On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city's first steps towards a potential fall reopening of Broadway theaters, ABC7 New York reports.
"It's time to raise the curtain and bring Broadway back. So the next four weeks we will be setting up dedicated vaccination sites specifically for the theater community," said de Blasio.
The city will be setting up vaccination sites dedicated to the theater industry to be staffed by workers from the theater industry. These sites will be placed in the heart of the theater district for easy access. In addition, a mobile vaccination unit will travel to help those serving off-Broadway.
Covid testing sites will be located at or near theaters both on and off Broadway for ease and convenience.
The city will also help manage crowds both before and after shows. De Blasio said the city would have "an active presence" in helping the theater community manage crowds.
In addition to talking about the city’s actions, de Blasio called upon the state to help facilitate the reopening of Broadway by having the state get out clear guidance for theater workers.
"We’ll do the vaccinations, we’ll do the testing, we’ll help with the crowd management, working with the theaters. We’ll do everything in our power to bring Broadway and off Broadway back strong. But we need some help. We need some help from the state of New York. So I’m calling upon the state to please, quickly, issue clear guidance for theater workers in terms of mask usage, in terms of how we use proof of vaccination or proof of negative testing to help ensure that everyone can work and that crowds can come back in the fall. These tools are necessary," said de Blasio.
Andre DeShield, Tony-Award actor and 50-year veteran of the stage, spoke to de Blasio briefly saying that "New York is on it’s way back. But it will not completely arrive until, not only Broadway, but all theater across this great city has returned."
Broadway shows are cancelled until May 31 2021, and, although there’s no official reopening date set yet, de Blasio seems confident in a September 2021 reopening.
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