A woman who worked for New York City's Law Department is out of a job after she posed as a reporter during a press conference in order to grill Mayor Eric Adams about his mask policy.
Daniela Jampel questioned Adams about children and masks at his Monday afternoon presser, which was regarding an unrelated topic. She has been a vocal critic of NYC's mask rules for pre-schoolers, who are too young to be vaccinated.
"Weeks ago, you told parents to trust you, that you would unmask our toddlers. Ten days ago, you stood right here and said that their masks would come off April 4. That has not happened," Jampel said.
Adams had previously said that he planned to lift the mask requirement for the youngsters on Monday, but said he changed his mind amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the five boroughs.
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"There's a new variant, the numbers are increasing, we're going to move at the right pace, and that's the role I must do. That's what I stated, I'm living up to my promises," Adams said in response to Jampel.
In a statement confirming Jampel's firing, the city Law Department said that "her decision to lie to City Hall staff, and state she was a journalist at a press conference, demonstrate a disturbing lack of judgment and integrity." The department also said she made "troubling claims about her work," and that "the decision had been made to terminate her" prior to Monday.
Jampel said to NBC New York that her firing was "wrongful," and said she was "in the process of retaining counsel."
