With the industry just starting to claw its way back to life ahead of the holiday season, omicron hit.
In the last few weeks, the percentage of positive Covid cases jumped from 1% to above 11% as of Dec. 21, according to city data. The hospitalization rate doubled in the last two weeks. Multiday quarantines after positive tests or exposure also means many people can’t go to work or travel.
“How many times is this going to happen?” said Patrick McCann, 31, an actor who also works as a bartender at Broadway theaters. “How are other variants after omicron going to affect us? What are we going to keep doing?”
Not to mention the artists and venues who feel responsible for hosting events that could lead to more Covid cases.
After learning nearly half the tickets bought for a recent LCD Soundsystem concert were by tourists, the Brooklyn rock band said on Dec. 17 it would keep playing even after some concert goers said they got Covid at earlier performances.
Then, two days later, the band changed course. “We were incredibly thankful for everyone who wanted to make it work,” it wrote on Twitter, announcing the cancellation of three remaining shows. “But it will have to wait, again, until we find out what this new wave means to us all.”
Since tourism-related sales taxes made up 21% of the city’s pre-pandemic sales tax base, budget expectations rely, in part, on the return of visitors, the comptroller’s report said. International tourists, in particular, account for half of spending in a given year, said Christopher Heywood, a NYC & Company spokesperson.
“The city is still open for business and people are still here,” said Heywood, who expects 34.6 million visitors this year, down from 66.6 million in 2019.
Bright Lights, Big City
Indeed, in the last week many tourists continued to delight in the city’s bright Christmas lights, decorated storefronts and holiday shows.
“I had family that were saying, ‘just don’t go, don’t go, cause it’s so bad over there,’” said Meghan Chico, a nursing assistant from Seattle who flew to New York with her boyfriend to celebrate his completion of U.S. army basic training.
His parents paid for the trip, so “I was like, ‘OK I’ll just go and double mask and sanitize every five minutes,’” she said.
The 25-year-olds strolled across the Brooklyn Bridge, roamed around Times Square and saw a Knicks game—but the “Aladdin” show they planned to see got canceled.
Chico was glad they stuck with the trip and said she was encouraged by venues checking vaccinations.
“The city’s always an exciting place to be,” she said.
—With assistance from Francesca Maglione.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.