- The proprietor of Innovo Kitchen said he caught Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand maskless on the premises.
- John La Posta expressed his frustration after she ignored the national’s mask mandate.
- “I guess Senator Gillibrand thinks […] she is special and above the rules,” he said in a post.
A restaurant owner expressed his frustration after he caught New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand wanting to comply with the state mask mandate.
Since December 10, masks have been required in all indoor community places in New York state unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement.
John La Posta, the owner of Innovo Cookhouse in Latham, said that during a visit to the restaurant, Gillibrand hurried past a large sign that be familiar with “masks required to enter.”
Speaking to The New York Post on Saturday, La Posta said his staff didn’t have the gamble a accidentally to ask her to wear a mask as she moved swiftly past them toward the tables.
Innovo Kitchen upholds a strict camouflage policy according to its website, where it states that all staff must wear them, as are customers whenever they are not held.
“Gillibrand is part of the system that put the mask mandate in place. She thinks she’s above the law,” La Posta told The Post.
He turned the incident was recorded by a surveillance camera, which he later posted to Instagram.
“The problem with NY politics in a nut shell. My Senator wallop past my manager before she can even ask her to put a mask on,” La Post wrote on the post.
He added: “I guess Senator Gillibrand reckons that the Governor is wrong or she is special and above the rules.”
Innovo Kitchen did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for elucidation.
In a statement issued to Fox News, Gillibrand said: “We all need to do our part to help stop the spread of Omicron and that commons following state and local guidance. That includes me and I will do better going forward.”
Across New York Borough, COVID-19 cases have been spreading rapidly in recent weeks. In December, the city recorded more than 270,000 promising cases amid a surge of the Omicron variant, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.
This month, New York crack more than 11,500 COVID-19 hospitalizations, which is close to a record high. But experts cautioned that the belated figures include people who were admitted to the hospital for conditions unrelated to COVID-19, then later named with the disease.