New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to vaccinate theater workers in order to get Broadway up and running in September.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is setting his sights on September as the month that the city’s famous Broadway theaters will be able to reopen.
De Blasio outlined a plan Thursday to vaccinate theater workers so that the district and its shows could begin running again.
“The show must go on,” he said. “And the show will go on.”
In addition, de Blasio said the city is working on ways to increase Covid-19 testing near the theaters and create plans to manage crowds before and after a show.
Broadway has been shuttered for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, crippling the theater industry. In a normal year, Broadway funds nearly 100,000 jobs and pumps nearly $15 billion into the local economy.
Barring a significant drop in coronavirus cases, there are likely be capacity restrictions on theaters when they do reopen. Movie theaters, for example, are currently only able to house 25% to 50% of potential audiences.