"We are asking the businesses to make this a condition of entry: That people, when they come in, they show their face, they should identify themselves," he continued. "And if they feel like they want to put their mask on after they identify themselves for their safety, by all means, they should do so."Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses in the city would block customers from entering the premises with masks on, according to the police chief. But taking in masked customers is now "a way of life."
And a political choice.
"Since the pandemic, this is a way of life for us, where people wear masks regularly," he said. "But we’re seeing this being used too much as a ruse to enter into businesses and to victimize our businesses."
The advice comes as New York City Mayor Eric Adams admitted that a shoplifting epidemic is forcing chain stores to close down and costing retail workers their jobs.
"People who say that we’re criminalizing the poor—they’re wrong," Adam said at a Feb. 12 budget hearing in Albany as he made the case for billions in additional state funding for his city. "Poor and low-income New Yorkers are being unemployed because we’re losing those businesses in our city."