New York’s Major Cultural Institutions Close in Response to Coronavirus

I'd written this in the NY Today reader comments, but it seems to apply to all decisions described here, too! How much loss of life will we tolerate with how much economic loss feels like it may actually be spoken out loud, not just behind the scenes. This was interesting to read on the front page of the whole print edition, not just front page of arts, in Michael Paulson's article from the brilliant but often cynical Patti LuPone. “I’m shocked that they took this tack, but also grateful they did, just to keep us healthy.” Of all people to give us a bright takeaway about humanity when we can use it. (Well, at least it's nice to daydream that it might not only be money.) Tune of “The Little Things You Do Together” from “Company” It’s the things we like to do together. Do together, Do together. That promotes incubationship. It’s hundreds in one place together Crowded with no space together Nearly face to face together That bring viruses joy. The money types love to worry But not a thought about wealth. It’s sweet to feel when they worry, They’re just concerned for our health. Each night or matinée together. Crowds that yell hooray together. Droplets that we spray together. That bring viruses joy. (Uh huh. Air-kiss. Mm, hmm.)

I recommend watching Channel 13’s fabulous show “ Arts in the City.” You may not be able to attend an opening or premiere of a great performance but you will stay informed of all the great art in the world. The hosts are Philippe de Montebello and Paula Zahn. How can you miss? https://www.nyc-arts.org/

9/11 Memorial abNd Museum is closed.

Can anyone explain why Disney World with huge number of visitors, no doubt with many foreigners from pre border closing areas, is allowed to stay open?

Playing a concert tonight in Lincoln Center. It feels like a surreal choice for the concert to go on while most of the rest of our work for the month is cancelled. Walking around on broadway between the sound check and the show, the line at the 72nd Trader Joe’s is around the block, and it doesn’t seem like anyone would be in the mood to sit through a show. The demographic of our audience should not come hear us. The musicians don’t feel like they have the power to speak their minds. We’re also worried about the rest of the season financially. So we’re playing. I’m sure it’s the last one for a while.

I suspect this may be a not so temporary closing. Unfortunately we’re probably at the tip of the virus iceberg.

So tragic that epic failures of testing and containment at the beginning of this thing have caused worst-case measures that negatively impact millions.

Closing the Met in response to the Coronavirus doesn’t mean I can’t visit the museum; their great website is available free of charge! I can do a virtual tour of their current exhibits like “In Pursuit of Fashion; “Gerhard Richter Painting After All”; & “Sahel: Art & Empires on the Shores of the Sahara.” I can listen to the artist Wangechi Mutu describe her aesthetics & her exhibit “The New Ones, will free us.” I can watch a video about the construction of a new tutu for the Met's cast of Degas's famous sculpture “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer.” And finally I can become an art critic, by putting all these exhibits and artists in a historical context after consulting the “Timeline of Art History.”

Who's afraid of Virginia Wolfe? I am not at all convinced that so many closings are necessary-- rather I fear this may just prolong the duration of the virus. I would prefer to get it during the next two weeks... than to wait til July-- fever in JuLy -- UGH... Unlike most people I have actually spent 10 days in bed with the flu … chilling when my temp. went up and drinking tons of chicken soup.. Hydrate, hydrate. I was 40 years younger then... Now I have had both pneumonia vaccines, just got the latest flu shot yesterday, will try to have enough of my essential meds... and have a freezer stuffed with all kinds of tasty stuff. Tomato soup and tuna come today.. Trying not to get too tired.. and to not touch my face-- itchy eyes from one med I use -- and wear gloves on the subway.. when touching things.. So far as the stock market I sold.... today and then the market went down more. OH well.

Still waiting for Broadway to take the responsible action and shut down. Until then, their attitude is that “the show must go on”.

Here in Washington, at 5pm the Library of Congress will close until at least April 1.

MoMA may want to follow suit....

Oh no! Of course it’s necessary but no parade, no Met. No carousing in bars, drinking green beer, kissing all the Irish.

At this point what officials are trying to do is limit the spread. It could work to keep down the numbers or it may not work, but we have to try. We cannot go about business as usual.

As the owner of a tour company who brings many young people and adults to your city to experience the Broadway Theatre, the exquisite museums and the magnificence of the cultural and historical sights, this is unbelievably sad and depressing. So many young people have fallen in love with NY and return to the city as college students or visitors and stay to be part of your wonderful city of New York. Now I must cancel the April trips and disappoint so many because of Washington's lack of leadership in combating the virus which is bringing the country to a standstill.

The Governor of Utah has just made the recommendation that gatherings of 100 people should be postponed or cancelled throughout the state. Sadly we will miss some symphony and opera performances, but support the decision. We don't yet know of cases of community spread, but that could be because only 254 people have been tested so far here, due to the lack of testing resources.

