- New York City is canceling all nonessential city-permitted events through May and considering the same for June as the city seeks to drive down the coronavirus' rate of infection, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.
- "We're not issuing any permits in the month of May," he said at a news briefing.
- De Blasio said this means the cancellation of events such as the Brooklyn Half Marathon and SummerStage in Central Park.
Mayor Bill de Blasio greets healthcare workers and conducts a press conference at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York, April 10, 2020.EuropaNewswire | Gado | Getty Images
New York City is canceling concerts, festivals and all other nonessential events through May and considering the same for June as the city seeks to drive down coronavirus infection rates throughout the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.
"We're not issuing any permits in the month of May," he said at a news briefing. "This is an important decision to make, whether it really makes sense to have those giant gatherings, and some of them are huge in June."
De Blasio said this means the Brooklyn Half Marathon and SummerStage in Central Park will be canceled. Such events, he said, go "against everything that we need to do to fight back the coronavirus."
"We have to be smart. We love those things, we'll miss them when we don't have them, but they will be back," he said. "They will be back and by knowing when it's time to temporarily let them go so we can get to a greater goal, we're going to actually look back and say that was the smart thing to do."
He said the decision applies to community and cultural events, but the city will continue to issue permits for medical sites like field hospitals and "anything related to food," including farmer's markets.
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Source: cnbc.com
