Unvaccinated athletes, performers can return to playing, performing in NYC, announces Mayor Adams
NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday that he's exempting athletes and performers from the city's vaccine mandate for private workers, a move that will allow Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play home games and unvaccinated baseball players to take the field when their season begins.
The mandate is effective immediately.
"Today we take another step in our city’s economic recovery — leveling the playing field for New Yorkers and supporting local businesses and performance venues across the city," said Mayor Adams from Citi Field. "By expanding an existing exemption, we are simply making sure the rules apply equally to everyone who is a performer, regardless of where they are from."
The city's sweeping vaccine mandate for workers will still apply to people with other types of jobs, including government employees.
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"The old exemption put our sports teams at a self-imposed competitive disadvantage and was unfair to New York performers. Now, with the city in a low-risk environment, we can keep protecting each other, as we continue to move in the right direction and deliver an equitable and inclusive economic recovery," said Adams.
A loophole in the measure, imposed under his predecessor, allowed visiting players and performers who don't work in New York to still play or perform even if they are unvaccinated.
"I’m going to make some tough choices. People are not going to agree with some of them. I must move this city forward," said Adams.
Irving, a vaccine holdout, had been among the most high-profile people impacted. He was able to rejoin the team in January but only when they played out-of-town games.
This month, concerns had been raised that the rule would also impact Major League Baseball, with it applying at the outdoor baseball parks in the Bronx and Queens.
"We were treating our performers differently because they lived and played for home teams? It's not acceptable," said Adams.
Not everyone agrees with Adams' decision.
Former NYC health advisor, Dr. Jay Varma, tweeted about his dismay over the exemption and that the mandate had legal standing because it applied to everyone.
Anti-Vax Protesters 'Storm' Barclays Center in Support of Kyrie Irving
A group of anti-vaccine protesters gathered outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Sunday, October 24, in support of point guard Kyrie Irving, who has refused to have the COVID-19 vaccine. Footage taken outside the arena shows some of the crowd attempting to break through security barriers and push their way into the building. Credit: @JPfaff1028 via Storyful
"#VaccinesWork. unless you're rich and powerful, in which case, #LobbyingWorks," Varma wrote. He added: "The #KyrieCarveOut opens City up to entire scheme being voided by courts as "'arbitrary and capricious."'
The Police Benevolent Association came out against the exemption.
"If the mandate isn’t necessary for famous people, then it’s not necessary for the cops who are protecting our city in the middle of a crime crisis," said PBA President Patrick J. Lynch.
"While celebrities were in lockdown, New York City police officers were on the street throughout the pandemic, working without adequate PPE and in many cases contracting and recovering from COVID themselves. They don’t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens now."
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Adams has been rolling back vaccine mandates and other coronavirus restrictions, including on Tuesday when he said masks could become optional for children under 5 starting April 4.
Mask mandates for older children have already been removed, as well as rules requiring people to show proof of vaccination to dine in a restaurant, work out at a gym or attend a show or go to an indoor sporting event.
With The Associated Press.