Franchise Opportunities in New York City, NY

New Yorkers should brace themselves for the potential of severe thunderstorms and even an isolated tornado expected for Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The Five Boroughs could expect to see the storms roll through between 2 and 7 p.m. on May 16. The warm, humid conditions outside make the atmosphere ripe for thunderstorms, and the NWS reports that New York City faces a slight risk of severe weather today.

The storms could bring winds of up to 58 mph along with brief periods of torrential rain and even hail of up to an inch in diameter. Low-lying and flood-prone areas could see some flash flooding as a result of heavy rainfall.

The NWS also indicates the storms may also have the potential for spawning an isolated tornado, but no tornado warnings or watches have been issued as of 10:15 a.m. Monday.

Despite the severity of the storms, “rush hour will be impacted,” according to the National Weather Service.

The city’s Emergency Management Department has issued a travel advisory for between 2 and 10 p.m. Monday. The agency anticipates, however, storms will generally produce up to a half-inch of rain and winds as strong as 30 mph – though locally higher amounts are possible.

“As unsettled weather continues to impact our area, New Yorkers should prepare for a wet, windy commute Monday afternoon and evening,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol. “We urge all New Yorkers to exercise caution and prepare for potential power outages. If you must travel, consider using public transportation and allow for extra travel time, and if you must drive, do not enter flooded roadways. We also encourage New Yorkers to take extra care to secure their property. Bring in any loose, lightweight objects like garbage cans, potted plants, or lawn furniture that can be easily blown away.”

In anticipation of the storms and gusty winds, the MTA has already banned all empty tractor-trailers and tandem trucks from using its bridges between 2 and 10 p.m. Monday. The authority also ordered the pedestrian walkways on the Cross Bay and Gil Hodges-Marine Parkway Bridges closed during the same period.

The walkways on the Robert F. Kennedy (Triborough) and Henry Hudson Bridges will remain open, weather permitting, according to the MTA.

MTA Chairperson and CEO Janno Lieber said Monday the agency was prepping its bridges, tunnels, and mass transit system for the downpour.

“We obviously have dealt with significant winds in the last few weeks, and every time we actually systematically monitor wind speed and we close down bridges when winds reach a certain level or we put restrictions on the bridges,” Lieber said during an unrelated press conference in Manhattan. “Likewise, we’re completely ready for all the weather, it’s pretty routine.”

For more information on the city’s travel advisory, visit the Emergency Management website.

After Monday’s storms roll through, the city can expect a brighter, cooler Tuesday — with sunny skies and a high of 71 forecast for May 17.

Additional reporting by Kevin Duggan

The New York City hookup scene has exploded with a bang — or, should we say, several.

New Yorkers across the five boroughs are prepping for a kinkier, more debauched do-over of last year’s hot-vax summer. As pandemic restrictions loosen up even more, the city that never sleeps is getting in bed with just about everyone.

“I wanna go to sex parties, I wanna have threesomes, I wanna do all that,” 22-year-old Queens native Kiarra Souffront told the The Post, mentioning she recently got into her first-ever polyamorous relationship.

After the last two treacherous years, what better way to blow off steam than by getting laid, said Oscar De La Cruz.

“We need tender, loving care,” the 49-year-old HR manager told The Post over a drink at the 13th Step in the East Village.

“Mother Nature has been beating us up,” he continued. “We’re getting sunshine now, and guess what happens when you get sunshine? You get horny and things happen.”

Spread your legs and fly

This en masse, pheromonic phenomenon is on full-frontal display at Madame X, billed as “the sexiest bar in New York City.”

The Houston Street watering hole — which offers risqué private rooms and erotic games — has seen an “exponential” increase in kinky parties booked in recent months, according to owner Amy McCloskey.

“Not just that, but we’ve also seen a much younger crowd coming in than before COVID,” she added.

X marked the spot for the polyamorous Souffront, who was there on a recent evening playing a sexy card game with friends, which had the group discussing such titillating subjects as their first experiences with masturbation.

“[My boyfriend] is seven years older than me and he told me, ‘Before I turn 30 I want to experience so many things,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah me too,’ and we discovered these things in COVID together,” Souffront said.

COVID hasn’t only made people more adventurous, but also more direct — no liquid courage required.

