An appeals judge restored New York's mask mandate Tuesday, a day after a judge in a lower court ruled that Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration lacked the constitutional authority to order people to wear face coverings during the covid-19 pandemic.
After hearing brief arguments, Appellate Division Justice Robert Miller granted the state's request to keep the masking rule in place while the governor's administration pursues an appeal.
He offered no opinion on the mandate's legality.
The stay came after a day of confusion, in which some New York school districts -- particularly in areas that lean Republican -- rushed to make masks optional for students and teachers. State education officials told administrators that they should continue enforcing the mask mandate.
Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said her office would continue defending the mandate in court.
"Nearly three years into the covid-19 pandemic, we know that wearing a mask saves lives. This mandate and today's decision are critical in helping to stop the spread of this virus and protect individuals young and old," James said.
At issue is the legality of an order the state's health commissioner issued in mid-December as the omicron variant fueled a wave of covid-19 infections in the state.
The order required masks in schools, health care facilities, homeless shelters, jails, public transportation and in any indoor public area where vaccination wasn't required for entry.
As of now, the statewide mandate is set to be in place only until Tuesday.
Ruling Monday in a case filed by a group of parents, a judge on Long Island, Thomas Rademaker said the governor and state health commissioner didn't have authority to issue such a mandate without legislative approval.
The mandate "is a law that was promulgated and enacted unlawfully by an executive branch state agency, and therefore void and unenforceable," the judge said.
As school districts waited for the legal questions to play out, parents received mixed instructions, depending on where they lived.
In the Massapequa School District on Long Island, administrators immediately made masking optional.
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"While it is certain this decision will face legal challenges, until otherwise litigated, mask wearing will be optional for students and staff in the Massapequa Schools beginning Tuesday," the district said on its website.
Syracuse City Schools were among those that stuck with the state guidance.
"That means that anyone entering any of our schools must continue to wear a mask," a notice on the district's website said. New York City also stuck with its masking rule, which preexisted the state's order.
Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik criticized Hochul for "ignoring" the lower court's ruling. She told parents in her northern New York congressional district to call her office if their children were not allowed in school without masks.
FILE — Students wearing masks leave the New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m) school in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, Dec. 21, 2021, in New York. The New York State Education Department is telling schools to continue to require masks despite a judge’s ruling overturning the state's mask mandate. But some school districts already are rushing to drop the requirement. The Education Department said in a statement Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 that the state was appealing the ruling, which could temporarily halt it, and that schools should follow the mask rule in the meantime. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)
FILE — Kelly Sheridan, left, and her first grade students wear face masks as one of the students makes a presentation during class in a hallway at the Milton Elementary School, May 18, 2021, in Rye, N.Y. The New York State Education Department is telling schools to continue to require masks despite a judge’s ruling overturning the state's mask mandate. But some school districts already are rushing to drop the requirement. The Education Department said in a statement Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 that the state was appealing the ruling, which could temporarily halt it, and that schools should follow the mask rule in the meantime. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)