Establishes masked harassment when a person wears a mask or other face covering that intentionally hides or conceals their face for the primary purpose of menacing or threatening another person or placing another person or group of persons in reasonable fear for their physical safety.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3133
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 23, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, BERGER -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the crime of masked
harassment and aggravated harassment
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative intent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when
masks became essential for public health reasons, many anti-masked
harassment laws across the country were suspended, modified, or in New
York state's case, completely repealed.
The original intent behind these late 19th and early 20th century laws
- to prevent masked individuals and groups from engaging in public
intimidation or violence - remains wholly relevant today. New York
state currently faces a new era of masked harassment and intimidation.
Individuals who are targeting others with violence and intimidation are
using masks and other face coverings as a tool to place their targets in
fear of physical harm. This anti-masked harassment legislation would
reinstate an anti-masked harassment law in New York following its
repeal because of public health considerations during the COVID-19
pandemic, and has been modified to address these health and safety
concerns.
The recent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, is a quintessen-
tial example of how individuals who threaten and intimidate their
targets have worn masks to place others in fear for their physical safe-
ty, including during the commission of violent criminal acts. Masked
actors, like the KKK in the past, frequently rely on their anonymity to
intimidate, provoke violence, and carry out acts of terrorism.
Anti-masked harassment laws can serve as an effective deterrent
against such identity-based violence.
In the effort to continue to uphold free speech protections enshrined
in the U.S. and New York Constitutions -- while also protecting the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02066-05-5
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The medical freedom to mask, the democratic protest freedom to mask, and the self-expression freedom to mask are all rights I do not appreciate any state actor trying to rip away from folks. Covid isn't gone, we have a right to protect ourselves from harm.
Mask bans will put many New Yorkers at increased risk, especially disabled and immunocompromised people that already greatly struggle in today's public health situation.
No one should have the right to take away people's freedom to protect their health and the health of others.
People who wear masks to protect their health are already harassed, (including being coughed at, spit at, screamed at, followed, and more,) and harshly judged. This ban will embolden those who feel they have a right to attack and oppress people for simply trying to survive and avoid airborne viruses.
Any "exemptions" for health will not help a person being harassed or accused of being in violation, and no one should ever have to share their health information to prove their reason for masking. Anyone should be able to wear a mask if they choose, you shouldn't have to be disabled or in poor health, wearing a mask to protect your community is an extremely valid reason to wear one.
Hundreds are still dying from covid every week, and many, many more face long term health problems and disabilities from it every day. One of the biggest surges ever with over 2000 Americans dying every week occurred last summer. It has not gone away. Multiple airborne viruses are rampant right now, anyone should have the right to mask with zero harassment.
This will put people in danger. Marginalized groups will be even further endangered. Mask bans will not stop crime. They will further the stigma of wearing a mask to protect one's health, and fuel the already-rampant ableism in our society.
I am writing in agreement with the prior comments posted by Eliot_Kemper and Briana_McKay to urge all of you to oppose and reconsider such a bill or the idea any legislation of this kind would be any kind of deterrent against crime.
In addition to the elevated health risks via respiratory illness (not just Covid, but extremely high rates of Flu, RSV, and the recent return spread of Measles in the US and our region) that we continue to see in our communities today, the concept of masking should not be associated or stigmatized with any kind of criminalization.
Many New Yorkers continue to mask or use a face covering for a number of reasons - whether it is for health protection/to protect others while sick, religious reasons, bad air quality that has plagued parts of New York state in recent years with active brush fires, or even just alleviating allergies and keeping their faces warm from the cold. There should be no reason to have a bill that invites additional dangerous harassment and potential vigilantism for this piece of personal protective equipment that many continue to use to stay safe.
This bill would also increase the risk of discriminatory profiling especially as the carveouts rely on vague language, bias, and others' perceptions of threat, and is a slippery slope of towards a authoritarian/fascist "show me your papers" culture in order to prove medical necessity. In many cases, there is no official medical aspect involved; many of us are just simply wearing a mask to *protect* ourselves FROM needing medical care due to the risks posed by respiratory illness, etc.
