Earlier this week, New York city governor Andrew Cuomo announced that large venues in New York City will start to reopen starting February 23 at reduced capacity with specific safety measures in place. The announcement came from a recent trial run with the Buffalo Bills football team who allowed 6,700 fans into their 70,000 seat stadium. The results of the trial proved to be extremely successful, and now New York has received specific guidelines to re-open their larger venues. The guidelines will be implemented starting February 23rd and will be set in place for stadium-sized venues including the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn as well as the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Both venues are expected to host events the day that they are allowed to re-open and will follow all guidelines implemented by the government.
Large venues such as Madison Square Garden and The Barclay’s Center will open at 10% capacity maximum with socially distanced seating. A negative COVID-19 test must be shown prior to the event, accompanied by temperature screenings as well as mandatory masks, which will be necessary upon arrival. Although no concert or festival events have been announced yet, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks will begin to allow fans at their games. It has been a slow and steady climb, but New York is taking steps in the right direction to bring large venues to their pre-pandemic state.
