New York City mayor Eric Adams officially issued an exemption to the city’s vaccine mandate Thursday, with that exemption applying to all NYC-based athletes and performers. (Visiting athletes and performers had already been exempted.) This will allow Brooklyn Nets star point guard Kyrie Irving to return to action in home games, and will let unvaccinated New York Yankees and New York Mets players play in home games this season.
While New York sports fans are certainly rejoicing following Adams’ decision, there are certainly some New York City residents that feel that athletes are receiving special treatment.
According to Michelle Price of The Associated Press, several public employees unions’ have blasted Adams for exempting athletes while other unvaccinated workers were fired. Adams (seen above at a Jan. 17 Knicks’ game) dismissed the criticism, saying “exemptions for athletes and performers were important to the city’s economic recovery.” But several unions found this unjustified.
Harry Nespoli, president of the Municipal Labor Committee (an umbrella group of unions that represent a large number of city workers), said “There can’t be one system for the elite and another for the essential workers of our city.” And Pat Lynch, the president of the city’s largest police union, said “The city’s officers don’t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens.”
It’s a difficult decision for Adams, who certainly received backlash in the sports world for not allowing players like Irving to play in home games despite being allowed in the arena as a spectator.
It remains to be seen how Adams will go about dealing with this issue going forward. But it certainly seems like he is currently favoring athletes over those who are doing essential work for the city.
[AP; photo from Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports]
