As Epstein, a family doctor, went to drop her daughter off at the Birch Wathen Lenox School on the Upper East Side last week, everything turned upside down very quickly.

In a phone interview Epstein explained that her daughter had already reached class and was wearing a mask when the school nurse and police tried to convince her to wear a mask on the public street in front of the building but Epstein declined.

Jeff Guttenplan, Epstein's boyfriend, clarified that the daughter was wearing a mask when the family walk inside, "No one got physical or anything, she just refused to wear the mask. They were outside on the public sidewalk."