New York To Drop Indoor Mask Mandate This Week- Page 2

[OffOnBwayHi]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 12:29am

This is the right move and good for business! I live in NYC but am from the south. No masks mandates, no vaxx mandates, and folks ain’t dropping like flies there. It’s time to move on.

Once the vaxx mandates stop being renewed (should happen at the same time tbh) I have a hunch that we’ll see a significant upkeep in theater attendance. Watch. And once people see folks are ok, people will trust again, and I suspect pretty quickly.

This is unpopular, but instead of catering to those who are fearful, it’s time to listen to those who are not. I believe they are secretly the majority, but because this has become such a point of social contention, they play along. We’re going to experience a very very quick shift. I’m excited to see this finally happen! Way overdue imho.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 12:31am

It’s nice to think we’re on our way out with this thing but we’ve been stung before, when things seemed hopeful. So fingers crossed but crossed with a side of pessimism.

[bk]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 1:55am

Just think back three or four weeks ago and remember the panic and fear and all the people here (one in particular) who predicted cancelled shows would be the norm for some time to come and nothing would get better until summer. People here sure do have short memories. But the posts live on, unless those people remove them. The shows that held tough and held on know they made the right decision to do so. The shows that shut down in a panic, not so much. Mask mandates will be lifted in many states in the next two weeks. But the doom and gloom types predicted the opposite. Oh, well.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 2:07am

All that AND epidemiology! I guess it just comes with the know-it-all moniker.

[bear88]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 2:36am

I hope all of you optimistic people are right. But we’ve been here before, hoping the pandemic was winding down until another variant brought it roaring back. I am in the minority, I guess, but I am much less likely to travel to New York City without a vaccine and mask mandate unless this miserable saga really is over (and not just renamed).

That said, I cannot expect Broadway to cater to me, and the push to ‘open up’ is strong at this point. I understand the political and commercial calculations at work, as well as the history of pandemics, which features people getting so fed up with restrictions that they rebel against all of them regardless of the death toll.

It’s strange. I saw a musical last Thursday and plan to see two other shows in upcoming weeks. But my plans after that will depend on whether I’m wrong about my concerns about this sudden race to reopen. I really hope I’m wrong.
 

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 5:13am

A few points:

1. I really don't think this means much of anything for Broadway. Their policies were still in place at the beginning of the reopening, when there wasn't a statewide mask mandate. I don't know what will happen after 4/30, but I don't think this announcement will be a major catalyst, either way.

2. Getting up on a high horse about covid numbers, simply because someone said they're tired of all this, is really annoying, and really sh***y. No one asked for your opinion, and it's highly unlikely to get people to side with you.

3. Those who say there is a significant percentage of the tourist population that will not return until the mask requirements go bye-bye are correct.

4. Stop making predictions about when these requirements will cease. Seriously. Stop it.

5. This is a point I keep repeating, because it bears repeating: Covid is never going away. So if people are defining eradication or elimination as "this miserable saga being over," you're gonna be waiting a really long time for it to be "over." Endemic is the end game. I can see endemic coming in the second half (probably Q4) of this year, if we're lucky. But that transition will not be contingent upon what we do, or whether we wear masks (a false narrative in 2020, and an even falser one in 2022); it will be contingent upon whether we have another Delta/Omicron type of variant that wreaks havoc. There will always be more variants, but not all variants are going to wreak havoc (Lambda & Mu did not).

Bottom line: If you are still in a 2020 mindset, wake up and smell the coffee. Nearly all of the points above (with the exception of #3) relate to people still acting like it's 2020. It's not. Nearly everything we thought to be true in 2020 has been at least slightly tweaked/adjusted by now. Because that's how science works.

[WestEndGal]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 6:31am

I’ve fully supported mask requirements throughout the worst of Covid, and during the recent Omicron surge, and I’m fully vaxed and boosted, but I don’t support maintaining the mask requirements any longer than is required, and I think we’re getting to that point. Sadly I think that masking decisions are all too politicized now, and is too often used as a stick by the performatively virtuous people to beat those who dare to suggest that we can look to return to a level of normality. 
 