This bill also undermines New York State's position in the current federal environment under the Trump administration that we are facing - New York needs to protect the right to protest in a safe manner (as respiratory illness can still be spread outdoors as well), while there's no evidence that mask bans reduce crime, but history shows they've been used to target marginalized groups. This bill hands Trump's administration a weapon against dissent, making it harder for Americans to protest. We must be able to exercise our civil liberties without fear of retaliation or punishment. We cannot further stigmatize masks while COVID-19, measles, H5N1, and other viruses remain threats. We deserve to protect ourselves, especially as the Trump administration undermines public health.
As a long-time resident of New York, I'm asking the State Senate to oppose this bill and Hochul's inclusion of any or all anti-mask measures in the budget.
Am I no longer allowed to participate in expressions of free speech? As an immunocompromised person, you are taking away my civil liberties with a vote in favor of mask bans. My HIPAA rights will be routinely violated by police. The rates of disability by C-19 are skyrocketing, yet we are prioritizing banning masks - the very last thing that we can do to protect ourselves from the ongoing and ignored pandemic?
I oppose the inclusion of any legislation criminalizing masking in the state budget. The claim that this is about crime prevention is baseless criminals will always find ways to hide their identities. What this will do is put vulnerable people like me at risk. I have suffered from a brain tumor, and forcing people to choose between their health and being in public is cruel and unjust.
This will not make law enforcement’s job easier it will make it harder by forcing officers to harass people just trying to get through their day. Worse, it makes people like me a target for community harassment, exposing us to discrimination and danger.
And why now? Why, when our country is struggling against rising fascism, would you push a law that strips away personal rights? It makes me question whether this is truly about safety or about controlling citizens.
Did you go into politics to make a difference, or to take away freedoms? Ask yourself that and check in with your moral compass today. This legislation must be stopped.
I ask why do I see suppose federal law enforcement ripping people from their cars wearing heavy face covering's those are the ones you should be outlawing. Those taking away rights but too cowardly to show their faces like the klan did so many years ago.
As a Jewish person, I am deeply concerned about rising antisemitism, but banning masks is not the solution. This mask ban is discriminatory towards vulnerable people such as those who are disabled or immunocompromised. People wear masks for many reasons such as to protect themselves from airborne illnesses (which are on the rise including flu, avian flu, Covid, RSV, measles, pneumonia, and others), and the increase in air pollution and wildfire smoke due to climate change. This is a medical necessity, not a disguise for many people.
Since the Nassau County mask ban, harassment against mask-wearers has increased. I have personally experienced people fake coughing at me, being spat on, and a man yelling and threatening me, “I hope you die!” As a law-abiding citizen, I fear that I and others will be profiled and harassed—including by police—simply for wearing a mask. Where is the protection of the mask wearer from fear of physical harm just for simply wearing a mask as a health preventative?
A statewide ban would further stigmatize Jewish people and those with health concerns. Who would enforce this? Would people have to disclose their private health information? That would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and their civil rights.
Fighting antisemitism requires real action—stronger security, hate crime enforcement, and education. Bill S3070/A3133 does nothing to help and only harms vulnerable people. Please oppose it.
Sincerely,
Dara Haas
I write this on 6/18/25, just 5 days after the president said that "protesters will be met with great force." He placed no conditions on the statement. We have seen police and federal officers using masks to protect their identities, yet we are allowed only to use a masks for medical reasons at protests? Is that some sort of 4th Amendment in reverse? The Bill of Rights was put there to protect citizens from govt, not the other way around.
In NY state's efforts to identify criminals by forbidding masks, we shouldnt forget to balance that against the threat posed by police, who during the LA protests shot more than one member of the press with rubber bullets and escaped identification. At least one attack was provably deliberate, which created an international incident with Australia. The LAPD has declined to explain their way out of it. We can no longer assume the public servants will act professionally in this country, which has become so polarized and radicalized that some of them have been using their positions to advance the agendas of their preferred party, instead of maintaining neutrality, as is their duty.
At the very least, some of the broader language which enforces mask prohibition based on mere suspicion that one intends to commit a crime, must be stricken. We cannot allow it to become the standard for protests, since everyone is potentially suspect and it is this clause which will be exploited to harass protesters and inhibit the attendance of protesters who are now showing up in numbers exceeding 5 million, nationwide.