Mask confusion reigns at shops around NYC on first day Hochul’s mandate lifted

The lifting of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s controversial order.

At a Starbucks in Midtown Manhattan, a barista said she “didn’t really know” about Hochul’s sudden about-face on face coverings, adding, “They keep changing it.”

But the manager said he planned to replace the store’s outdated sign with another saying that masks were instead recommended for customers.

“I’m going to print it out,” he said.

“I think it’s pretty good. The cases are going down dramatically. Employees will keep wearing the masks.”

At another Starbucks in Bayside, Queens, workers were uniformly unaware of Wednesday’s development, with one barista saying the company “didn’t tell us anything.”

When informed that the mandate had ended, the worker began eagerly removing his mask before being advised that his employer had the last word on the matter.

The java giant’s website says that customers have to wear masks if “mandated by local law or regulation” but that “all company-operated store partners are required, regardless of vaccination status, to wear facial coverings while on shift.”

The Whole Foods supermarket across from Manhattan’s Bryant Park still had a large sign at the entrance that said “state or local mandates” required face coverings “for everyone in our stores.”

But The Post found one customer inside who was maskless.

“I have natural immunity,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “It should be lifted everywhere. I believe in natural immunity.”

Shopper Micho Fujii, 40, kept her mask on inside the store even though she knew the mandate was no longer in effect.

“I heard about it, but our company, my office, still requires that we wear masks, especially when we meet with other people,” she said.

Outside, nurse Cami Jones, 26, of Connecticut, said, “I, personally, am a huge fan of not wearing masks.”

“I take care of COVID patients, and it is my opinion, but unless you’re wearing it an N95, it’s useless anyways,” she said.

“And I’m like, I also don’t believe in living in fear and I believe that we are vaccinated and we’re doing everything we can.”

Jones’ pal, a nurse from San Francisco who gave her name as Rachel, said she agreed with lifting the mandate “if case rates are low and vaccination rates are high and the likelihood of an influx of patients into the hospital and the damage and stress that goes on the healthcare system and healthcare workers is deemed reasonable.”

But, she added, “I do think it was shown that masks made a big difference … regardless of whether they were N95.”

At the nearby Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya USA, a female employee took down the store’s sign after The Post inquired about it.

“We just heard the state mandate has been lifted,” she said.

“Employees will keep wearing the masks, but for customers, it’s not required.”

The woman added: “I prefer to wear a mask inside. The situation is getting lighter, but a lot of people are still getting this sickness. I want to keep wearing my mask for a while.”

A large sign outside a Walgreens store in Bayside said “Face Masks Required” even though the manager acknowledged knowing about the lifting of the mandate.

“The company hasn’t told us anything so we’re keeping the mandate,” the manager said.

“We’re all wearing a mask.”

The second-generation owner of Bayside Milk Farm, a gourmet grocery store, welcomed Hochul’s move and said he’d “probably pull the signs today or tomorrow.”

“Customers do fight with each other about the masks, at least 20 times — cursing, yelling,” said Pat Perulli, 54.

“One guy waited outside and stalked the woman in the parking lot. She had to call her husband! Thank God, we don’t have to deal with that anymore.”