Spread love, it’s the Brookyn way
City to give away 9,000 Nets tickets to municipal employees in December
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Thousands of city employees
will be eligible to watch
Brooklyn’s ball team play this
month, as municipal workers
will be eligible for free tickets
to watch the Nets play at Barclays
Center.
The city is honoring its
workforce by distributing
9,000 tickets to interested employees
for three upcoming
home games at the Barclays
Center: the Dec. 14 game
against the Toronto Raptors,
the Dec. 18 game against the
Orlando Magic, and the Dec.
21 game against the Washington
Wizards.
“City employees serve New
Yorkers every day, building a
recovery for all and ensuring
New York City remains the
fairest and safest big city in
the world,” Mayor Bill de Blasio
said in a statement. “The
City Employee Appreciation
game nights are a slam dunk
and I’m grateful to the Brooklyn
Nets for their partnership
to honor our City workers.”
Any city employee is eligible
for tickets, with one caveat:
they must be able to show
proof of at least one COVID-19
vaccine dose, in keeping with
the city’s mandate for indoor
entertainment venues like
the Barclays Center. Eligible
employees will receive an
email with a link to express
which games they’d want to
go to.
“We are incredibly thankful
to the city employees of
New York who have worked
tirelessly throughout the
pandemic – and continue to
do so – and we are proud to
partner with Mayor de Blasio’s
offi ce to host this group
at Barclays Center,” said Nets
CEO John Abbamondi. “This
initiative is part of our continued
COURIER LIFE, D 10 ECEMBER 10-16, 2021
efforts to be the team
for hardworking New Yorkers
by ensuring that our games
are accessible to everyone.
Additionally, during a time
when bringing large groups
together safely in-person can
be challenging, Barclays Center
events can serve as a way
for people to gather and enjoy
the holidays or celebrate
other special moments in a
vaccinated environment.”
The Nets also honored essential
workers last year, including
frontline city employees,
health care workers, and
food service workers. The
Nets were also an early large
organization to embrace a
vaccine mandate in the city.
The team is sitting on a
15-6 record, the best in the
eastern conference, thanks
to the contributions of superstars
Kevin Durant and
James Harden. Their stellar
performance comes even
amidst the continuing dearth
of Kyrie Irving, who was sidelined
at the beginning of the
season for refusing to get vaccinated.
Irving is “nowhere
closer to getting the vaccine”
as of Thursday, according to
NBA insider extraordinaire
Shams Charania, and the
team is now considering trading
the seven-time all-star.
Not everyone at the Barclays
Center on City Employee
Appreciation night
will be vaxxed, however. The
unvaxxed Wizards star Bradley
Beal will take the court
against the Nets at Barclays
on Dec. 21, as the city’s mandate
for indoor entertainment
excludes out-of-town
performers only briefl y traveling
through the city.
Brooklyn Nets fans during the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center.
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
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