Hochul Betrays NY

Gov. Hochul seems determined to be every bit the dictator the last guy was, with a new order requiring universal indoor masking in “public places” — including private offices — unless everyone’s proven vaccinated.

It’s supposedly a response to the Omicron variant, but it’s clearly more of a pander to Omicron hysteria: The new strain has barely hit these shores and by all accounts is markedly less deadly than prior ones. Cases tend to resemble the common cold, only causing mild or asymptomatic disease.

Reminder: Most of the country has weathered nearly two years of the pandemic without such extreme, long-lasting measures — even while seeing lower overall fatality and hospitalization rates than heavy-lockdown states.

Yet her order kicks in Monday, lasting at least through Jan. 15. But without a solid reason to do it now, what evidence will stop her from extending it? The uncertainty alone is sure to push companies to put off any planning for a return to the workplace — and the fines of $1,000 per violation don’t help.

Incidentally, it took our reporters hours to get Hochul’s staff to confirm that the order extends to private businesses. Such lack of clarity on so far-reaching a mandate is an outrage in its own right.

Yes, the case count is up — but if it’s not a serious threat (except to those who are at risk from any virus that goes around), it doesn’t justify an order that will further slow the return to normalcy.

This follows her premature state of emergency declared last month, which undermined public health by forcing hospitals to cancel “elective” surgeries — once again upending care for cancer patients, people seeking hip replacements and other vital medical needs.

Never mind that 80 percent of New Yorkers are vaccinated, and more have immunity from having contracted COVID. Nor that the Empire State’s so far seen only 20 confirmed Omicron cases, with no recorded deaths.

With the city still struggling to reopen fully, Hochul just put another nail in its coffin — though she just urged employers to bring their workers back to Manhattan.

Consultants must be telling local politicians that this is a vote-winner, at least in Democratic primaries: Would-be governor Bill de Blasio is even more extreme, with his clown show of a private-sector vaccine requirement that kicks in just days before he’s no longer mayor.

But playing politics at the expense of New York’s economy — and New Yorkers’ sanity — is a betrayal of every public official’s oath of office.