New York's reopening from COVID-19 restrictions continues to expand: Museums and zoos will be able to increase their visitor capacity to 50%, and movie theaters can go to 33%, starting on April 26th, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday.
Explaining that he feels comfortable about the current seven-day positivity rates—calling them "stable and going down"—Cuomo said, "We can open up more economic activity."
According to NY State, the seven-day positivity for New York City is 3.07%; for the whole state, the rate is 2.85%, which the governor said is the lowest since November 13th. (Related: Here's why NY State and NYC report different positivity rates.)
Additionally, Cuomo office is talking to operators of indoor sports venues, like Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden, to increase capacity from 10% to 25%—"by the playoffs." (The Nets are currently 2nd in the Eastern Conference standings; the Knicks are 6th.)
Museums and zoos had been at 25% capacity since last August, while movie theaters were only allowed to reopen, at 25%, on March 5th of this year.
The movie industry in particular has been in a holding pattern since the start of the pandemic, postponing film releases, pivoting to streaming platforms, and rolling out films in theaters just to see what happens (divergent case studies from Warner Bros: Tenet and Godzilla Vs. Kong). Some of the anticipated film releases in upcoming months include A Quiet Place 2; Cruella (theaters and streaming); In The Heights (theaters and streaming); F9; Zola; Black Widow (theaters and streaming); and Space Jam: A New Legacy (theaters and streaming).
In The Heights will be the opening night film of the Tribeca Film Festival, with a June 9th premiere at the United Palace theater in Washington Heights; it will screen on the same at outdoor screenings in other boroughs.
No coronavirus outbreaks have yet been linked to movie theaters.
