Beginning April 1, indoor arenas with a capacity of 1,500 or more people will be allowed to operate at 10% capacity, outdoor arenas with a capacity of 2,500 or more, at 20% capacity, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced today. These capacity limits will be examined for a possible increase in May.
Smaller, regional sports venues that hold 1,500 people indoors or 2,500 people outdoors can also reopen, beginning April 1. Initial capacity will be limited to 10 percent indoors and 20 percent outdoors.
This is news moving in the right direction for the Cool Insuring Arena, said Jeffrey Mead, the general manager of the facility.
“It’s definitely a start,” he said. The arena holds 4,800, so the new rule puts the maximum at 480, almost 500 people he said.
A dance competition planned for this summer can operate at this level, but the Adirondack Thunder hockey team will need about 2,500 seats to operate. The season does not start until October, he said, so there is plenty of time for the capacity to change.
He said that people were calling to schedule events later this year and into next.
“We’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Chamber of Commerce and CVB, said she has been fielding phone calls all day. People have asked if the new rules would make their events large enough to be worthwhile.
“There's an opportunity to really think about having their event," she said of the people calling. As a hypothetical example she said for events like the Painted Pony Rodeo in Lake Luzerne, with the earlier capacity "the juice wasn't worth the squeeze." With the expansion, event organizers might change their minds.
With the right number of people, or if an organizer can move people through an event and rotate new people into an outdoor event, she said, "you could still make your budget goals.”
However, catering and food service at these events might restrict the number of visitors or the type of event, she said.
The situation at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center has not changed.
"The new announcement still doesn't apply to us yet--but we hope to have an announcement in the coming weeks," Kristy Ventre, the communications director of SPAC wrote in an email.
According to the press release, the New York State Department of Health will re-evaluate the testing and vaccination entry requirements in May, and if the public health situation continues to improve, the department may make changes.
In almost all cases, attendees must prove that they have had both vaccinations or they have had a negative COVID test recently. Masks and social distancing will still be required.