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Venues from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to a jazz stage in Queens are cautiously planning their first live programming in the brave new world of social distancing and audience size limits.
From Lincoln Center to local groups, NYC’s arts community plans gradual comeback from COVID-19 Shant Shahrigian
Nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic prompted authorities to shut down performances and public gatherings, devastating the city’s world-famous arts sector, the show will go back on.
Venues from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to a jazz stage in Queens are cautiously planning their first live programming in the brave new world of social distancing and audience size limits.
As in the rest of the country, recent weeks have seen the city’s COVID numbers gradually go down the average positive test rate was 6.86% as of last Wednesday, according to city Health Department stats, down from a recent peak of 9.7% on Jan. 3. While concern about new variants of the deadly virus remains high, the sense of panic that pervaded when Gov. Cuomo shut down large venues on March 13, 2020, has faded.
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Ricardo Barrett, a member of the Alison Cook Beatty Dance company, performs a new work, Central Park Field #4, shot in Central Park. Ellen Maynard Text size
While producers concede that Broadway won’t likely open until next fall, the next best thing thanks to New York’s new “Open Culture” legislation will be here this spring, debuting on a street corner near you.
New “Open Culture” laws passed by the City Council on Dec. 10 will allow for live ticketed performances on streets, plazas, and in city parks, following in the footsteps of the city’s Open Streets and Open Restaurants initiatives, which cordon off sections of roadway for socially distanced pedestrian traffic and restaurant seating.
Arts Performances Take to the Streets
The New York City Open Culture program will offer artists of all kinds to move the stage to the street and other public spaces. It s like an open streets program for the arts. December 11, 2020, 6am PST | James Brasuell |
The New York City Council approved a bill this week to allow ticket sales for concerts, plays, sketches, and more on city streets and other open spaces, according to an article by Shant Shahrigian. Under the legislation from Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens), artists and groups that previously received funding from the city Department of Cultural Affairs or one of the five borough-based arts councils will be able to apply online for permits to perform outdoors, writes Shahrigian.