NYC Mayor Eric Adams is telling stores to have customers remove their face masks

[Nevilledog]

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161623700/nyc-stores-masking-eric-adams-robberies-shoplifting-bodegas

Worries about the safety of New York City's deli clerks and bodega workers have Mayor Eric Adams making an unusual request: Members of the public should lower their face masks to reassure store workers they're not criminals, Adams and other city leaders said on Monday.

"We are putting out a clear call to all of our shops, do not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask," Adams said in an interview with radio station 1010 WINS.

"Once they're inside, they can continue to wear it if they so desire to do so," Adams said of the policy.

The guidance quickly caused a stir in New York City, where the terrible toll from the early COVID-19 pandemic prompted a mask mandate. At many stores, doors and windows remain plastered with reminders to wear face coverings.

And in a town famous for its no-nonsense culture, questions immediately popped up about the wisdom of putting yet another onus on store workers — and whether armed criminals would follow new rules about masks. Some people also wondered if forcing those with compromised immune systems to remove their masks indoors might itself break the law.

*snip*

[live love laugh]

1. I can understand his reasoning--especially letting them put it back on.

[NYC Liberal]

6. I can't. An actual criminal isn't going to comply with this.

Especially if they are armed. They’re going to walk in, point the gun, and demand what they want.

[live love laugh]

8. Yes you're probably right but I think it's a deterrent.

[liberal_mama]

26. It takes me a while to properly seal my N95 mask. Why should I have to break the seal and have to

contaminate it and redo all that, including putting the tape around the chin and nose back on? I'd just rather not enter. This is just BS. I think Adams is a sociopath to even think up something so evil. These new strains are very easy to catch.

My husband and I owned a convenience/grocery store years ago. We had a bad shoplifting problem and no one wore masks back then. They just shoplifted with their faces bare. It's the cost of doing business.

This has nothing to do with shoplifting. It's about forcing infection on immune compromised and high risk people.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. What is wrong with this dude? I think he's disturbed. He's acting like a sociopath.

[RockRaven]

4. It's not an act...

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Semantics. He's behaving like someone who's suffering from antisocial personality disorder.

How's that?

[RockRaven]

7. Sadly true

[SheltieLover]

15. I can't for the life of me understand how this guy got elected, tbh.

[littlemissmartypants]

17. Me either, Shelt! He's looking like a chameleon candidate. Like someone who

holds their stomach in just long enough for the pretty girls to walk by...

[sheshe2]

11. I love her!

❤️❤️❤️

[littlemissmartypants]

16. Love you! ❤️

[Meowmee]

18. He is one

How did this psycho become mayor of nyc?

[Conjuay]

24. How did ghoulianni?

[Meowmee]

25. A bunch of idiots voted for him

but he was not a D as far as I recall. D voted for this one to be a candidate and then voted for him again.

[Dorian Gray]

19. Adams isn't behaving like a sociopath

He speaks a LOT without thinking through the end consequences of his speech.

This is STUPID for a lot of reasons, but he's not sociopathic.

[littlemissmartypants]

21. And we know this is not the issue, how? Maybe he doesn't think consequences apply to him.

That’s not unlike someone who's suffering from antisocial personality disorder. He can be both that and stupid. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Look at tfg. He's a prime example.

[Dorian Gray]

22. Adams doesn't relish hurting other people

like Trump does.

I think Elon is a more natural comparison to Trump. Adams has the capacity to sit with people who disagree with him and have a conversation.

(The above does NOT mean I think he's a good mayor. There are a lot of problems with him. He courts attention and he's undisciplined. But sociopath is a harsh descriptor that I personally disagree with.)

[littlemissmartypants]

23. ❤️

[Blues Heron]

3. I don't think so. My mask goes on before I go in, not after.

Stupidest thing I’ve heard in a while.

[ecstatic]

9. The problem is, if someone is planning to rob the place

they're not going to comply. If anything, you'd have to lock the door and open it only for people with their faces visible. But even that could get tricky if people are piggybacking.

[JI7]

10. Theft is a real problem and they can put the mask back on

they just want to get faces on camera . ANd i'm sure there are people taking advantage of the situation with masks to use to steal things without being identified .

[Dorian Gray]

20. Yeah

In my neighborhood (Park Slope) there was a pretty big robbery at a jewelry store that was big in the news. Masked intruders.

Bodegas are robbed all the time.

I understand why it would be helpful to see faces on cameras before going in, but like I said above, people aren't going to comply.

My neighborhood is a pretty wealthy neighborhood in NYC. There is still a relatively high masking rate (compared to other neighborhoods). There are a lot of health conscious people who won't not wear masks, and any potential criminal isn't going to just say: "SURE! Here's my face!"

Asking bodega and store owners to police this is also stupid.

[Hekate]

12. BEFORE Covid, my bank put up a similar sign for hats & sunglasses. They wanted the camera to...

… be able to see your face. It was completely upfront — and there had been a string of robberies in the area.

I was irritated, because I always wear a hat and sunglasses outdoors due to sun sensitivity and didn’t like to have to fumble with it all at the door. However, I also completely understood their reasonable intent, so I complied.

Which is all to say, pulling down your mask long enough for the security cam to have a look isn’t going to be the end of the world, imo.

[Raine]

14. Where I live thieves are stealing everything that isn't nailed down

and even things that are like catalytic converters. They rush into stores and fill a cart with goods and rush out. What they have in common is masks, thieves are using coronavirus to hide behind in their masks. A solution needs to be found as more and more business tank.