Three in four New Yorkers say they support a statewide mask ban during public protests to help combat the spate of anti-Jewish hate incidents that have roiled the state, according to a poll commissioned by the civil rights coalition #UnMaskHateNY, the New York Post reported Monday.
While 68% said it's important to protect free speech rights during protests, 75% of voters said they support a mask ban to mitigate the harassment at the hands of antisemitic and oft-violent protesters, according to the Post.
Further, 74% of Jewish voters and two-thirds of elderly voters said discrimination and harassment are worse than it's been in a long time. Also, 55% said they feel less safe and 50% said they are concerned about being the target of harassment or a hate crime, the Post reported.
That number skyrockets among minorities, according to the Post — 67% of Black voters; 68% of Asian voters; and 76% of Jewish voters say they are concerned about being singled out for harassment.
Nassau County in August passed the Mask Transparency Act, making it illegal to wear a mask "for the purposes of concealing an individual's identity in public places." It does not apply to coverings for religious or medical reasons.
"I am a son of the Jim Crow South and remember a time when those who wore masks did so to avoid accountability while terrorizing families like my own," Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, told the Post. "There is no denying a link between anonymity and abuse, and we can never let that portion of our history return again into the present day."
The survey was conducted by Mercury Public Affairs from Dec. 16-20, 2024, among 800 active voters. The margin of error is plus/minus 3.46 percentage points, the Post reported.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.