[Update Below] On Monday afternoon, New York passed a pandemic milestone with 70% of adults having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to make an announcement this afternoon formally lifting the vast majority of New York's coronavirus restrictions and safety measures. But that's not all, because Cuomo wants to reward New Yorkers for reaching this point after such a tough year. And there's nothing NYers love more than...surprise fireworks?
A spokesperson for Cuomo's office did not respond to inquiries about the announcement, but Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that the city has been in contact with the state about the festivities tonight.
"We're waiting for more information on that," de Blasio said during his morning press conference. "We obviously want to make sure the NYPD and everyone else relevant is coordinated with this effort. We haven't gotten the final details but expect to shortly, then we'll get to work making sure it's safe for everyone."
Although this announcement was supposed to be a surprise, some local municipalities around the state have already started posting info about them. The Village of Nyack, for example, has posted that a fireworks show will be held in Memorial Park at 9 p.m. as part of "the celebration marking the end of COVID restrictions."
Cuomo has a news presser scheduled for 12:15 p.m. this afternoon at One World Trade Center. We'll update this story once he reveals more info about the fireworks.
But it is somewhat unexpected that Cuomo would spring fireworks on unsuspecting New Yorkers considering the proliferation of illegal fireworks last summer led to lots of complaints...including from the governor himself. “You can be in New York City, it sounds like the Wild West at night. Even in Albany, I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know what has happened," Cuomo said last summer, adding that he was so startled at night at times that he jumped out of his bed.
While demand seems to have eased off this summer compared to last year's boom, there's still been a lot of illegal fireworks complaints in the city.
On the more legal side of things, de Blasio announced last week that the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks® Spectacular will be back this year with a full-scale show.
As for the safety changes, Cuomo is expected to announce that all capacity restrictions, social distancing, cleaning and disinfection requirements, health screenings, and contact tracing requirements will now be lifted throughout the state for commercial settings. These include retail, food services, offices, gyms and fitness centers, amusement and family entertainment, hair salons, barbershops and personal care services. For more information about the changes, check here.
[Update, 12:45 p.m.] During his midday press conference, Cuomo celebrated the lifting of restrictions by declaring that New York could "now return to life as we know it." After giving out a series of plaques to various healthcare and business leaders, he gave the details about tonight's celebrations.
"To celebrate and honor, we're going to light all the state assets—Empire State Building in blue and gold—and we're going to have fireworks all across the state of New York to celebrate and honor the essential workers," Cuomo said. "It's our way of saying thank you all across the state to the essential workers, to celebrate our reopening, our reimagining, and to remind all New Yorkers, join the success. You want to honor essential workers, I'll tell you how: you get vaccinated so you don't need essential workers again."
The fireworks are due to start at 9:15 p.m. tonight—as you can see in the graphic below, they're happening at ten sites all across the state, including New York Harbor in the city and Jones Beach on Long Island.
Among the 13 buildings being lit up in blue and gold tonight in honor of the milestone include One World Trade Center, Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, Grand Central Terminal, East End Gateway at Penn Station, and the Kosciuszko Bridge
Where the celebratory fireworks are happening on June 15th, 2021
