Fireworks In HV, Across NY As 70% Vaccination Goal Reached

NYACK, NY — Fireworks displays will be held at 10 sites across New York, including in Nyack, and landmarks across the state including the FDR Mid-Hudson and Mario Cuomo bridges will be lit blue and gold Tuesday night to celebrate a coronavirus milestone.

70 percent of New York adults have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"This is a momentous day and we deserve it. It has been a long, long road," a jubilant Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news briefing at One World Trade Center in New York City. "Remember June 15. It is the day New York rose again. The state mandates that have proven right and brought us through this pandemic are relaxed, as of today, immediately."

New York will be all lit up from NYC to Niagara Falls in honor of reaching the COVID milestone:

• Empire State Building
• One World Trade Center
• Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge
• Kosciuszko Bridge
• The H. Carl McCall SUNY Building
• State Education Building
• Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
• State Fairgrounds - Main Gate and Expo Center
• Niagara Falls
• The "Franklin D. Roosevelt" Mid-Hudson Bridge
• Grand Central Terminal - Pershing Square Viaduct
• Albany International Airport Gateway
• MTA LIRR - East End Gateway at Penn Station

Fireworks will be held at the following sites, beginning at 9:15 p.m.:

Albany
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12228

Binghamton
Binghamton University M Lot
4400 Vestal Parkway E
Vestal, NY 13850

Jones Beach
Jones Beach State Park
1 Ocean Parkway
Wantagh, NY 11793

Lake Placid
Lake Placid Club
Lake Placid, NY 12946

New York City
New York Harbor

Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls State Park
Goat Island Road
Niagara Falls, NY 14303

Nyack
Memorial Park
4 Depew Ave.
Nyack, NY 10960

Rochester
Rochester Dome Arena
2695 E. Henrietta Rd
Henrietta, NY 14467

Syracuse
NYS Fairgrounds
581 State Fair Blvd
Syracuse NY 13209

Utica
Downtown Utica
100 Whitesboro Street
Utica, NY 13502

Now that 70 percent is reached, coronavirus capacity restrictions, including social distancing, cleaning and disinfection, health screening, and contact information for tracing, are optional for retail, food services, offices, gyms and fitness centers, amusement and family entertainment, hair salons, barbershops and personal care services, among other commercial settings, Cuomo said.

Businesses have the right to choose to adhere to stricter protocols and the New York State Department of Health urges individuals to continue to wear masks and social distancing guidelines where it's unclear if everyone is vaccinated.

However, Pre-K to 12 schools, public transit, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and healthcare settings must follow the CDC's COVID-19 guidelines until more New Yorkers are vaccinated, he added.

Reflecting on the days of daily COVID-19 briefings, when New York State had the highest positivity rate "on the globe," people were ambushed, Cuomo said. "We were alone and it was frightening. It was like living through a science fiction movie," with Jacob Javits a field hospital with 2,500 cots set up as far as the eye could see waiting for the "avalanche of ambulances," Cuomo said.

The governor gave plaques to representatives of the many groups of essential workers who forged forward through frightening times, including nurses, doctors, building workers, hospitality staff, delivery workers, teachers, corrections officers, government employees, EMTs, ambulance workers, transportation workers, and all employees on the front lines during the pandemic. "As we celebrate lifting restrictions and resuming our reimagined normal, we also reflect on the hard work of New York State's essential workers and we remember those we lost. New Yorkers have always been tough, but this last year has proven just how tough they are. Congratulations, New Yorkers, on all that your hard work has accomplished."

"They are our true heroes," Cuomo said. "What they did says who they are. It's not that they weren't scared. I was scared every day. But as FDR and others said, 'Courage is not the absence of fear but the assessment that there is something more important than me' — and rising above."

It was fitting that the ceremony was held at the site of the World Trade Center, a symbol of the city's ability to rise up after the unthinkable, Cuomo said.

Vaccination rates are uneven across the state. Higher rates on Long Island, the Capital Region, Central New York and the Hudson Valley are what pushed the state over the goal.

In the Hudson Valley, the vaccination rate is 72 percent. However, the region does have three of the state's least vaccinated communities — Monroe, Monsey and Spring Valley.

SEE: 9 HV, LI Communities Among NY's Least Vaccinated

Patch Editor Lisa Finn contributed to this report.