Just when you thought your plate was already full with COVID and its multiple variants, Mother Nature came along over the weekend and dished out a heaping helping of Hurricane Henri to residents of the US east coast.
Current Events
On Saturday and Sunday, Hurricane Henri barreled its way up the eastern seaboard with 70+ MPH winds, taking direct aim at New York’s Long Island and New England’s Martha’s Vineyard. By Sunday morning, massive flooding, downed trees, and widespread power outages were predicted as residents were warned to hunker down and stay safe. By Sunday evening, Henri was downgraded to a tropical storm as it made landfall along the Connecticut and Massachusetts border.
One of the early victims of Hurricane Henri was New York City and its mayor, Bill DeBlasio.
Assuming that COVID would have been much more under control by now, DeBlasio announced a “victory” concert on the Great Lawn of New York’s iconic Central Park as sort of a celebration of the pending reopening of Broadway shows and other Big Apple entertainment following an 18-month long pandemic shutdown.
The “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” was broadcast live on CNN and required all attendees to show proof of vaccination status prior to being allowed entry into the park. Some attendees got vaccinated just to attend the concert and the chance to see live performances from Jennifer Hudson, Earth Wind & Fire, Bruce Springsteen, and others.
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“We were once the epicenter of this virus, and now we’ve moved to being the epicenter of the recovery. We gather for a common purpose: to say, ‘Welcome back, New York City!’” – Gayle King, concert host
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However, fate and Mother Nature got together and decided it was much too soon and presumptuous to celebrate a victory over COVID and doused concert-goers with a teaser from Hurricane Henri — complete with buckets of rain and dangerous lightning strikes right in the middle of a medley of hits from Barry Manilow.
“Please seek shelter for your safety,” an announcer said interrupting the singer’s set and warning concert attendees to leave the park immediately. However, so as not to be outdone, DeBlasio raced the stage and told everyone to stay near the park in hopes that the concert could resume. It didn’t.
The crowds were sent home and the comeback concert was brought to an abrupt halt.
With breakthrough COVID cases on the rise and the Delta Variant sending even fully vaccinated Americans to the ICU, the notion of a recovery celebration in this place and time was odd at best. Still, DeBlasio thought it was a good idea to ignore any risk of his concert being a superspreader event and to move forward full speed ahead.
It was the right idea — at the absolute wrong time!
So much for proceeding with an outdoor concert on the weekend of a major national weather disaster. And, so much for hosting a “Mission Accomplished” performance long before the mission was actually accomplished.
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[It was the right idea — at the absolute wrong time!
So much for proceeding with an outdoor concert on the weekend of a major national weather disaster. And, so much for hosting a “Mission Accomplished” performance long before the mission was actually accomplished. ] – DJ
DJ, my good man you took ALL these worlds right out of my mouth. And thank you for doing this story!
As watched the run-up to this PREDITCABLE fiasco, beginning LAST FRIDAY, I kept checking The Weather Channel as they forecasted the probable track of Henri. Then I would turn to CNN (and MSNBC) and see the clock ticking down the hours, minutes and seconds to the start of the “NYC Homecoming Concert.” I said to myself…….
….and WE wonder how Trump got into the White House!?!