Professional Athletes and Performers Now Exempt – NBC New York

Recalcitrant Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday formally announced an executive order Exemption of professional athletes residing in New York City and private performers of the COVID vaccine while leaving it as is for the vast majority of employees, A very controversial move described as an economic necessity.

After announcing his “hard” decision in favor of New York’s economic recovery from the pandemic, Adams appeared to be preparing for the controversy that began a day ago, after news of his intention, which has since escalated.

“I am the mayor of the city and I am going to make some hard choices. People are not going to get along,” Adams said. I was not elected to follow them. I was elected not to be afraid but to be brave. I have to move forward with this city.”

“I don’t make this decision too loosely or randomly,” Adams said. “The city has to work. Some will boo us, some will cheer us up – this isn’t just baseball but this is the game of life and we have to be on the field to win.”

The Democrat insisted that his decision was to put New York City performers, in this case athletes, on a level playing field—a stark contrast to the views of many who claim Adams’ request does just the opposite, favoring millionaires over the general public who elected him. .

“The borough players did unfair damage to those who were coming to visit,” Adams said of the mandate that previously exempted non-residents of New York City only. “It’s unimaginable – treating performers differently because they lived and played for local teams. Unacceptable. It’s a self-imposed competitive disadvantage.”

Watch Mayor Eric Adams’ full ad in the player below.

The mayor insisted that adding New York City performers, including outright non-immunists like Nets star Kyrie Irving, who had to stay on the sidelines at home while playing away, to the exemption list is a equalizer, and an economic booster.

“By putting our local teams on a level playing field, we increase their chances of winning and that has a real impact on this city. It’s not just the fans in the stands, it’s the fans in the stores,” said the CitiField Democrat, noting that every playoff team Homeland is worth millions of influence. “These are real dollars and they play a major role.”

The modified exemption for private sector jurisdiction for the vaccine takes effect immediately. The change allows players like Irving to take the floor again and will allow any unprotected dead to take his land on Opening Day next week. The Yankees will be able to do the same after their missed season-opening streak.

We simply make sure that the rules apply equally to everyone who performs regardless of where they perform their craft.

New York Mayor Eric Adams on Vaccine State Exemption

Adams said the change only applies to a “small number” of people, because most of them have complied with the vaccine mandate. He didn’t say how many – and he sought to make it clear that he believed vaccination was the right course for everyone.

“We simply make sure that the rules apply equally to everyone who performs their trade regardless of where they perform their trade,” the mayor said.

Some asked what about the cleaners and guides serving the Barclays Center. What about the NYPD and the FDNY, which had among the lowest vaccination rates citywide before the state’s initial rollout, leading to protests and disease? And what about the average regular worker who is laid off without pay?

I was asked just two days ago, Adams said he has no plans to reassess the private sector mandate yetcalling the The workplace is an “important environment”. He said he’s been following the flag and that baseball and basketball “have to wait.”

“There’s still a two day waiting,” the mayor said, upon hearing about that Thursday. He also said he wanted to change the rule when he first took office, but his medical team advised against doing so, given the high number of omicron infections across the country.

Adams reiterated his “layered peeling” approach to COVID restrictions, referring to this latest announcement as another layer in the process. Much anger.

Adams Intentions News He immediately reacted violently It was also developed late Wednesday, with many calling it unfair that city workers, many of whom worked during the pandemic when there was no vaccine available, are being kept on hold without pay for refusing doses while millionaires get a pass.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to make a policy change related to COVID that Nets fans will appreciate, allowing athletes to be exempt from the city’s private sector vaccine mandate. Although some are not happy with the decision. Adam Harding and Bruce Beck report from NBC New York.

The city has suspended many public servants – about 1,500 of them – for refusing to be vaccinated, including public servants such as firefighters and sanitation workers. All employers are supposed to ban unvaccinated workers from co-working. Adams said Thursday that he has no plans now to rehire them.

Staten Island Council member Joe Borrelli called the decision “appalling.”

“We’re firing our employees, but we’re allowing luxury waivers,” he said. “What is the rationale for exempting basketball players from the city’s private sector vaccine mandate but not the guides or arena cleaners? There must be an urgent public interest to subvert the equal application of our laws. What is that?”

Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, also opposed.

“We’ve sued the city for months over its arbitrary and capricious mandate on a vaccine — and that’s exactly what we’re talking about. If the mandate isn’t necessary for famous people, then there’s no need for the cops protecting our city in the midst of a crime crisis,” Lynch said.

“While celebrities have been on lockdown, NYC police officers have been on the streets throughout the pandemic, working without adequate personal protective equipment and in many cases contracting and recovering from COVID themselves,” he added. “They don’t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens now.”

Adams, a well-known Mets fan, said he felt that the vaccine rule imposed by his predecessor was unfair when it came to athletes and performers because a loophole allowed visiting players and performers not working in New York to continue playing or performing even if they had not been vaccinated.

Creating special exemptions for athletes or performers would potentially lead to judicial challenges arguing that the city does not apply the law equally.

And due to large-scale protests And the sick calls On former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s submission of a vaccine mandate in late December, Adams’ expected move raises the question of whether such disruptions could happen again.

under previous rulenot immune Yankees And the mets Players are not allowed to play home games. Those rules have kept Irving, one of the most prominent vaccinators, due to his stardom and outspokenness, from playing games at Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden since returning to the team in December.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced major new expansions of the vaccine mandate, on Monday. Andrew Seif reports.

The NBA and the players’ union issued a joint statement supporting the mayor’s announcement, touting 97% vaccination and 75% booster rates among players and a pledge to continue their strong defense on the matter.

“With today’s announcement, we endorse the mayor’s intent that the old rules treating hometown players and visiting players differently no longer make sense, especially because unvaccinated NBA players will continue to be tested daily,” the statement said. “We salute the mayor for listening to the concerns of our New York teams, players, fans and communities and for leveling the playing field for local teams and their opponents.”

Fans are somewhat neutral about allowing a COVID vaccine-resistant Irving to finally make it onto the field after months of sitting outside.

Some say they are excited about what his return to the team might mean but still believe he should be vaccinated. Other fans say he shouldn’t have been kept at home.

Brandon Coty, sports writer for Star-Ledger and NJ.com, said the rule change is a huge win for Irving and others like him.

“Kerry Irving comes out on top: He can play without the vaccine. Whether you agree or not, he’s got what he wants,” Coty said. “It should be a huge relief to sports fans, not to worry about unvaccinated Yankees and Mets players.”

New York’s COVID-19 policies may allow unvaccinated players, such as Kyrie Irving, to play home games in New York.

The Mets were one of six MLB teams that did not reach the 85% vaccination threshold that allowed for relaxed protocols last season.

Mets executives said Thursday that 99.5% of its employees have now been vaccinated, but admitted that “players are somewhat out of scale.” They will not provide an exact number of players who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID. The team also acknowledged that it had terminated stadium workers due to mandate.

While the Yankees surpassed the early Mets benchmark, the team was known to have several unvaccinated key players. Recently, nine days ago, Yankees player Aaron Judge declined to say whether or not he had been vaccinated.

MLB players who are not immunized are currently not allowed to travel to Canada for a match Toronto Blue Jays The Rogers Center will not be paid for those games. So far they have also not been allowed to play in the Bronx.

The upcoming season includes 92 Yankee games in total at those venues.

The Yankees, who opened their home season against the Boston Red Sox on April 7, said before the official announcement that the team boss was “working with City Council and all other appropriate officials on this matter.”

Brooklyn residents react to Keri Irving’s decision not to vaccinate. John Chandler reports.