NEW YORK — In one of his most controversial decisions to date, Mayor Eric Adams rolled back the COVID-19 mandate that prohibits unvaccinated professional athletes from playing home games in New York City — prompting some critics to point to the likelihood of more legal challenges and others to decry the move as fundamentally unfair.
Under Adams’ new policy, athletes and entertainers who are unvaccinated — like Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving — will be exempt from the ban. The mayor’s decision comes just two weeks before the baseball season begins and as the NBA is poised to roll into the playoffs.
Adams justified the move during a news conference at Citi Field, saying the mandate, as it was first implemented, was unfair to local athletes and performers because it exempted their out-of-town counterparts from the restriction, but not them.
“I must move this city forward,” the mayor said. ”Today, the decision we’re making, we’re not making it loosely or haphazardly. We’re not doing it because there are pressures to do it. We’re doing it because the city has to function.”
The mandate, which was put into place during the final days of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, required that all private employers require their employees to be vaccinated if they’re reporting to work in person. It did not require athletes or performers from out-of-town to get the shot, though.
Proponents of the mandate argue that with Adams’ new change, it will be difficult to defend in court. Other critics say it is simply unfair, especially in light of a separate city mandate requiring all public employees to be vaccinated, or risk losing their jobs.
Under that rule, more than 1,400 municipal employees were fired for not complying.
“When New York City shut down, many workers were mandated to come in every day without vaccines to keep the city running. These workers often got sick, and when they got better, came right back to work. There should be a reentry program for workers to get their jobs back,” said Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association. “There can’t be one system for the elite and another for the essential workers of our city.”
Nespoli added that he and other labor leaders “stand ready to work out the details” with Adams.
PBA President Patrick Lynch, who was been generally supportive of Adams so far, also made the case that the alteration to the mandate is unfair.
“We have been suing the city for months over its arbitrary and capricious vaccine mandate — this is exactly what we are talking about. If the mandate isn’t necessary for famous people, then it’s not necessary for the cops who are protecting our city in the middle of a crime crisis,” Lynch said. “While celebrities were in lockdown, New York City police officers were on the street throughout the pandemic, working without adequate PPE and in many cases contracting and recovering from COVID themselves. They don’t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens now.”
Dr. Jay Varma, one of de Blasio’s top public health advisors, predicted Adams’ new policy would lead to credible legal challenges to the mandate and sends the wrong message to people on the fence about getting vaccinated.
“#VaccinesWork … unless you’re rich and powerful, in which case, #LobbyingWorks,” he tweeted. “This mandate has always been about NYC employers. It had legal standing because applied to all. The #KyrieCarveOut opens City up to entire scheme being voided by courts as “arbitrary and capricious.”
But Varma also suggested that Adams’ reversal might not put the mandate for public sector employees in jeopardy of being overturned in court.
“#KyrieCarveOut & #YankeeException means others will ask too,” he wrote in another tweet. “That said, first responders, healthcare, & teachers are different: 1/Frequent intense direct contact w/public 2/Absences & disability due to COVID harm City services 3/Health insurance paid for by taxpayers.”
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said Adams’ reversal is the wrong message to send, but also blamed pro athletes who won’t get vaccinated for squandering a public platform they could have used to encourage people to get their shots.
