The governor of the State of New York announced Wednesday that large theaters and stadiums could reopen with a gauge of 10% of their capacity from February 23, a first after almost a year of closure.
The 10% threshold applies to rooms capable of accommodating more than 10,000 people, said Andrew Cuomo, without giving more information about buildings of lesser capacity, which will remain, a priori, closed.
To attend the show or the sporting event, spectators must present at the entrance the certificate of a negative PCR test dating less than 72 hours and have their temperature taken.
Once in the room, they will have to wear a mask and respect the rules of physical distancing.
The first to open the ball will be, from February 23, the Barclays Center, room that can accommodate 17,700 spectators in basketball configuration, and the legendary Madison Square Garden, whose ordinary capacity is around 19,800 seats.
In Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Nets professional league NBA team will be allowed to host audiences for their game against the Sacramento Kings, while in Manhattan, the Knicks will host the Golden State Warriors.
This will be the first time in 352 days that Nets and Knicks will play in front of their spectators. Brooklyn and New York have played at home several times this season, but always behind closed doors.
In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, the New York Rangers, a NHL hockey league team who also play at Madison Square Garden, announced that they would resume welcoming spectators as of the Feb. 26 game against the Boston Bruins.
Knicks and Rangers plan to bring in “about 2,000 spectators in each game”, or 10% of the regular tonnage.
To cope with the pandemic, Andrew Cuomo had banned, on March 12, all events bringing together more than 500 people, a suspension quickly extended to all shows and sporting events.
The State of New York had carried out a first test by authorizing the Buffalo Bills club, of the NFL American football league, to welcome 6,700 spectators for a playoff game on January 9.
All had to have previously tested negative to sit in the stadium which has 71,600 seats in total.
The formula was rolled over the following week for another Bills playoff game. The governor and state health authorities deemed the experiment conclusive, Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
Several other American states already allow large venues to accommodate the public, especially in Florida, where the Super Bowl took place on Sunday, in front of 25,000 people.
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