Lights Camera action. After months of the closure order, after the most intense crisis that New York City experienced with COVID-19, this Friday the Big Apple will take another important step on the way to its new “normal”: The cinemas will reopen its doors and the rooms will present the billboard films. New York was the last region of the state to have the green light for the projection of films, since in other towns are already watching movies since October last.
The move on the theaters occurs just one year after it started the coronavirus pandemic, which so far has left more than 24,603 deaths in all five boroughs and 623,605 of reported infections.
The cinemas have the endorsement of welcoming the spectators, but by order of the Governor Andrew Cuomo, the service will only be allowed to 25% capacity of theaters, that is to say that on average there cannot be more than 50 people in a room at the same time, to avoid crowds.
The reopening of cinemas occurs when the average of 7-day infections in the city are at 6.4%, a figure that reached around 10% last January and has been decreasing, according to data provided by the Mayor’s Office.
And although the news of the return of theaters has generated excitement among some New Yorkers, and is seen as a giant step in the recovery of New York, there are many who still confess that they are afraid of returning to theaters, especially those who still have not your vaccinations.
He says so openly Vicente Ortíz, the father of a family, who assures that it will be several months before he and his son go again to see a movie in a cinema.
“I think it is very hasty to order the opening of the theaters right now. I think they should have waited until the summer, when more people have already been vaccinated, because one does not feel 100% safe and I prefer not to take risks, “said the father of the family, while walking around the corner of the theaters United Artist Theaters, de Astoria, where the Regal company has more than a dozen rooms.
The Ecuadorian insisted that the key that dictates more business reopening and assistance to places must be vaccination, a process that he criticized for considering that it has been carried out very slowly.
“Until people are vaccinated they should not open cinemas or theaters, because it is risky and we can make the situation worse again, “added the immigrant, so his son for now will be left with the desire to see movies that they have been putting off.
Julio Piraquive, who declared himself addicted to cinema, also shared Ortíz’s position, and said that despite understanding the reopening of theaters as something positive, it will give relief to a percentage of employees who lost their jobs since March, when the cinemas closed Nor will it be close to the theaters, for now.
“I think i’d rather wait, because it has been a hard year, of sacrifices and confinements and I do not want to throw everything away because of a hurry, ” the Colombian, 30 years old. “There will be time to go full, eat popcorn and hot dogs from the ones they sell there and see good things, but now is not the time,” added the construction worker.
But not everyone has reservations and there are those who are celebrating the reopening of cinemas as if it were the end of the pandemic.
“I am happy. I feel like this is the last push so that things go back to being almost as before, not the same, because everything changed, but at least something more normal and the cinema is going to get us out of so much stress. I’m happy, “said Shirley Molina, who assured that on Sunday she already made plans with her husband to go to the Astoria cinema, although she does not know if it will open or not, because the bars are down and there is no movement there.
Referring to the reopening of the Big Apple movie theaters, the governor, Andrew Cuomo He stressed that the decision was made thanks to the fact that the rates of hospitalization and infection by COVID-19 in the city continue to decrease, but made it clear that strict protocols will have to be followed.
“From day one, we have said that our recovery from COVID It is not a choice between public health and the economy, it has to be both, and in New York we are demonstrating how to do it safely and intelligently, ”said the state president. “Thanks to the hard work and commitment of all New Yorkers, our infection rate is now the lowest we have seen in three months, and as a result, we will now reopen various recreational activities across the state, including movie theaters.”
AMC Entertainment He was excited about the theaters reopening, saying in a statement: “This is another important step in restoring the health of the movie theater industry and our company.”
Cuomo affirmed that as infection rates continue to fall and vaccination increases, other entertainment sectors will reopen, such as the Broadway theaters and other iconic New York venues such as Carnegie Hall, Radio City, and Lincoln Center, ruled for raise curtains on April 2 next.
“The New Yorkers have done a tremendous job defeating COVID, and little by little we are loosening the restrictions as numbers shrink and public health improves. It is clear that if we remain vigilant, we will reach the light at the end of the tunnel, ”said the New York Democratic leader.
“This is a difficult foot race, but the infection rate has dropped and the vaccination rate has increased, and New Yorkers will get through this together as long as we stay in touch and keep this momentum in the right direction. “
Regarding the reopening scheduled for next month, state authorities have warned that if the rooms do not require negative COVID-19 tests or vaccination certificates, as some sites have proposed, they may reopen. at 33% of its capacity, with a maximum limit of 100 spectators in indoor theaters and 200 outdoors. Otherwise, an audience of up to 150 people indoors and 500 outdoors will be allowed.
Great stadiums like Madison Square Garden, which is already offering concerts, such as the one in Maluma for October, and the Barclays Center, They would promote the certification of vaccines or negative tests for COVID-19 to allow the public to enter and guarantee safety in their spaces.
Rules in cinemas
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