New York ends mask requirement for subways, buses and other mass transit

New Yorkers are no longer required to wear masks on mass transit, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday.

Hochul said the decision to lift the mandate is based on declining infections, hospitalizations and the availability of new boosters that the target the dominant omicron subvariant BA.5.

“We do believe that we’re in a good place right now, especially if New Yorkers take advantage of this booster. That is how we get back to not just a new normal, but a normal normal, and that is what we’re striving for,” Hochul said during a news conference.

New York instituted mask mandates on public transit more than two years ago when the city was the epicenter of Covid in the U.S. Many New Yorkers were ignoring the mandate anyways, with just 64% of subway riders complying with the requirement by April of this year.

Masks are still required in nursing homes and hospitals, Hochul said.

Covd hospitalizations in New York have declined more than 80% since the peak of the omicron surge in January.

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