New York Governor Cuomo closes Broadway and bans gatherings of 500

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is closing Broadway with almost immediate effect and is banning all gatherings of 500 or more people across the state, as officials desperately try to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state where confirmed cases skyrocketed past 300.

Cuomo has said the lights will go out on New York’s shows, in a landmark move that sees the city close its biggest source of tourism for a month.

This comes just hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio said New Yorkers should brace for historic measures coming today and tomorrow but insisted he did not want Broadway to ‘go dark’ because of the deadly outbreak. 

Cuomo tweeted Thursday afternoon that all gatherings of 500 people or more will be banned across New York state from 5pm on Friday.  

‘We are taking new actions to reduce the density of people across the state,’ he tweeted. 

‘Starting Friday at 5pm, gatherings with 500 people or more will not be permitted in NYS. Additionally, for facilities with an occupancy of 500 or fewer, we are reducing the legal capacity by 50%.’

This ban includes Broadway theaters in Manhattan, New York City, which all seat upwards of 500 people and where the ban will start at 5pm Thursday.   

‘For Broadway theaters in Manhattan, these rules will go into effect at 5pm TODAY,’ Cuomo tweeted.

‘We have already spoken to the theaters about these new measures and they agreed.’

De Blasio had urged Broadway to stay open in an interview with CNN Thursday morning, after it emerged Wednesday that an usher who worked two theaters on the Great White Way had tested positive for coronavirus. 

The usher had worked performances of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ at the Booth Theatre and ‘SIX’ at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, meaning thousands of theater-goers may have been exposed to the deadly virus. 

De Blasio said the aim was to reach a ‘kind of balance’ and avoid a total closure.

‘I don’t want to see Broadway go dark if we can avoid it. I want to see if we strike some kind of balance,’ he said. 

‘If we cannot strike the balance of course we can go to closure that’s the decision we will make right away.’ 

Broadway producers held an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss plans to halt all productions with immediate effect, according to reports on Deadline.  

Reports said the potential shutdown will continue until at least April 12, dwarfing the theater district’s two-day closure after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the city. 

The closures means musical fans must wave goodbye to hit shows including Hamilton, Wicked and The Lion King for the near future.

A 2pm matinee performance of Moulin Rouge: The Musical was also axed in the eleventh hour today.

New York City also shut two schools in the Bronx Thursday morning after a parent said their child had become the first public school student to test positive for the deadly disease.  

De Blasio insisted he had no plans to shut the city’s school system but warned residents that they will see ‘new models that we’ve never used before’ rolled out in efforts to tackle the mounting crisis.  

‘We’re going to have to introduce more and more restrictions, which we’re certainly going to be doing in New York City today and tomorrow,’ the mayor told CNN. 

While he committed to ensuring the ‘normalcy’ of daily life goes on as much as possible, he said the city will face restrictions never before seen.

‘We are going to very quickly put out guidance about having to reduce crowds and audiences while still having a certain amount of activity,’ he said. 

The restrictions will ‘somehow balance the need to keep as much normalcy in society as possible while reducing the gatherings that are causing concern, giving people more space,’ he said.  

This comes as officials canceled New York City’s St Patrick’s Day parade for the first time in more than 250 years as nine new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours alone. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art then announced Thursday that it will close all three of its locations across the city from Friday ‘to support New York City’s effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.’  

The famous attraction’s Fifth Avenue flagship, the Met Breuer on Madison Avenue, and the Met Cloisters in northern Manhattan will close for an undisclosed duration and be deeply cleaned, the museum announced.  

De Blasio has stopped short of saying what exactly the restrictions will be and insisted he wants to avoid a complete subway shutdown and urged Broadway to keep its doors open.

‘Were not going to shut down a subway system,’ de Blasio said.

‘If you shut down a subway system then you’re shutting down an economy and you’re shutting down work and livelihood.’ 

Instead, he is encouraging employers to stagger commuters, and allow staff to work from home where possible.

Subway cars have become notably quieter over the last week as residents have already begun avoiding travel and companies are switching staff to telecommuting in order to avoid mass outbreaks. 

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced that it would double coronavirus-related cleanings of the city’s 472 subway stations, with staff using bleach and chemicals twice a day to wipe down all of the surfaces, turnstiles and railings at each station.   

De Blasio also went on to say Thursday morning that there is no plan to shut down schools on a mass scale. 

The aim is to avoid a ‘slippery slope’ of schools closing, he said, adding that a protocol was in place to shut a school temporarily if a case is identified and ‘then we want that school back up and running.’ 

His comments to CNN came as his office issued a statement Thursday morning confirming that two schools in the Bronx are being closed after a student tested positive for coronavirus.

The two co-located schools, the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology and South Bronx Preparatory: A College Board School, will be closed for an initial 24-hour period while close contacts of the individual are identified, quarantined and tested, and school buildings are deep cleaned.

‘We don’t make this decision lightly, and we know the disruption and anxiety this means for students, faculty and parents. We are taking every precaution to keep people safe, and we will keep everyone informed as we learn more through the day,’ the statement read. 

While fears continue to mount across the Big Apple, de Blasio was optimistic that New Yorkers are already prepared. 

‘People are really changing their habits,’ he said. 

Pictures show John F Kennedy airport in New York deserted of passengers on Thursday morning as people avoid traveling amid the outbreak – the morning after President Trump’s shock announcement that ‘all travel’ from Europe to the US would be stopped for 30 days.

New York state has fast become a hotbed for the virus, with the highest number of confirmed cases of all US states, second to only Washington. 

Most cases can be traced back to the New Rochelle lawyer who traveled from Westchester to Manhattan for work.

He was the second confirmed case in New York state, its first known instance of community spread and is one of few still hospitalized with the virus. 

A one-mile radius containment zone has now been established in the New Rochelle area – a suburb of 80,000 residents just north of New York City.  

The containment zone will remain in effect for two weeks through to March 25, though officials are stating it is not a lockdown and people not in quarantine will be able to leave their homes and go to work.