Mayor De Blasio: “Our Plan is To Fully Open New York City,” Including Theaters, by July 1

AMC Lincoln Square. Photo courtesy National CineMedia

In an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio stated that he plans for New York City to be “fully open” by the first of July.

“Our plan is to fully open New York City on July 1st. We are ready for stores to open. For businesses to open. Offices, theaters—full strength,” said the Mayor, citing the pace of vaccinations in the city.

Previous official announcements as to capacity limits for New York City theaters have come from Governor Cuomo, not Mayor De Blasio. It is unclear as to when, or if, Cuomo will back De Blasio’s plan to have New York City theaters—as well as other industries—returned to 100 percent capacity by July 1.

To this point, the raising of capacity limits on New York City theaters has been somewhat halting. In October of last year, theaters were allowed to open in New York State but not New York City. In February, NYC theaters were allowed to open at 25 percent capacity; shortly following that announcement, NATO and NATO of NY expressed hope that the limit would be raised to fifty percent in the coming weeks. Last Monday, March 26, marked New York City theaters being allowed to increase their capacity to 33 percent, with no timeline given for when a bump to 50 percent can be expected.

AMC Lincoln Square. Photo courtesy National CineMedia