Bill de Blasio
(Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
(Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti shares it's "difficult to imagine" large gatherings at the moment.
New York and Los Angeles have both announced live events may not return until 2021, according to both mayors.
A Billboard report digs into the facts surrounding this unsettling development which is a disappointment to the music community in both of these major cities. “It's difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands anytime soon, so I think we should be prepared for that this year,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in a recent episode of CNN’s The Situation Room.
He also added:
"I think we all have never wanted science to work so quickly. But until there's either a vaccine, some sort of pharmaceutical intervention, or herd immunity, the science is the science. And public health officials have made very clear we have miles and miles to walk before we can be back in those environments."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also publicly spoke on the dilemma. “I've got to see in my city real steady progress, even to start to think about relaxing some of those social distancing standards even a little bit,” he shared. “I want to get people back to work, of course. I want to get kids back to school. But I think it will take months to go through that whole sequence. And the last thing I want to do is gather 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people in one place, that's like the exact opposite of social distancing."
What’s most disappointing about these statements is that New York and Los Angeles are respectively responsible for some of the country’s largest events. Coachella, Governor’s Ball Music Festival, and Panorama Music Festival are a few major events that came to mind as COVID-19 cases began heightening over the past six weeks. Coachella previously moved its official dates to October over a month ago. Due to social distancing, it’s unimaginable that things will be back to normal for a while.
Billboard reports as of Wednesday, New York City a hot zone for the coronavirus pandemic had recorded more than 118,000 cases with 8,000 deaths. Governor Andrew Cuomo banned large gatherings on March 12. Earlier this afternoon he announced nonessential businesses will remain closed until May 15.
