Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted Wednesday that his “preference” remains to move forward with plans for the return of the city’s in-person New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square — despite an explosion in cases caused by the Omicron variant.
“We’d like that event to move forward so long as we can do it safely and that will be a decision with the health care leaders,” de Blasio said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
De Blasio said the city is looking into additional safety measures that could be put in place in order to move forward with the annual celebration.
“So the preference is to keep it on. It’s a very important event to the city and to the world. And again, we don’t want to live in defeat or surrender to COVID,” de Blasio said.
He pointed out that COVID-19 vaccinations are already required for all attendees and that the crowds will be gathered outdoors.
“The doctors say outdoors is one of the biggest difference-makers in the two years of COVID. We have learned if you’re going to do something and you have the option, go outdoors. It makes a huge, huge difference,” he said.
“We’d like that event to move forward so long as we can do it safely,” de Blasio said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
De Blasio had previously said he would make a decision before Christmas on whether to cancel or change precautions for the celebration.
In a separate interview on WPIX Wednesday morning, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea again said the official call will come from City Hall — but that the NYPD is planning for all possibilities.
“There’s no decision yet,” the outgoing top cop said. “We have to plan for [if] things are going to go off as normal, and there’s going to be large, large crowds. And then we also have to plan for what if it’s scaled back, but there is absolutely no decision made yet.”
“We’re all dealing with the same thing here,” he added. “And, you know, we’re all watching these numbers. Obviously, it’s a lot of factors. It’s an outside event, but you got to keep people safe. So we’ll wait and see and I’m sure we’ll have a decision within days.”
The outgoing mayor said he would decide on Christmas whether to go forward with New Year’s celebrations. REUTERSMeanwhile, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged caution before making any calls about the Times Square gathering.
“I think we have to see where we are in just a few days’ time,” Walensky said on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
“What I will say is the safest way to be able to do so is to make sure that you attend when you’re vaccinated and boosted and if there are crowds, I would say wear a mask.”
NYPD is reportedly preparing for all possibilities. AFP via Getty ImagesOmicron has driven up case numbers in the Empire State, with more than 22,000 new infections recorded on Tuesday.
As of Monday, the COVID-19 positivity rate in the Big Apple, measured on a seven-day average, was 11%, up from less than 3 percent at the beginning of December, according to city data.
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods
