Will New Yorkers be allowed in the stands for 2021?

By John Aidala

March 12, 2021

Nearly two weeks ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced to the people of New York that sports arenas and concert venues now have the greenlight to reopen at ten percent capacity, with the adoption of social distancing guidelines.

Since last March, NYSDOH deemed it necessary to close events of large public gatherings such as professional sporting events and concerts. These events have an extremely high influence on the American population, as people proudly travel from all parts of the nation to support their favorite teams and artists.

As we approach the year benchmark since Covid-19 broke out in the United States, people in the Capital Region are beginning to advocate for the reopening of these sporting and musical events to the general public.

Colonie Central High School Alumni and candidate for Mayor of Albany, Greg Aidala shared his views regarding this topic.

“I do feel that we as a community are ready for public gatherings again. That said, it would be awhile before we could get back to very large gatherings, we’ll have to take it one event at a time,” Aidala said.

Aidala has also advised that the best way to handle this current situation is to trust our local public health officials.

“ I would follow the guidelines of the health care professionals at the county level as they are the ones who decide what precautions and steps are necessary to guarantee the safety of the community,” Aidala said.

New York State’s curve of new cases and seven day averages have gradually declined to its lowest numbers since the beginning of December.

Aidala is not the only person advocating for the reopening of sporting and musical events as some students believe now is the time to start moving forward.

Frank Prevratil, a junior at South Colonie also weighed in on the topic.

“We see states such as Florida and Texas who have never really had a proper shutdown during this pandemic, who have been actually encouraging events of public gatherings such as concerts, games and beaches. I think it is time that we begin to see this to some degree in New York State,” Prevratil said.

On March 2nd, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the reopening of the State of Texas 100 percent, in addition to lifting the mask mandate.

Although people across the country have demonstrated their discontent and unhappiness with the manner in which Florida and Texas have handled the pandemic, statistics do show that both states have lower positivity rates per capita, less hospitalizations and less deaths than the state New York, who has taken countless precautions in effect to stop the spread of this virus.

Since it’s arrival in the United States, Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 500 thousand Americans and 50,000 deaths alone in New York State over eleven and a half months. However with the recent news of states reopening, the question is will New York follow other states in reopening these sporting events and concerts to allow these diehard fans back in attendance for 2021?