“I got asked to be friends with benefits with someone 20 minutes ago,” 25-year-old Joshua Wiscovitch told The Post on a recent afternoon in Washington Square Park.

“That [direct flirtation] is pretty much all I deal with at work,” the in-demand South Bronxite and Manhattan restaurant runner continued, adding that he’s currently juggling three lucky ladies. “On a daily basis there’s women trying to pick me up at their table, leaving me their number — which actually happened a few times last week. After the pandemic everyone just seems a lot more open and confident.”

The club going up on a Tuesday — and Wednesday

The nightclub scene — with its accompanying PDA and ladies shaking out of short, sexy outfits — has picked up like it was never put on hold. Patrons are again packing the steamy dance floor nose to nose (and mouth to mouth), even on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

That was the case of Nebula in Times Square, where rapper Ja Rule headlined a “Tuesday baby Tuesday” party that had an electric crowd and lines out the door on the midweek night.

“I think [clubbing] is better than ever. Everyone is ready to live their best life, everyone here on a Tuesday, like out,” said Jasmine Shan, 23, a pharmaceutical graduate student from Hoboken.

The single Shan, who had started her day with an 11 a.m. bottomless brunch and ended it well after midnight, spoke of the novel ways she’s found to meet people since COVID.

“There’s so many singles parties where you can literally just go and hookup with people, and I didn’t notice that before COVID,” Shan said, mentioning that she went to one that was advertised on TikTok.

Some clubs are further embracing the new “whoring ’20s” era, splicing in adult entertainment into the already hot mix.

At the recently opened Wonderland on Wednesday evening, topless pole dancers and scantily clad waitresses entertained a packed house as the crowd awaited the arrival of Migos rapper Offset. Even surprise guests Nicki Minaj, French Montana and Offset’s wife, Cardi B, let loose.

“Are we gonna turn the f–k up?” Cardi B egged on the raucous crowd after sipping on a Corona. “Are we getting dangerous tonight? DJ are we getting f–king dangerous tonight?”

But even places like Wonderland are only scratching the surface for the city’s sinners.

“If you’re going to talk about New York nightlife, I suggest S&M because that’s where it’s interesting,” Anna Paulette, a 27-year-old from Midtown told The Post, adding that the “underground” scene of sadism and masochism clubs have “absolutely” exploded since COVID simmered in NYC.

Paulette speculated that S&M has offered those shattered by the pandemic a way to “deal with their demons” — which has led to a growing number of submissive types.

She recalled a recent instance where a man told her he fancied her “Matrix”-style leather boots and asked if she was into the lifestyle as the role of a mistress.

Upon her positive answer, “he got down on his knees and said ‘I will give you $20 right now if I can lick your boot,'” Paulette said.

And it’s the return of those erotic interactions that proves “nature is healing” in the Big Apple, per De La Cruz.

“[The hard times] are over, see ya later, bon voyage!”

As Madison Square Garden shook and the crowd screamed in delirium as the New York Rangers celebrated in the corner, it was hard to fathom just a week ago things seemed all but lost for the Blue Shirts.

New York had given up a combined 14 goals after two games in Pittsburgh and their star goaltender Igor Shesterkin had been pulled not once, but twice after letting in a high volume of shots. Compare that to the scene on Sunday night, where the Rangers had fought tooth and nail to scrap dog a win in the game and in the series over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“It’s a huge win for the team, for the organization,” Jacob Trouba said afterward. “Gutsy performance coming back again. That whole no quit New York thing is pretty true with this group.”

For the Blue Shirts that rings as true a statement as any. The Rangers have made coming back from deficits as much a part of the team’s makeup as the players themselves.

During the regular season and now in the playoffs. In fact, Sunday’s completion of the 3-1 series comeback marked the third time that the Rangers have done so in franchise history, and if the past is any indication then hockey may take center stage for quite some time at MSG.

When the Rangers accomplished the feat in 2014 — against the Penguins no less — they rode that wave all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The following year they did it again making it to the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost to Washington.

Even during the regular season, the Rangers have fought tooth and nail for wins. They came from behind a whopping 27 times during the 82-game schedule and then added to that with come-from-behind victories in Game 5, Game 6 and now Game 7.

