On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of NY PopsUp, a 100-day-long program of live entertainment aimed at reviving the arts from the pandemic.
NY PopsUp will consist of more than 300 surprise, pop-up events across the state, including in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, free of charge to residents.
“NY PopsUp will be an important bridge to the broader reopening of our world-class performance venues and institutions,” Cuomo said. “New York has been a leader throughout this entire pandemic, and we will lead once again with bringing back the arts.”
Slated to run from Feb. 20 through Labor Day, the initiative will consist of many spontaneous performances, which are not meant to draw large crowds, but rather interact with New Yorkers in everyday life. They will use existing landscapes, such as transit stations, parks, subway platforms, museums, skate parks, street corners, fire escapes, parking lots, and storefronts as “flex venues,” and they will also be recorded and posted on social media.
There have yet to be any performances announced on Long Island; however, Long Island natives Amy Schumer and Alec Baldwin are both on the roster to perform at some point. The lineup includes all types of performers, including dancers, comedians, musicians, and poets.
The latest details about the performances will be posted on @NYPopsUp on Instagram and Twitter.
“This is exciting, it’s different, it’s creative,” Cuomo said, “but these are different times and we have to address them. PopsUp will start with these pop-up performances and then migrate to the reopening of venues for arts. Again, our rapid testing, our testing protocol: opening sites with testing is something where New York wants to lead the way.”
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