NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is imposing what amounts to COVID segregation on the city, mandating businesses to require proof of COVID vaccination of their customers. Businesses are not equipped to be cops. In fact, de Blasio defunded and demoralized the cops during the height of the plague before reversing on the funding after crime shot up (and it’s still going up). But now he wants struggling businesses to play cops, which among other things won’t help those businesses survive and may expose them to irate patrons. Bill doesn’t think things through a whole lot.
De Blasio announced the policy officially Wednesday and now some of those businesses are suing him, according to the New York Post.
A group of restaurants and businesses have filed suit against Mayor Bill de Blasio in opposition to a mandate requiring proof of vaccination at city eateries, gyms, movie theaters and other establishments, new court papers show.
The businesses argue that the mandate violates their constitutional rights and unfairly targets certain establishments but not others like churches, grocery stores, schools, offices and medical facilities, the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Staten Island Supreme Court alleges.
The suit uses the words “arbitrary” and “capricious,” which tend to get judges’ attention when discussing matters of equality under government policies.
The mandate also doesn’t accommodate certain exceptions for getting vaccinated such as those who’ve already gotten the virus; those who are allergic to ingredients in the vaccine; those who have pre-existing conditions that make getting the vaccine risky; and those whose religious beliefs stop them from getting it, the filing argues.
“The decision to get the vaccine should ultimately lie with the individual and his doctor, who knows that persons’ complete medical history, rather than a politician,” the court papers claim.
Quite. De Blasio’s imposition without reasonable medical exemptions does sound quite capricious and poorly conceived. The mandate is no joke—it carries some stiff fines for infractions. The fact that de Blasio is imposing this inconvenience while also begging people to come back to New York is a real head-turner. Does he not see the things that other people see when he does things? Who wants to go to a city that will demand “Papers, please” whenever you go out for a bite to eat?
It’s also blatantly segregationist, due to the comparatively lower rates of vaccination among minority populations. That’s likely to come up in a lawsuit at some point.
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