Mother suing NYC over toddler mask mandate: 'It's cruel and unusual punishment'
Brooklyn mother of two Agaja Reddy joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the mandate and growing pressure to reverse the policy.
Toddlers in the Big Apple are still forced to mask up at daycare and in the classroom, prompting outrage from parents across the city over health and safety concerns.
New York City mother of two Agaja Reddy is suing the city over the policy, calling the mandate "absurd" on "Fox & Friends First."
"The kids don't have anybody speaking up for themselves," Reddy told co-host Carley Shimkus. "The city is so focused on economic development, and of course, toddlers aren't unionized. They don't have people speaking for them, so Michael Chessa is bravely taking up the fight with the city."
"There was a judge who struck down the mask mandate for toddlers and then Mayor Adams' team put in a stay," she continued. "So it's pending right now, in an appeals court, and it's being dragged out on purpose by Mayor Adams... It's cruel and unusual punishment, and these toddlers need to get back to a normal childhood."
Chessa, a father who is representing parents in the case, expressed optimism in overturning the mandate on "Fox & Friends." He said an appellate court should decide the case within the next few days.
"If they decide in our favor, that means that the lower court decision will stand, and the toddler mask mandate, as we call it, will be void no more," Chessa told co-host Ainsley Earhardt.
Danyela Souza Egorov, a Democrat State Senate candidate and mother of two, warned the repercussions of the mandate will impact kids for years to come.
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"Mothers know that the kids are delayed," Egorov said. "Educators know that the children are delayed, and we'll be dealing, unfortunately, with this literacy crisis for a very long time."
Mayor Eric Adams appealed a judge's injunction earlier this month, citing a slight increase in COVID-19 cases as grounds for its extension.
He previously said he would drop the mandate, making masks optional, as long as there were "low levels of risk."
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