“We get down, I don’t think anybody gets frustrated,” Trouba said. “We know we can come back and win games, especially in the third period. I mean we’ve done it the last three nights now. We’ve done it really all year. Just the belief in the room, the positivity, the energy. Just a fun group to be a part of, fun group to play with.”

For a New York Rangers squad filled with youth, the comeback was a big one, even if head coach Gerard Gallant wasn’t trying to make it more than what it was. The Rangers coach joked that rallying from behind was something that his team had done “quite a few times this year.”

Gallant, in his first year behind the bench for the Rangers, said that nothing changed with the team’s mentality going into the third period.

“It sure fits this team, there’s no doubt about that. They find a way,” Gallant said about the Rangers’ no-quit mentality. “I’m really proud of them. I knew tonight was going to be a battle. We talked about the seventh game being at home, but we fell behind most of the game and we found a way to battle back.”

The Rangers will need to keep that attitude that has served them so well during the playoffs and in the regular season with a date with the Carolina Hurricanes on the horizon. The Hurricanes are coming off a series win over the Boston Bruins that also went seven games.

Gallant is hoping the experience will serve the team’s younger members well going forward.

“It’s great experience,” he said. “We talked about it all the time. Before the series started I’m sure a lot of people said there’s not much experience with this group and you look at the other side and they have experience. For me it’s about guys playing the right way, they got a lot of experience during the season and it showed in that series.

“I thought the kids played pretty good hockey overall and I thought our team played pretty strong as well.”

When New York City Chancellor David Banks announced in March he would make 45 superintendents reapply for their positions, he also promised to make the process of picking new district leaders more inclusive than before.

That promise seems to have backfired, with parents protesting after some well-liked superintendents were cut before the public had a chance to weigh in on who should lead their districts.

But following that outcry, the education department is now backtracking: Officials announced Monday that all sitting superintendents have been asked to join a round of public candidate forums, after some initially did not make the cut.

“When I make the final determination of who will best serve all students in each district, that decision will combine the passionate feedback of parents and community members and each candidate’s ability to articulate a comprehensive vision for the future,” Banks said in a statement on Monday.

Superintendents are often the public face of the central education department, present at regular Community Education Council meetings and supervising principals.

Banks has said they will play an even bigger role while he is chancellor, expanding their budgets and giving them more staff to better support principals and serve as a touchpoint between parents and the nation’s largest school system.

Banks officially announced March 2 that superintendents would have to reapply for their jobs. Candidates who went through the process said they were asked to answer an essay question about how they would improve literacy proficiency in their district.

The hiring process is set by state law and education department regulations, dictating that superintendents must have at least seven years as an educator, including at least three as principal. Parent leaders and labor union representatives are also supposed to be consulted once finalists are picked.

Banks promised to go beyond the regulations, asking local parent groups to hold public candidate forums in each district. Officials on Monday released the dates and times of each forum, which begin this Thursday.

“I’m going to be strongly led by what the community says. I do not want to be the person who solely picks the leaders,” he said at a March town hall meeting with parent leaders in Manhattan’s District 3. “I’m going to listen to parents and families and give them a real voice.”

Parents and education staffers pushed back last week, when word began to spread that some sitting superintendents had been cut before the public was even given a chance to voice its opinion. The outcry was especially loud in Queens’ District 30, where an online petition to keep longtime superintendent Philip Composto garnered thousands of signatures.

Elected politicians also weighed in – potentially making it uncomfortable as Banks and Mayor Eric Adams try to convince the state legislature to extend the law that gives the mayor most decision-making power over the school system. State Rep. Cathy Nolan released a statement in Composto’s support, saying she had “seen the impact of his service.”

“Mayoral control was not meant to exclude the voices of parents and this situation is an example of how important authentic community engagement is to the success of our students,” Nolan’s statement said.

The flap over the superintendents has followed other missteps as Adams, who became mayor in January, fights to keep his control over the school system.

He has failed to appoint a full Panel for Educational Policy, resulting in two high-profile – and rare – votes to reject some of his administration’s proposals. He also had to cancel his own rally in support of mayoral control after flight delays stranded him in Los Angeles, where he had taken a campaign-funded trip to speak on a panel hosted by the Milken Institute about “digital transformation.” With mayoral control set to expire June 30, Adams has reportedly postponed until this week a trip to Albany to lobby state lawmakers on the matter.

