Gov. Hochul, lawmakers strike deal on new crime of wearing mask while evading arrest

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers have agreed to create a new charge for people who wear a mask while committing certain crimes or fleeing the scene, according to a top legislator.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, confirmed the deal Monday, just hours before Hochul announced the state’s $254 billion budget deal. Heastie told reporters the mask policy was among a handful of issues the governor and legislators had smoothed out in recent days.

The new crime is expected to be included in a final state budget agreement that is now four weeks overdue. If approved, it will be a secondary charge, meaning it can only be charged in connection with a second, more serious crime.

“It's really trying to concentrate on people who wear a mask in regards to hiding their identity while they commit another crime,” Heastie said.

Hochul, a Democrat, first raised the possibility of restricting masks in public last year, shortly after images of masked demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza while riding a subway train circulated on social media sites. Civil-liberties advocates, including the NYCLU, have pushed back, arguing that people should have the right to protest anonymously.

The governor renewed her push in March, insisting that lawmakers take the issue up as part of state budget negotiations. At first, Hochul wanted to create a new crime of masked harassment, which would’ve applied if someone wore a mask for the purpose of menacing or threatening another person or group — which some Democratic lawmakers resisted, citing concerns about how, and against whom, it would be enforced.

Instead, Hochul and lawmakers landed on Monday’s compromise.

The new charge would be a class B misdemeanor and apply if someone wears a mask or covers their face with the intent of concealing their identity while committing a class A misdemeanor or felony or immediately fleeing the scene, according to state Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat who helped negotiate the deal.

“ I think it's an important acknowledgement and it's a response to a very legitimate issue that is very strongly felt by a lot of New Yorkers, including the Jewish community,” Skoufis said Monday. “We are at least doing something. It's narrower than I would've liked.”

The charge will be known as evading arrest by concealment of identity, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

The agreement on the new masking charge was one of the final hurdles lawmakers needed to clear to reach a final state budget agreement, which was originally due April 1.

“ I think we are probably close to figuring out most of the policy issues and now we're starting to talk about the financial stuff,” Heastie said Monday. Hours later, Hochul announced they’d reached an agreement, which lawmakers will finalize and bring to a vote in the coming days.

“ I think we are probably close to figuring out most of the policy issues and now we're starting to talk about the financial stuff,” Heastie said.

Under state law, legislators have their paychecks suspended until the final budget is approved.

This story has been updated with news of the New York state budget agreement.