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2025-05-10 Home Front: Politix
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New York passes law backed by Jewish groups to crack down on masked crime
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How soon before both perpetrators and victims file lawsuits over this, dear Reader? [IsraelTimes] Legislation establishes offense of ‘evading arrest by concealment of identity,’ a watered-down version of proposals aimed at combating upsurge in antisemitism
The New York State government on Thursday passed a law to combat masked crime, ending a legislative effort meant to combat antisemitism in the wake of the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel by the Hamas
 ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
terrorist group.
The push for an anti-masking law had spurred backlash from progressives, and the new rule is a watered-down version of the legislation initially sought by politicians in favor of the measure.
The legislation establishes the crime of "evading arrest by concealment of identity" and was signed into law by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday with the state budget.
Hochul had attached the law to the state budget as one of her legislative priorities. The $254 billion budget passed more than a month after its April 1 deadline, following weeks of negotiations, including over the masking legislation.
The law applies when a person carrying out a crime, or fleeing from the scene of a crime, wears a mask or covers their face "for no legitimate purpose" to prevent their identification or arrest. The law, a class B misdemeanor, will take effect in 30 days.
The charge will be added to the initial offense and could lead to harsher sentencing. Class B misdemeanors carry a maximum punishment of three months in jail.
Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Jewish state assemblyman from the Bronx who pushed for anti-masking legislation, applauded the new law in a Thursday statement, tying the rule to a disruptive protest by masked demonstrators at Columbia University on Wednesday.
"Time and again we see that when protestors conceal their identity, they can create environments of fear and distress, especially when targeting specific communities," Dinowitz said. "Yesterday’s incident of masked individuals vandalizing and terrorizing students and staff at Columbia University’s Butler Library highlights the necessity of this legislation to hold people responsible for their actions."
Other politicians criticized the legislation as too weak and difficult to enforce.
"This is a nothing burger. Unfortunately, this is nothing," Anthony Palumbo, a Republican state senator from Long Island, said during budget negotiations.
"This was well-intended, I’m sure, but it doesn’t get us to where we needed to go," Palumbo said.
A coalition of Jewish and Black groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP, launched a push to crack down on masking last year. The effort, called UnMaskHateNY, connected antisemitism by masked attackers to persecution of Black Americans by hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The version of the bill put forward at the time was more expansive than the measure passed on Thursday. The earlier bill sought to outlaw masking at public assemblies such as protests, with carve-outs for facial coverings related to health and religion.
Hochul had previously pushed for a ban on "masked harassment," but retreated from the more strict proposal during the drawn-out budget negotiations.
UnMaskHateNY still celebrated the new measure shortly before the governor signed it into law.
"This law couldn’t have come a day sooner. With this new language on the books, we look forward to long-awaited oversight and accountability for any and all individuals who would hide their faces to commit crimes," a spokesperson for the group said.
The push to crack down on masked crime gained traction during an upsurge in antisemitism in New York City, particularly following an incident when masked protesters targeted "Zionists" on a subway car in May 2024.
Law enforcement said at the time that masking had impeded some investigations into criminal conduct by anti-Israel protesters, including at Columbia University.
Pro-Paleostinian and leftist organizations, including a group called Jews for Mask Rights, opposed the legislative effort, calling it an infringement on the right to free assembly and a risk to the immunocompromised.
Groups, including the New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, called on the governor and state politicians to reject the law, characterizing the measure as a "mask ban," despite its limited scope.
"Despite lies to the contrary, this is not a mask ban. It is common-sense legislation that is in the interest of public safety and would not apply to lawful assemblies or protests," Dinowitz said on Thursday.
New York State had an anti-masking law dating back to the 1800s, but scrapped the rule in 2020 due to widespread masking during the COVID pandemic.
Nassau County, on Long Island, passed a law to ban masking at protests last year. That effort was led by Mazi Pilip, an Israeli-American Republican in the Nassau County legislature, who said she was motivated by antisemitism and protests at universities. 
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2025-05-10 10:09||
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