The mayor of New York, Democrat Eric Adams, announced Thursday that professional athletes and artists will be exempt from complying with the law that requires city workers to be vaccinated to practice their profession.
In an act held at the stadium of the New York Mets, the city's baseball team, the New York mayor acknowledged that it was a "difficult" decision and that he would understand those who do not share it, but stressed the importance it has to refloat the city's economy: "It is a giant step towards recovery".
In addition, Adams admitted that the old rule, in force until this Thursday, put New York teams at a clear competitive "disadvantage" and slowed down public attendance at sports stadiums.
In this way, the mayor has yielded to the pressures that demanded a change in the law so that Kyrie Irving, point guard for the Brooklyn Nets, can participate in the games that his team plays at home despite not being vaccinated.
Adams assured that the modification of the rule is immediate, so Irving will be able to debut this Sunday at the Barclays Center against the Charlotte Hornets.
Steadfast in his beliefs away from the track, the Nets point guard has been reluctant to get vaccinated on numerous occasions.
“It is my decision and I stand by it.
I know what the consequences were when I made the decision and I know what they are now,” he said last January.
Despite now backing down on the legislation, the mayor of New York urged the Nets star on Thursday to reconsider his situation: “Kyrie, you should get vaccinated, everyone should do it.
Thanks to vaccines, New York City has been able to gradually return to normal.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams during a press conference on March 14. ELIZABETH FRANTZ (REUTERS)
Irving hasn't played for his team in Brooklyn since June 7, 2021, when the Nets played Game 2 of the conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since then, all the games he has played have been away from the Barclays Center.
The decision of the mayor of New York has not taken long to raise blisters, since the rule from which Irving is exempted will remain in force for all people who are not elite athletes or artists.
Harry Nespoli, spokesman for the New York City Labor Committee, a group of unions that represents 350,000 members, has stated that the city should offer an alternative for workers laid off in recent months for not wanting to be vaccinated against covid.
"They don't deserve to be treated like second-class citizens," he said.
In February alone, New York fired more than 1,400 workers for failing to comply with vaccination regulations.
The turnaround also comes a few days before entering the decisive phase of the season: the NBA
playoffs
start on April 16.
Having Irving in every game is critical to the aspirations of the Nets, who have relied heavily on points from Kevin Durant in an up-and-down regular season.
With nine days of the regular season still to play, Steve Nash's men have not yet sealed their place for the playoffs, although it is most likely that they will do so via
play in
, the previous tournament played seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth in each conference.
In the Eastern Conference, where the Nets play, those places would correspond right now to Toronto, Brooklyn, Charlotte and Atlanta.
The @sixers move up to #2 in the East, while the @memgrizz stay there out West with win number 50!https://t.co/xhCSbzNSi7 pic.twitter.com/4edeIASvq3
– NBA (@NBA) March 24, 2022
Irving, who has only played twenty games since the start of the season, is averaging 28.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds this season.
In addition, since the All Star break, played at the end of February in Cleveland, the Nets point guard leads the scoring charts with an average of 38 points per game.
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