Omicron was a mild variant, and no more dangerous than the flu. Of course the risk is always higher for immune compromised people and I feel for them and the added precautions they have to take (and will probably continue to take going forward), but we have to accept that Covid is probably never going to go away, and live with that. Masks are starting to become symbols and nothing more, especially cloth masks, which even the CDC have said offer little protection to the spread of omicron.

I am sure Broadway will continue to be v cautious when it comes to masking requirements, but I don’t support this idea that masks remain in force going forward, just simply because “I don’t want to be near people coughing”.

 

 

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 06:31 AM

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 7:08am

I also think some of Broadway's decision-making will be made with Equity's input. And it's hard to think of a labor union (that doesn't involve teachers) that has been more cautious during the pandemic than Equity.

I guess you could put this in the "don't be surprised/irate if the masking requirements stay in place for longer than many of us would like" pile. Not a prediction, just raising it as a possibility.

[adotburr]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 7:22am

JSquared2 said: "Theater3232 said: "I don't care if someone next to me has a booster, but I do care if they're coughing/hacking/sneezing without a mask. Even before Covid, I got sick many times from thoughtless patrons who'd come to the theater sick. Masks should remain."

Then continue to wear your mask for the rest of your life, and you'll have no problems with the occasional "cougher" sitting next to you."

^^^ Not once have I got sick from a Broadway show and my immune system sucks. Trains, airplanes, and Disney World- different story. I get sick every time I fly but never from a Broadway show. 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 7:49am

ACL2006 said: "Broadway will keep the masks indefinitely.



Definitely not. It really is unbearable to wear a mask in the summer heat. Don't see it lasting through the summer."

I wore a mask on a 100° dock the past 2 summers. Theatres are cold. 

[Mark_E]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 7:58am

No mask mandate in England anymore and cases still going down. I'd say it's around 50/50 in theatres at the moment of people who are voluntarily wearing them and those who are not, but it is very much dependent on the show and venue. It would be nice to NOT have to wear them on my extended theatre trip next month but I don't see the mandate being relaxed early. Will be fine but under no illusion that the cloth masks I'll wear are just there for the visuals and won't do anything regarding catching covid or not.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 7:59am

adotburr said: "JSquared2 said: "Theater3232 said: "I don't care if someone next to me has a booster, but I do care if they're coughing/hacking/sneezing without a mask. Even before Covid, I got sick many times from thoughtless patrons who'd come to the theater sick. Masks should remain."

Then continue to wear your mask for the rest of your life, and you'll have no problems with the occasional "cougher" sitting next to you."

^^^ Not once have I got sick from a Broadway show and my immune system sucks. Trains, airplanes, and Disney World- different story. I get sick every time I fly but never from a Broadway show."

I'd always get sick after attending a Broadway show. People are gross. People cough and sneeze without covering their noses and mouths. 

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 8:06am

Let's say that Broadway does decide to drop the mask mandate for the summer. 

That doesn't mean that a person can't still choose to wear a mask if they choose. 

The science is in, if you wear a well fitting N95 or K95 mask it does wonders for cutting down your chances of getting infected by a lot of things, not just covid.  

Get boosted, wear a mask, but live your life. 

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 08:06 AM

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 8:13am

Look, as long as they require proof of vaccination at least till the end of this year, we can go to optional masks for Broadway. 

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 8:16am

Lavieboheme3090 said: "The science is in, if you wear a well fitting N95 or K95 mask it does wonders for cutting down your chances of getting infected by a lot of things, not just covid."

THIS!!! 

A lot of people still use the whole "your mask doesn't protect you, it protects others from you" thing as a means of pushing universal masking.

That is 2020 science, relating to lesser masks (like cloth/cotton masks), as opposed to respirator masks (N95, KN95, KF94 masks) in 2022.

One-way masking is protective, especially if you use a high-quality mask. 