Christina Veiga is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on school diversity and preschool. Contact Christina at [email protected]

Dr. Dyan Hes, a pediatrician in New York City, joined “Fox and Friends Weekend” on Saturday to discuss today’s baby formula shortage — and to share ways for parents to get through this shortage.

Her office, she said, participates in telemedicine — and she noted that roughly half the queries today are about the baby formula shortage.

She acknowledged that some parents “are freaking out” about it.

“This is a real fear” among parents today, she said, about their ability to find enough baby formula to feed their infants.

The best thing for parents to do is calm down — including for the baby’s sake, she said.

Dr. Hes, who is affiliated with multiple hospitals in New York City, also said that a lot of moms that her practice sees are nursing their babies as well as feeding formula to their infants — but that many are also solely feeding formula.

Parents should visit the small mom-and-pop shops or bodegas in their cities or areas to find formula supplies, not just shop the big-box stores, she said.

She also said that she’s heard, via Abbott, “that the Instacart app” is actually the best app to find baby formula.

Other suggestions include logging onto Costco, Walmart and other big-box stores’ websites to see what’s available there — and keeping on top of the supply in terms of ordering promptly.

In addition, she said, reaching out to pediatricians’ offices about formula is smart for parents to do.

Her office recently received a supply of baby formula, she said. And “I’ve been calling families who need formula and having them come pick it up at our office.”

Also, she said, families should be more “flexible about the brand,” she said.

They can get “very fixated” on a specific brand, she said — but “for the most part, the majority of babies can tolerate most general formulas,” she advised.

Mostly empty shelves are shown on the left, while two cans of Enfamil infant formula — snagged by a lucky parent — are seen at right. “Do not dilute the formula,” advised Dr. Dyan Hes of New York City.

In terms of other advice to parents of babies, she said that doctors are saying now that if a baby is over 6 months old, “it’s OK if you find toddler formula — that’s a little bit easier to find” right now on the market, she said — “and you can use that temporarily” until more baby formula comes onto the market.

Again, always wise for parents to check with their doctors first.

She also said that if a baby is over 9 months old, parents can consider switching to whole milk plus an appropriate vitamin with iron — but that they should consult with their pediatrician about it first.

She also said, “Do not dilute the formula.”

This is very dangerous for babies, she said, “and can lead to seizures.”

And “don’t do homemade” formulas, she also said.

New York City raised its COVID alert level to medium on Monday as cases surpassed a rate of 200 per 100,000 people in the five boroughs, health officials said. It marks the first time the health department has adjusted that level since debuting the new system under Mayor Eric Adams' administration earlier this year.

Manhattan and Staten Island, respectively, have the highest transmission rates per 100,000 residents, the latest health data show, but it's the first borough that is having a disproportionate impact on the city's overall rolling new case rate.

Those two boroughs are also now classified as "medium" COVID alert counties by the CDC. And while the new case rates are clearly ascending, they remain well below what they were during omicron's peak surge in January.

Most importantly, hospitalizations and deaths, the far more important metrics from a public health perspective, remain on the decline.

No new COVID protocol will be implemented (or reimplemented) at this point, but should the alert level reach high -- the highest of the three laid out by health officials -- the city will consider requiring face masks in all public indoor settings again.

For now, NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan says New Yorkers should exercise greater caution than they have in the last few weeks -- and those who are at higher risk for severe disease from COVID, for whatever reason, are advised to consider avoiding crowded indoor gatherings and other higher-risk situations.

The city continues to recommend that all New Yorkers, vaccinated or not, wear a mask in public indoor settings as highly contagious subvariants of omicron continue to spread across the city, state and much of the globe.

"The coming weeks will be critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and getting back to a low-risk level so we can more safely enjoy our spring," Vasan said. "And remember, the steps you take to protect yourself also protect others, especially those most vulnerable. As a city, we have the tools we need to beat back this virus. As New Yorkers, we are in this together. By incorporating these steps into our daily lives, we can continue to look out for one another and ourselves."

Vasan had laid the foundation for Monday's decision in the first few days of April. Cases were rising, he said, and likely would continue to rise for a couple of weeks, meaning New Yorkers should prepare themselves to transition to a new alert level.

