MTA Amps Up Mask Enforcement On Subways, Buses, Trains

NEW YORK CITY — Think again before you hop on the subway without a mask.

A $50 fine still awaits maskless straphangers across MTA's system — and enforcement will amp up again, officials said Wednesday.

The renewed enforcement blitz begins Thursday, said Pat Warren, chief safety officer for MTA.

"This policy is not optional, it's a government mandate," he said during a news conference outside Bowling Green subway station. "Riders are required by federal law and state law to wear masks when they are traveling, at all indoor stations, onboard buses, trains and para-transit vehicles, whether you are vaccinated or not."

Mask compliance to fight the coronavirus reached 100 percent during much of 2020 and the first months this year, officials said.

But — as any rider can attest — compliance slipped over the spring and summer as vaccinations took hold and mask rules outside transit relaxed.

MTA officials began a masking blitz on Sept. 7 that had workers distribute 25,000 face coverings, officials said.

Compliance is currently "just OK," Warren said — it's 94 percent on buses and 87 percent on subways.

"We can and must do better if we're going to beat the virus," he said.