ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo defended his decision to not wear a mask at an indoor press conference held Monday in New York City in response to questions from reporters.
The governor and five Cuomo aides didn’t wear masks while addressing reporters at the governor’s city headquarters.
Pictures posted on social media showed reporters wearing masks sitting close to one another in the relatively tight space.
Challenged by reporters over his failure to wear a mask, Cuomo said it was fine because he was more than six feet from the journalists.
Earlier in the conference, Cuomo advised local governments to focus more on mask enforcement. When a reporter asked if that authorized them to ticket people not complying with the mandates, Cuomo said “they already are.”
“You walk down the street without a mask, you are within six feet of a person, you are in violation of the law,” said Cuomo.
Cuomo also said New York City schools in ‘hotspot’ locations would close Tuesday, and said the state would start closing religious institutions if mandates were not followed and enforced.