And here we are.

New York City has managed to evade the brunt of the omicron subvariant-fueled COVID spread blamed for high infection rates in other parts of the state, like the Central New York and Western regions, in recent weeks. But the needle is moving.

Last week, the CDC classified 40 of America's more than 3,200 counties as high risk for COVID, based on its community-level assessment system. That was up from the previous week, and more than half of the high-risk counties were in New York.

None, though, were in New York City at the time. None of New York City's five counties were even considered medium risk just a few days ago.

As of Monday, both Manhattan and Staten Island are in the CDC's medium risk level. And the orange (high) and yellow (medium) shades afflicting mainly western, central and northern counties in the state just a week or two ago trickled down.

The numbers are calculated using data through April 28, which means COVID-19 transmission is likely currently higher than the latest CDC map reflects.

From a raw data perspective, all COVID metrics in New York City remain well below their staggering heights at omicron's peak in January.

The rolling case average is up about 12% over the rolling average for the prior four weeks, but hospitalizations and deaths are both still declining, by 13% and 50% respectively.

The latter, though, is the difference between just two fatalities on a rolling basis and the raw numbers are exceptionally low (four vs. two).

Overall, COVID hospitalizations in New York have remained manageable amid this latest viral uptick -- and about half of the people admitted for COVID in the state didn't go to the hospital because of the virus in the first place. It was found during routine testing, which suggests those cases were minor from a COVID perspective.

Ultimately, experts say they don't expect a major COVID resurgence like the one America experienced earlier this year as a consequence of the omicron subvariants.

While evidence shows they appear to be even more transmissible than the already more transmissible original strain, there is none at this point to suggest they cause more severe illness or are more vaccine-resistant.

In the streets of New York, a ritual is set to clockwork: At an appointed hour, an untold number of New Yorkers descend from their homes to do what they must to avoid a parking ticket for disregarding street-cleaning rules.

But with the pandemic forcing many conventions of the city to be scaled back, what had been a twice-weekly dance became a once-a-week ritual in 2020. Motorists saw it as a welcome reprieve; those who favor cleaner streets over polluting cars saw it quite differently.

Now, as New York slowly returns to normal, the city is bringing back the twice-a-week requirement.

The announcement, made on Monday by Mayor Eric Adams, may seem modest in nature. But it still provoked intense reactions — a nod to the deeply conflicted relationship New Yorkers have with cars, parking and their sometimes latent recognition that cars conflict with their environmental principles.

“It went on for far too long and it largely sidelined the best cleanup tool in our arsenal, which is the mechanical broom,” Jessica Tisch, the city’s new sanitation commissioner, said in an interview on Monday. “And I think that has made a meaningful difference in the cleanliness of every neighborhood in this city.”

Since 1950, New York City has required drivers in some neighborhoods to move their cars to make way for street sweepers. A city report from that year hailed the parking reform as “one of the most effective sanitation innovations in decades.” The report devoted a full page of photos to the novelty, with pictures illustrating how “parked cars prevent manual street cleaning” and “hamper mechanical sweeping.”

Over the decades, the rules spread across the city and vary widely by neighborhood. There are streets in Queens and the Bronx where drivers never have to move their cars for street sweepers, and streets in Brooklyn and Manhattan where they must do so twice a week.

The rules spawned a subculture for New York motorists, revealing different levels of game theory.

Many try to find a new legal space quickly, preferably as close to home as possible. Others double-park until about a half-hour before street-cleaning hours end, then move back to the other side of the street once the sweeper or traffic agent has gone by.

Some favor an even more sedentary, if legally dubious, approach: They keep the car in its original spot, sit behind the wheel with coffee or phone in hand, and wait for the mechanical street sweeper to pass around — moving only if a traffic enforcement agent approaches.

The various techniques have been on greater display in recent months, with car ownership surging in New York City during the pandemic, and more working-from-home residents able to sit in their cars, hoping to avoid a summons as they waited for the sweepers to pass.

Other New Yorkers seem willing to take their chances, leaving their vehicles illegally parked and risking a $65 summons.