For me - I cancelled my plans last weekend to travel to my beloved NYC. So disheartened, while thinking about a trip that got me through a Wisconsin winter - going to NYC in March. The time of year to do all favorite things. But to go - would not be right to my family, my friends, my coworkers, my patients if I got sick. I could never forgive myself for contaminating them. Ever. But alas, many things planned on are now closing - for protection of others, including seniors like me. It’s interesting, this coronavirus will make history. And those making right decisions vs. fools who had no clue what they were doing will be our heroes of tomorrow. Thank you leadership for doing the right thing. I ❤️ NY!

The CDC has stated that people over 60, who also happen to be among the biggest financial donors to the arts, are much more susceptible to the coronavirus and are dying or becoming seriously ill much more frequently than those under 60. It has dawned on me that coronavirus may be used as an excuse to cancel US boomers, you know, all those old people who consume an inordinate amount of funds for Medicare, Social Security and a wide range of social services. Lest you think I am an alarmist, I will point out that top doctors in Italy, which has the highest coronavirus case-load outside of China, have recommended that rather than admit patients on a first-come-first-served basis, hospitals should give ICU and bed priority to those with the highest likelihood of survival—that is, people under 60. Indeed, this under-60 guideline should apply to all patients needing intensive care treatment and not just those suffering from coronavrius, according to the Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SAARI). Yes, this recommendation is being made in Italy now, but in a couple of weeks, when US—and New York—hospitals and ICUs start to overflow, the policy will be considered in the US. Actors, politicians and elites over age 60 have the money and power to get preferred treatment for coronavirus; the fate of the rest of us oldsters is up to the vagaries of the virus. Why hasn’t AARP picked up on this?

In San Francisco, the SF Ballet and SF Symphony were closed by the mayor a week ago. In Berkeley, Cal Performances cancelled its performances for the month of March. Art venues that normally survive on a shoe string are hurting everywhere. I'm glad that the NYT is writing about the arts. Cancellations of basketball games make headlines, but not the arts. We need arts more in times like this. They give humans humanity. Instead of talking about the "big money" sports institutions are losing, we should talk about how to save the arts and cultural institutions facing hardships.

The mayor is recklessly endangering the lives of thousands of public school teachers and staff by allowing schools to remain open during a pandemic. Given the dire shortage of testing kits, the number of infected is probably in the hundreds in NYC alone. Waiting for the mayor to make that difficult but life-saving decisions.

I hope they are giving their employees (guards, cleaners, etc.) paid time off.

There are no better cleaners than those who restore ancient bronze statues. Artists and restoration specialists have a lot to offer medical cleanliness. Hospitals could learn from restoration specialists. Regardless of tourism, the MET will be open with the buzz of PhD bound starving artists. They’ll be cleaning old statues and papyri from Egyptian times while Rome burns. I’m sorry I won’t be able to visit.

This is insanity. The United States is just giving in to a threat that has not occurred and may not be as bad as anticipated, all the while trashing the economy as a result. No, I'm not a Trump supporter - I despise him and realize some of this is happening because of a lack of Washington leadership. But individuals can assess their own risk and attend a basketball game based on that assessment. Operate with as a few employees as possible but allow people to choose. Has anyone stopped her or his life because thousands of people have died from the flu this season? Of course not, yet some estimates of the rate of contamination of others is not much lower with the flu than with the coronavirus. Everyone needs to take a deep breath.

Thank you to the Met for taking public safety seriously. Meanwhile, parades are postponed or cancelled, the U.S. Capitol is closed to visitors, sports seasons are suspended, and colleges are moving to remote learning models for the rest of the semester. But what about our kids' schools? Why is public safety being decided on a district-by-district basis during a pandemic? I live one town over from New Rochelle, and despite at least one positive test result in our school's community, our district's schools remain open. How many parents and grandparents will have to die as a result of the built-in limitations of our healthcare system and our political leadership's inaction? Sure, all our kids need education and some of them need free lunches, as well - but how exactly how are the deaths of older generations going to help the kids we leave behind? Who will raise my kids after I die of coronavirus pneumonia while lying on a gurney in a hospital lobby? The president? The governor? The school superintendent?

Well, it had to happen. As a member of the Met, I've been in the habit of either going to see specific shows or simply dropping in even for 30-40 minutes whenever I am in the neighborhood. But for two weeks now, I have been holing up in Brooklyn, eschewing subway rides (yes, I am fortunate to be able to do so) or, saying to myself that, anyway, spring is here, visiting public gardens and parks instead of the Met. But closings and polite warnings ("please do not come for tours if you live in a hotspot") are now becoming the rule. And who can blame them? I trust that this, too, shall pass.

I was expecting this to happen, and it's disappointing... but it's the right thing to do. Hoping to visit once we're back in the clear.

Congratulations to the MET for doing the right thing.

Well, this is a sad day!. Not only is our beloved museum closed but there will be no St. Patrick's Day parade in Manhattan on March 17th for the first time in 257 years. These are dark days indeed!