De Blasio Cancels All June Events Including NYC Pride

ABC New York reports:

New York City has canceled all non-essential events in June, including the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Pride March and the Salute to Israel Parade, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday.

“It’s not a happy announcement, but it’s one we have to make. And look, a lot of these events will be postponed,” he said. “I think the fact that they’re postponing now is actually going to help us get to that point later in the year where things can open up and be better.”

The mayor said these events where thousands and thousands of people gather in one place goes against everything the city has been doing to try to get back to normal.

New York City Pride reacts:



Heritage of Pride, in partnership with the City of New York,announced today that the NYC Pride 2020 roster of events, originally scheduled for June 14-28, will not take place as planned. Due to the collective concern for the overall safety of the community, the organization has worked closely with the City to arrive at this decision.

“New York City is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. We’ve come a long way since the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March 50 years ago, which is a testament tothe bravery and resiliency of LGBTIA+ New Yorkers in the struggle for equality,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“While this pandemic prevents us from coming together to march, it will in no waystop us from celebrating the indelible contributions that the LGBTIA+ community has made to New York City or from recommitting ourselves to the fight for equal rights.”

“As the days have passed, it has become more and more clear that even with a decline in the spread ofCOVID-19, large-scale events such as ours are unlikely to happen in the near future,” said MaryanneRoberto Fine, NYC Pride Co-Chair. “We understand that we need to reimagine NYC Pride events – and and have already begun to do just that.”