Erik Bottcher, a City Council member who represents the West Village and Chelsea in Manhattan, said recently that the fine structure may need to be rethought to ensure better compliance.

“Friends have confided to me that they never move their car because 4 tickets a month is far cheaper than a monthly garage,” he wrote on Twitter. (Four tickets a month comes to $260, which is in fact cheaper than many garages; in Manhattan, some charge $500 or more.)

The Sanitation Department found that halving the days many drivers had to move their cars led to some streets barely getting swept at all. They theorized that with drivers now facing at most one $65 ticket a week, they began to regard the fine as an acceptable cost of doing business. Fewer and fewer moved their cars even on the one day a week they were supposed to. And streets got dirtier.

“The streets are filthy, the cars don’t move, we can’t sweep,” said Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association. “And it’s about time we start cleaning it up.”

Other cities like Boston and Chicago have residential parking permits that don’t require drivers to move their car every week, but the idea has never advanced in New York City. Chicago, for instance, has less frequent street cleanings from April to November and posts notices in advance.

How New York approaches its street-sweeping needs is also inconsistent, with variations linked to community input, the Sanitation Department said. Brooklyn has the most street sweeping shifts, according to the department.

Any suspension of the city’s alternate-side parking rules — be it for snowstorms or religious occasions ranging from Purim to Diwali to Feast of the Immaculate Conception — is typically celebrated by motorists. And so it was in March 2020, when Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Brooklynite, halted the rules after New Yorkers complained of having to move their cars while in lockdown.

In June of that year, he restored the rules, but only required New Yorkers to move their car once a week for street sweeping. Mr. de Blasio characterized it as the “most dramatic reform” to parking rules in “decades.”

Mr. de Blasio cast the move as a boon for regular New Yorkers, and even for the environment — a notion heavily disputed by transportation advocates, who question how any policy that makes car ownership easier could be green.

“Look, our No. 1 concern is the climate, No. 1 challenge is the climate crisis,” he said in October. “I think a tradition in this city of people having to circle the block constantly and idle and search for a space, you know, for 15, 20 minutes, 30 minutes each night, that that’s not what we want to see on any given night.”

Mr. de Blasio promised to assess the policy’s impact on street cleanliness and amend it as needed. There were no substantive changes; the new rules continued through the end of his tenure.

The result was a dirtier city, city officials now say.

The data from the city’s nonemergency 311 system “shows very clearly that there has been a significant increase in complaints around litter, rodents, trash,” said Sandy Nurse, the Brooklyn councilwoman who chairs the sanitation committee.

Mr. de Blasio did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Adams, who took office in January, has been working to restore a sense of normalcy in the city. He has encouraged workers to return to offices and cleared homeless encampments, and the focus on cleanliness fits with his broader message.

The resumption of full-scale alternate-side street cleaning, which takes effect on July 5, will cost the city $1.9 million a year. Mr. Adams also announced a $9 million investment in year-round cleaning of protected bike lanes, including with the use of small mechanical sweepers.

The investment will enable the city to “come back stronger than ever,” Mr. Adams said in a statement on Monday.

Cesar Suero, a car owner who lives in the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn, said moving his vehicle once a week was reasonable, but returning to twice a week was unfair. He believes the city wants more revenue from parking tickets.

“It’s another way to make residents’ lives impossible,” he said. “This is a tough city to live in, and alternate side parking is a regulation that really doesn’t clean the streets.”

Arsenia Reilly-Collins, a union negotiator who lives in the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn and whose family has two cars, said she was concerned about New Yorkers who cannot afford parking tickets and believes that the city could find a more innovative solution.

“The old rules were just arbitrary,” she said.

But Donald Shoup, an urban planning professor at UCLA and author of a book called “The High Cost of Free Parking,” said that car owners in the city were still getting a good deal.

“Drivers are complaining that they have to move their car, and they’re parking for free on some of the most valuable land on Earth,” Mr. Shoup said.

Riders are still required to wear masks while taking public transportation in New York City, despite a federal judge in Florida’s ruling on Monday to overturn the nationwide mask mandate on planes and public transit.

Major airlines across the country immediately dropped their mask requirements after the decision, moving so quickly that in some cases, masks became optional mid-flight.

