The governor of NY Andrew Cuomo on Monday unveiled a plan to revive New York City’s famed art scene after pandemic downtime and allowed the city’s restaurants to reopen their indoor areas ahead of schedule.
The move to promote theater and music in the state, known as “New York Pops Up,” comes amid a steady improvement in measurements of the spread of the coronavirus, and after many artists from Broadway and other interpreters were unemployed since last year.
In October, the owners of the Broadway theaters extended their closure until May 31, hoping to reopen in June.
“When Broadway closed, when theaters closed, an entire industry stopped,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “Everyone understands why, but now we have to nurture that industry to bring it back,” he added.
The first of 300 art events over 100 days, a precursor to an eventual reopening of Broadway theaters, will kick off on February 20 at the Javits Center of Manhattan with a special performance for health workers, Cuomo said.
The convention center has been used during the pandemic as a temporary and vaccination hospital.
Among the many artists who have joined the project are musicians Patti Smith and Jon Batiste, and actors and actresses Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin Y Hugh Jackman.
All performances will be free, on short notice and virus-tested for viewers and available for viewing online, Cuomo said.
“We want the performances,” he added. “We don’t want massive gatherings, we don’t want large crowds.”
Cuomo also brought forward the date that New York City restaurants will be able to reopen their indoor dining rooms with 25% capacity to Friday, February 12 from the previously announced Sunday February 14, which is Valentine’s Day, a one of the busiest in the industry.
The thousands of New York City restaurants that have survived pandemic-induced closures since late March have done so by relying on take-out and makeshift outdoor pavilions.
The statewide rate at which residents tested positive for coronavirus has been on a steady downward trend, falling to 4.42% on Sunday from 7.94% on January 4, measured over an average of seven days, Cuomo said.
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