Vaccinated Nets Fans Get Half Of Playoff Seats At Barclays Center

BROOKLYN, NY — Half of the available seats at the Barclays Center will be reserved for vaccinated fans during the Brooklyn Nets' upcoming playoff run, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

The state policy will require at least 50 percent of seats to be set aside for people who have gotten their shots at both the Barclays and Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks will play their playoff games. The teams could raise that threshold even higher if they so choose, Cuomo said.

"You can go to 100-percent vaccinated," Cuomo said during Monday's news conference, held onstage at Radio City Music Hall. "We want to encourage people to get vaccinated."

Unvaccinated fans, meanwhile, will be seated in their own section and subjected to a six-foot social distancing rule and a face-mask requirement.

Cuomo on Monday also announced that Radio City would host the closing night of the Tribeca Film Festival on June 19. Ticketing for that event will be 100 percent vaccinated, Cuomo said, allowing the auditorium to be open at full capacity with no masks.

The Nets' first-round series against a not-yet-determined opponent will start next week. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday for the general public.

The governor was mum on which of the two teams he would pull for in the playoffs.

"I'm going to root for New York, just so you know," he told reporters.