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If New York City workers are angry about having to wear masks at their desks, they can blame outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.
Hochul admitted that she would have exempted the Big Apple from her statewide mask mandate due to its low rate of transmission if not for the Dec. 27 vaccination deadline that Blasio sprang on all city businesses last week.
“If New York City … had not had taken their own steps, then we would have absolutely had that surgical approach,” Hochul said in response to questions during a Manhattan news briefing.
“And I would have looked at the numbers and seen bed capacity, which is pretty good here in New York City — watching that closely, infections were not high.”
Hochul also said her mask mandate — which went into effect Monday and directs businesses that don’t mandate vaccinations to require mask-wearing by all employees, customers and visitors even if they’ve been vaccinated — “didn’t make a difference” in the city “because they already had a more restrictive requirement in place.”
“So at that point, it just made sense,” she insisted.
In response to a question from The Post, Hochul acknowledged growing opposition to her order from local governments across the state, saying that “73 percent or so of the New York state population is governed by county leaders who say they support what we’re doing here.”
She also said that there’s no legal requirement for the state to fund enforcement of her mandate, which carries fines of $1,000 per violation.
“Counties have always had to enforce public health requirements. That’s what they do,” she said.
“I encourage the counties to do this, but it’s also — this is also up to individuals. Individuals are asked to follow regulations and in general, follow laws. And that is what we’re continuing to do here.”
City Hall didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
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