But as new confirmed coronavirus cases spurred by the rise of the highly contagious Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 rise around the country, leaders of New York City’s public transit network, citing public health guidance from the state, are keeping mask requirements in place.

Tim Minton, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates New York’s subway, bus and commuter-rail networks, confirmed on Monday evening the mandate would remain in effect.

He pointed to a March 2 decision by the New York state health commissioner laying out the protections mask-wearing offers from transmitting the virus, especially on public transportation.

The M.T.A. falls under state control, and Gov. Kathy Hochul voiced her support for keeping the mandate on Tuesday, while also emphasizing the importance of vaccinations and regular testing.

“Do your part to keep your neighbors safe,” she wrote on Twitter.

Governor Hochul hinted later on Tuesday that the federal government’s response to the ruling could have an impact on New York’s approach.

“We’re assessing, we’re waiting to see whether or not the federal government appeals, which is important,” she said. “Until all this is settled, we’re continuing with our policy.”

The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission, which oversees taxis and for-hire vehicles, including Ubers and Lyfts, said on Tuesday that drivers and riders in those vehicles would continue to be required to wear masks as well.

Uber had said on Tuesday that it would stop requiring masks in the United States. Lyft followed with a similar announcement, but both companies said local regulations would supersede their own rules.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three major airports in the New York metropolitan area as well as interstate buses and bus terminals, said it would follow the local guidance in each state. Mask mandates remain in effect on the interstate PATH system and in two of the area’s three airports, Kennedy International Airport and La Guardia, which are both in New York City.

But in neighboring New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy ended the mask mandate for New Jersey Transit and facilities operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority, including the Atlantic City International Airport. Masks will also no longer be required at Newark Liberty International Airport, the third major airport operated by the Port Authority, or at airports in Connecticut.

Several health experts urged caution about rolling back mask mandates on public transport. Dr. Linsey Marr, an expert on airborne disease transmission, said although the city’s subway system has good air filtration and ventilation systems, those tools are no match for crowded buses or trains packed shoulder-to-shoulder with riders.

“When it’s standing room only, and people are really in each other’s faces, it is not enough,” Dr. Marr said. “It’s a lot of people sharing the air together.”

She also said that she believed transit leaders nationwide should have waited for health trends to improve further before doing away with mask requirements.

“We are close, but we are not there,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened this way rather than based on health and safety indicators.”

Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for the Riders Alliance, a grass-roots organization of transit users, said he supported the M.T.A.’s decision to keep the mandate in place for now.

“Hopefully, the trend will turn around soon,” Mr. Pearlstein said, and “more of us will feel comfortable taking off our own masks, and state rules will change to reflect that development.”

Tony Utano, the president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents subway and bus workers, also said he backed the M.T.A.’s decision to “keep both riders and transit workers safe.”

New Yorkers riding the subway Tuesday morning largely welcomed the ongoing mask requirements.

Joseph Gill, 58, said he was still afraid of bringing the virus home to his family, especially since he lives with his 85-year-old father, his immunocompromised wife and his three-year-old grandson, who is too young to get vaccinated.

“Regardless of what they say, I want to protect my family,” Mr. Gill said as he waited for an uptown B or C train at the 72nd Street station in Manhattan. “I hate it, but I’m going to keep wearing it.”

Waiting for the G train in Williamsburg, Jingting Fang, 22, echoed that sentiment, saying that she felt safer when she saw people wearing masks on packed subway cars.

“Covid is still very much happening,” Ms. Fang said, adding that she wanted to see more consequences enforced for those who don’t wear masks.

But some said they were confused by the dissonance between the country’s sudden rollback and the city’s mask guidance.

Juliet Peters, 33, who was also waiting for an uptown train at 72nd Street, said masks were required when she flew to California to visit her family over the weekend. But when she got on the plane Tuesday to fly back to New York City, she was told masks were now optional.

“I was like, ‘What?’” she said. “I wasn’t sure about what to do.”

She wore her mask for the flight back anyway, and said she would continue to wear masks on the bus and subway. With cases on the rise and the possibility of more waves in the future, she said, she doesn’t want to fully let her guard down just yet.

“I’m wearing it right now, I wore it on the plane,” she said. “I feel more comfortable with it on.”

Precious Fondren, Sharon Otterman and Grace Ashford contributed reporting.