12 NOVEMBER 25, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The surest sign yet of New York’s
recovery from COVID-19 is now
scheduled to take place on Dec.
31, when Times Square again hosts a
raucous New Year’s Eve celebration for
hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.
It’s a return to the good old prepandemic
days, even as the fight
against this deadly virus continues.
Vaccinations and other measures have
brought the health crisis under control
and enabled the city to begin resuming
the kind of big events for which we’re
famous.
This new year’s party will not be
thrown without precautions taken to
prevent the spread of COVID-19, Mayor
Bill de Blasio said. Every reveler will
need to provide proof of full vaccination;
anyone with a medical disability
that precludes them from being vaccinated
must provide proof of a negative
COVID-19 test taken 72 hours or less
before the event.
Ironically, the announcement comes
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Out with
a bang
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Revelers watch the performance from their social distanced pods in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31,
2020. Gary Hershorn/Pool via REUTERS
a day aft er Health Commissioner Dr.
Dave Chokshi recommended that
every New Yorker already vaccinated
against COVID-19 six months ago or
longer should also get a booster shot if
they haven’t already done so.
More than 600,000 vaccinated New
Yorkers have made that choice, and it
might be particularly wise for any individual
who got their vaccines more
than six months ago and wants to party
in Times Square to follow Chokshi’s advice
and get a booster before the big day.
Without a doubt, Times Square’s
New Year’s Eve party will be the biggest
test yet of the city’s vaccination
program. There’s tremendous hope
and confi dence that it will not be a
super-spreader event because of the
vaccination requirements, and because
the festivities are held outside.
Still, with hundreds of thousands of
people packed into the “Crossroads of
the World” for hours on end, the risk
remains. But the risk itself shouldn’t
stop any vaccinated individual who
wants to party down in Times Square
from doing so this New Year’s Eve.
New Year’s is a time for refl ection
and celebration. Considering how far
New York has come from this point last
year to now, we deserve a moment to
celebrate indeed.
We deserve to end this year of accomplishment
with a bang, rather than
the socially distanced whimper heard
at the end of 2020.
But let’s remember to celebrate
safely.
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