can be fined $1,000.
The plan has also been criticized by her political rival Tom Suozzi, a Long Island congressman who is challenging her in the Democrat primary for governor.
Suozzi said that Hochul's plan was too vague.
'Lack of a comprehensive plan is causing chaos and confusion and disarray,' he said.
Ed Day, the Republican executive of Rockland County, said the governor's staff was unable to provide detailed information about the new requirement, and it was unenforceable. He said he would not enforce the mask or vaccine mandate.
PJ Wendel has said he will not enforce the rules in Chautauqua County
'My decision would be to move the people from the health department who are vaccinating children and others right now with a live-saving vaccine, move them to go walk around to different places to figure out whether people are masking up or not,' he said.
'That would be utterly reckless on my part and I will not do that.'
PJ Wendel, the Republican chief executive of Chautauqua County, agreed.
'We are disappointed in the rollout of this announcement,' he said.
'How the state intends to enforce this mandate is not clear but our local health departments certainly do not have the capability to do so.
'We have never had a state run testing or vaccination site in our county. The lion's share of this entire pandemic response has been on the shoulders of our small health department.
'To even think of adding the enforcement of another state mandate to this dedicated but exhausted staff is reprehensible.'
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