ALBANY– Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday it’s “legally questionable” whether people can be forced to get vaccinated if it violates their religious beliefs — even as Mayor Bill de Blasio in Brooklyn was declaring a public health emergency mandating vaccinations to stop a measles outbreak.

“Look it’s a serious public health concern, but it’s also a serious First Amendment issue and it is going to be a constitutional, legal question,” Cuomo said on WAMC radio when asked a general question about the surge in measles cases.

“Do we have the right — does society, government have the right to say ‘you must vaccinate your child because I’m afraid your child is going to infect my child, even if you don’t want it done and even if it violates your religious beliefs?’ So that is, that’s an issue that’s going to be legally questionable and I’m sure its going to go down that path,” Cuomo added.

He was responding to a question about the measles outbreak that has infected 285 people in New York City, mostly kids in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

About the same time that Cuomo was speaking on the radio, Mayor de Blasio was in Williamsburg announcing that residents in selected zip codes of the neighborhood had to get vaccinated if they were in contact with an infected patient or face a fine of $1,000.

The mayor Tuesday said his Law Department has reviewed the legality of mandating the vaccinations and if someone sues, he added, “We are absolutely confident we will win that legal case.”

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