De Blasio: NYC stepping up mask, vaccine inspections
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that inspectors will be checking to see whether businesses are complying with COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates. Credit: Getty Images/David Dee Delgado
Citing a "substantial increase" in COVID-19 infections, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that New York City is "doubling down on inspections" of businesses to ensure compliance with mandatory vaccination and face-masking.
Inspectors will be looking to make sure patrons at indoor eateries, performance venues and other gathering places are being checked for vaccination proof as required by city rules, and that businesses are enforcing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s reimposition of indoor face-masking, de Blasio said.
"We’ll have inspectors going out full force," de Blasio said, speaking at a news conference inside Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
Failing to comply after being warned could subject violators to fines.
Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city health commissioner, said that the city's positivity rate was about 5.07%.
"And that number has grown significantly over particularly the past two weeks and has risen just in the last few days," he said. "And we believe that is attributable primarily to the spread of omicron."
De Blasio said there hasn't been a major increase in deaths or hospitalizations for COVID-19.
Starting Dec. 27, under a city rule, all employers must require workers to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. De Blasio has said that workers who refuse to comply can be allowed to work from home.
Asked whether unvaccinated workers who can't do their jobs from home must be fired — absent a medical or religious exemption — de Blasio did not answer.
Instead, he said: "An employer clearly has an opportunity to say, I'm going to put you on leave without pay for a period of time and let you think about it."
He added: "I think a lot of people when they really came down to the choice of losing a paycheck and where they were in their career versus the simple act of getting vaccinated, the vast majority got vaccinated."
De Blasio was also asked whether restrictions would sunset — and whether they could go on for years.
"No, I don't think we will," but he added that vaccine mandates were the key to easing restrictions sooner.
"We are way too unvaccinated as a country," he said. "And we hold the key in our hand, especially now we have the boosters."
Last year, the traditional celebration in Times Square for New Year’s Eve, when hundreds of thousands of revelers gather, was curbed almost entirely due to the pandemic.
Earlier this year, de Blasio announced that the celebration would return, albeit with a vaccine mandate.
On Thursday, de Blasio said he still planned to allow the gathering, but circumstances could change.
"We're looking at it," and whether it’s allowed to proceed would be "based on the data and the science."
"We're going to watch very carefully. It's still, you know, more than two weeks away. And if at any point we need to alter the plan, we will."
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