CDC study:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/social-media/mm7106e1_MaskingEffectiveness_IMAGE_04Feb22_1200x675_1-medium.jpg?_=96372

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 08:16 AM

[adotburr]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 8:17am

Never mind

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 08:17 AM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:38am

What could possibly go wrong??

[adotburr]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:39am

She who may not be named announced the vaccine / mask requirement remains in place through April 30 but didn't say it would be extended. So something to watch out for. 

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 11:39 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:41am

League has confirmed masking policies will indeed stay in place through April 30, at least for now. 
 

I won’t be surprised if the rule extends to the end of June come early March. 

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:41am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Agreed - a simple piece of layered cotton is just simply unbearable to wear while sitting still for 2.5 hours. I just can’t stand it. How can we keep living like this!!!!"

Even when the mask mandate is eventually lifted, no one is ever going to stop you from wearing a mask to the theatre if you so desire, FYI.

[adotburr]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:47am

EDSOSLO858 said: "League has confirmed masking policies will indeed stay in place through April 30, at least for now.


I won’t be surprised if the rule extends to the end of June come early March."

I can't see them extending further. Making it optional, yes. But a mandate, no. People are getting sick of it. Plus, there's going to be numerous people who go to theatre with a mask not realizing that theatres want it worn. So unless the theatre is going to supply hundreds of masks each performance, the masks are going to cause more trouble for each theatre. The masks are gone by April 30. 

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:50am

Wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience at worst. There is no harm to wearing a mask. In a crowded indoor space it is better to be safe than sorry. If you think wearing a mask for 2 hours is “unbearable” I feel like you haven’t been wearing one enough over the past two years.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 12:09pm

I was always kind of an introverted extrovert -- the life of the party to a limited extent, very outgoing, but always more comfortable on the couch than in a club, so to speak. During the lockdown, I got to see what happens when people adjust to my lifestyle instead of my adjusting, however briefly, to theirs.

All that to say: I went into this crap trusting very few fellow humans. Now I don't trust a damn one of you, responsible or not, and you can hardly blame me. All this pandemic has proven to me is what little regard people have for human life the minute that a minor inconvenience gets on their nerves.

FWIW, not that anyone asked, I'm staying full-on masked up in public unless I'm eating or drinking for life. Hey, it works for Japan! And to those who say I'm paranoid, eat a Snickers, you get hostile when you're hungry. I don't care if I'm stigmatized as "that weirdo with the mask" for the rest of my days. I'll be "that weirdo with the mask," and alive.

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 12:09 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 12:13pm

To reiterate what has been said before, lifting mandates cuts both ways. Producers realize that changing too fast will result in lost sales in a demographic that is also very important, especially for some shows.

It is also well to remember that there is a lot of hurt hiding behind the shows that are currently running. Not in the aggregate because of the blockbusters but it is also well to remember that Broadway does not have revenue sharing; it's each tub on its own bottom.  

[OhHiii]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 12:23pm

We're approaching the phase of the pandemic where risk assessment and protocols will no longer be the responsibility of the government/municipalities and instead shift to the individual. This is how we approach the flu, and really any other contagious sickness. We assess our risk, make a decision on what we're comfortable doing and we go through our lives in that way.

The days of internet shaming and cancelling over masking/being in crowds is decidedly over and there will always be people who act like it's March 2020 and they'll eventually be preaching to a smaller and smaller choir. That's already starting to happen. This board is even a mini study of that. The ones who have always been doomsdayers are continuing to tell others they're wrong and irresponsible, but even those who were once super cautious are coming around to the enough is enough mindset.

When the FDA gives authorization for 6months and older, I think that will be a major tipping point. Parents will be responsible for protecting their kid with the tools that are available to them. "BUT WHAT ABOUT MY KID?!?!?!" won't be something parents can throw in the faces of others because they'll now have options where they didn't before. If they choose not to take advantage of said options, then they live with that level of risk. It's not up to everyone else to protect someone who has actively chosen not to protect themselves.