After the return of NBA matches at Madison Square Garden, then the reopening on Friday March 5 of some cinemas, New York may soon be able to celebrate the resumption of the performing arts: the governor announced on Wednesday that theaters could reopen April 2, with a still limited capacity.
The rooms of the American cultural capital, closed since March 12, will be able to reopen at 33% of their capacity or 100 people at most, with the wearing of the mask and compulsory distancing, announced the governor Andrew Cuomo during a press briefing. Outdoor shows can accommodate up to 200 people. The thresholds will be raised for rooms capable of testing their spectators beforehand – to 150 people indoors or 500 outdoors.
With such thresholds, big Broadway productions – like Frozen, The Lion King, etc – “will not be able to leave again“Said Martine Sainvil, spokesperson for Broadway, without giving a new date.”But we’re happy that some arts venues, including some theaters in the Broadway neighborhood, can reopen their doors and give audiences a taste for what we’ve been missing so much from those dark months.“, she added.
Some prestigious venues, such as the Apollo Theater in Harlem, or the huge hall of Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side, could also seize the opportunity.
The announcement of this conditional green light comes as the number of cases and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus are falling, in New York State as in other American states, against the backdrop of an acceleration of the campaign to vaccination and arrival of a third vaccine, that of Johnson & Johnson.
While some states have started to lift a series of restrictions, such as Texas which announced on Tuesday the end of the wearing of the compulsory mask, the governor of New York called to remain vigilant, in particular because of the uncertainties related to the new variants of the coronavirus .
“In my opinion, some states are going too far, too fast“, did he declare. “You’re loosening the restrictions too quickly, and you’re going to see the beast arise again. “
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