New York Lets Hate Hide in Plain Sight

After months of masked mobs storming campuses and targeting Jewish students with threats and violence, New York lawmakers have finally responded … with a misdemeanor.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a staunch supporter of Israel, had initially proposed something much stronger: real penalties, including potential jail time, for individuals who harass or threaten someone or a group of people in public while wearing a face covering. The idea was to put a stop to the growing number of protestors who don masks not for health or modesty, but to intimidate, harass and, in far too many cases, stoke antisemitic violence especially on New York’s college campuses. But in late April, after prolonged pushback from Democratic lawmakers and civil liberties groups citing medical and religious concerns, Hochul caved.

The result is a significantly watered-down substitute. Under the new law attached to the $254 billion state spending plan, mask-related charges apply only if the individual is already facing a Class A misdemeanor or is caught covering their face while fleeing a crime scene. In other words, wear a mask while threatening Jewish students, just don’t commit an additional crime with that mask on and you’re in the clear.

What New York needed to end mask-enabled harassment of Jewish students and residents was a return to a clear and enforceable mask ban. What we got instead is barely even a deterrent. As New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo, a Republican from Suffolk County, put it: “This is a nothing burger.”

“This was well intended, I’m sure,” Palumbo said. “But it doesn’t get us to where we need to go.” 

He’s right.

Until 2020, New York had one of the strictest anti-mask laws in the country. The original statute, passed in 1845 to quash armed uprisings by masked tenant farmers, made it illegal for two or more people to wear masks in public. Over time, the law proved useful for successfully targeting violent extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, whose members wore hoods to intimidate and dodge accountability.

The ban was repealed in 2020, when face-covering mandates were imposed to contain the spread of the virus. But five years later, despite COVID no longer being a major concern, masks are back. They are now being used as protection for anti-Israel “protesters” who have learned how to get away scot-free with their illegal harassment, violence, and intimidation of Jews on college campuses and across New York City. I’m not sure what’s worse: that lawmakers don’t seem to understand that criminal charges would apply only to those committing crimes (menacing is a crime in New York), or that they’re now patting themselves on the back for passing a law that, in practice, does almost nothing to protect innocent people.

There is ample public support for a full mask ban in New York. A January poll found that 75% of voters back such a ban, with 55% saying they feel unsafe. In addition, some local officials are already acting. In August, Republicans in Nassau County passed the Mask Transparency Act, which bans face coverings in public spaces except for clear health, religious, or celebratory purposes. Violators face up to $1,000 in fines, one year in jail, or both. So far, the law has held up against scrutiny in the courts. 

“It should come as no surprise that the vast majority of New Yorkers have had enough when it comes to masked harassment and intimidation in our state,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, in January. “For months, we’ve watched in horror as masked individuals have used face coverings to threaten and terrorize others with impunity — including in front of synagogues and at October 7th memorials.”

“The overwhelming support for anti-masked harassment legislation should be a clear wake-up call to lawmakers,” he added. “It is long past time to unmask hate in New York and put an end to hiding one’s identity in order to menace and intimidate.”

Anonymity often brings out the worst in people. Behind a mask, even the most timid offender can call for the death of Jews, vandalize property, block Jewish students from going to class and then disappear into the crowd. I’m personally sick of the visual. But if these people were forced to show their faces, forced to put their names behind the hatred they so confidently spread, most wouldn’t dare. 

Until our lawmakers decide to take the problem seriously, masks will continue to turn our streets and campuses into free-for-all zones for violence and intimidation. Criminals will walk off into the sunset, unscathed, while the rest of us are left to clean up their mess without justice. That should deeply scare anyone who claims to value civil society. 

The author of this article is a fellow at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle Eastern Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA).

Photo Caption: A masked protester at a Pro-Palestinian demonstration.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons