UES Senator To Adams: Keep Vaccine Requirements In NYC

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A veteran Upper East Side lawmaker is taking Mayor Eric Adams to task over his plan to rescind the city's vaccine and masking rules for schools and businesses, saying he failed to account for the likelihood of a future surge in COVID-19.

State Sen. Liz Krueger laid out her objections in a letter to Adams on Thursday, four days after he announced that he would lift the indoor mask mandate for public schools and the Key2NYC vaccine rules for indoor venues — barring an unexpected jump in COVID cases by Friday.

"I write to express my strong opposition to the pending changes to the Key to NYC and public school masking policies that were announced February 27 on Twitter," Krueger wrote.

"I urge you to consider the distinct likelihood that we will face another surge in the near future, and to adopt more measured policies that establish target metrics for relaxing critical safety measures while protecting the progress we have made in the ongoing battle against COVID-19."

Acknowledging the desire to "get back to some semblance of normal," Krueger nonetheless advised the new mayor in a statement to "avoid declaring victory too early."

Krueger, who has represented the neighborhood in Albany since 2002, has been a voice of caution before. In November 2020, during a previous spike in COVID-19, she called on the city and state to shut down most nonessential businesses and offices — a step that the mayor and governor declined to take.

Adams's rollback comes as the city's virus rates drop below 2 percent — a far cry from the sky-high rates of 30 percent or higher seen at the beginning of the year, when the omicron variant was in full force.

"We’re taking this week to give business owners the time to adapt while we monitor the numbers to ensure we are making the best public health decisions for the people of New York," Adams said in a tweet.

Krueger, however, said the Key to NYC vaccine requirement should stay in place until the city hits key public health metrics like an 85 or 90 percent vaccination rate (About 77 percent of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, while the omicron variant has subsided, "the experiences of the last two years indicate we are likely to face another surge in a matter of months," Krueger argued.