The Best Face Masks for Every Situation

Both of the essential workers whom we spoke with — a foster-care case manager and grocery-store employee — mention that they prefer to wear surgical masks on the subway. Jason Weiner, a membership coordinator at the Park Slope Food Co-op who has been commuting about a half-hour on the subway to work throughout the pandemic, wears a surgical mask and face shield on the subway in order “to stay as protected as possible and keep myself and those I come in contact with safe.” Though neither doctor we spoke to “routinely recommends” wearing N95 respirator masks, they don’t discourage the use of medical-grade masks in riskier nonmedical environments, including a crowded subway where not everyone is masked. “If you’re going to have to be in a high-risk environment, something like the subway, with lots of other people in a relatively closely confined area, perhaps for a prolonged period of time, then mask effectiveness might really play a difference in protecting you,” explains Dr. Segal, who “couldn’t argue” with someone wearing an N95 in such a situation but encourages folks not to divert supplies away from health-care providers when stocks are low. Dr. Glatt agrees that it’s “not wrong” to wear an N95 in that kind of situation but still “wouldn’t recommend it routinely.”

The food-industry professionals we spoke with said they preferred to wear medical-grade surgical masks while at work. At Cravo, a Portuguese concept pop-up restaurant that’s appeared across the city — from the Gibson in Williamsburg to Dame Summer Club on the Lower East Side — chef and co-owner Nick Slemko (alongside Chris Dos Reis) says they wear disposable masks for sanitary considerations. “Once you’re serving the public at any level, you need to be extra cautious and aware, and we need to hold ourselves more accountable than the average person, especially since we’re making a space for people to congregate,” he says, explaining that the team wears surgical masks on their trips to Portuguese markets, while prepping the food, and during service. Though Slemko also has a now-sold-out Anti Social Social Club mask (which is still available on eBay for $50), he found that it was harder to be more aware of washing it, adding, “First, people need to start wearing masks in general and then be more conscious to keep whatever mask they’re wearing clean and sanitary.” Similarly, Alfonso Wright, co-owner of Brooklyn Tea, says that any time his team is around customers, they usually opt for surgical masks, or fabric masks that were distributed by the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID. As an outdoor diner, remember to tip extra and bring your fabric mask — our resident kitchen and dining expert, Strategist writer Nikita Richardson, last wore her Hedley & Bennett mask (which gives money back to ensuring that front-line workers have proper PPE) to eat a “beautiful” meal of “a drippy rotisserie-chicken sandwich, French fries, and three glasses of wine” at the Fly. “I wear my mask up until I’ve been seated and then I feel like I have permission to take it off,” she explains, adding that she also wears it when going inside to order food or drinks or use the bathroom. When it comes to other outdoor-dining safety measures, Dr. Glatt adds, “I wouldn’t recommend people eat near others, at the same table, as others who aren’t in their bubble [pod], it’s a potential risk.”

Since aeration is better outside, the doctors we spoke to agree that “the same social interaction is certainly riskier indoors than it is outdoors,” as Dr. Segal puts it, adding that, while social distancing and mask-wearing while close to others is still advisable outside, “we think that the degree of protection required is a little bit less outdoors.” When Mike Del Moro, a booking producer on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, married his husband, Alec Vlahos, in a socially distanced ceremony with eight immediate family members, they both wore masks designed by his mother-in-law. “She’d already been making masks for health-care workers, since my husband is an OB/GYN, and for the ceremony, she made masks for everybody. She made us ones that said “Mr.” and “Mr.,” and it was a really nice touch — obviously, not an ideal situation getting married during a pandemic, but a little thing like that goes a long way in making a moment feel special,” he says. Since then, on the few occasions during which Del Moro has attended other outdoor, socially distanced events, like a friend’s 30th-birthday party, he likes to wear his pride-themed mask from Henry, which “is easy to put on and off and very breathable. The main outer layer is almost porous looking, but the piece that goes against your nose and mouth has a filter,” he explains, adding that it’s important to him to save medical masks for medical workers and to try and wear something “that’s a little more aesthetically pleasing.”

Nailah Blades, founder of Color Outside, an organization that promotes outdoor exploration among women of color, opts for this “comfortable, adjustable” mask from Eddie Bauer, which has room for a filter, when she’s hiking around others. “It doesn’t make you uncomfortable” she says, noting that the mask is breathable, which Dr. Segal agrees is especially important because “you’re going to breathe harder, so breathability is important to ensure that you wear it while exercising outdoors” (when you’re near others).