New York’s statewide mask mandate will remain in effect while Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office appeals a lower court ruling that found the rule unconstitutional, a state appellate judge said late Tuesday.

The order, from Justice Robert J. Miller of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, came as the Hochul administration scrambled to respond to a Nassau County judge’s decision Monday, which found that the state Department of Health overstepped its authority in enacting the measure.