Judge strikes down New York’s mask mandate as illegal

A state judge on Monday struck down New York’s mask mandate, ruling Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration did not have the authority to enact such a mandate without approval from the Legislature.   

Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademaker concluded the rule amounted to “a law that was promulgated and enacted unlawfully by an executive branch state agency, and therefore void and unenforceable.”

Rademaker ruled the mandate Hochul announced Dec. 10 “must fail as violative of the State Administrative Procedure Act.”