For NYC businesses, vaccine mandates put damper on holiday

A surprise year-end decree by Mayor Bill de Blasio ordering virtually all businesses to get workers vaccinated is forcing vaccine holdouts to choose between jabs or jobs

NEW YORK -- A surprise year-end decree by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ordering virtually all businesses in his city to get workers vaccinated has sowed confusion and frustration — and could set off a mad holiday dash to force vaccine holdouts to choose between jabs or jobs.

Tens of thousands of unvaccinated New Yorkers and their employers are now thrust into an unwelcome reckoning over the mandate, set to go into effect two days after Christmas.

Francisco Marte, who employs 16 people at three bodegas across the Bronx, is in a precarious position: Force the shots on his few unvaccinated workers, or fire them.

“It’s going to be hard to force them to do it,” said Marte, who voiced defiance should the city follow through with the edict. “I’m not going to lose a good employee because of de Blasio’s orders.”