New York City mayor says Nets, Knicks, Yankees, Mets will have to wait for loosened COVID-19 vaccination restrictions

NEW YORK — New York City mayor Eric Adams reiterated that while he remains optimistic about the COVID-related numbers he's seeing, the city's professional sports teams are going to have to wait their turn as far as potential vaccination-mandate rollbacks are concerned.

«Right now, we're going to take some complaints,» Adams said during a Tuesday morning press conference announcing that masks will be optional for daycare students between the ages of 2 and 4 starting on April 4th if the COVID-related numbers continue to hold. «But when this is all said and done, people are going to realize this is a thoughtful administration and we got it right. So baseball, basketball, businesses, all of those things, they have to wait until that layer comes.»

The layer that teams like the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, New York Yankees and New York Mets are all waiting on is a rollback of the private employer vaccine mandate — which does not allow employees, or in this case, players, to play for their teams if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19. Nets star guard Kyrie Irving, who is not vaccinated and has made it clear he will not get vaccinated, has not been able to play in any games in New York City this season because of the mandate.

«We're going to do it in the right way,» Adams said. «We're going to follow the science… we're going to make the right decision. And in New York, no matter what you do, this is 8.8 million people and 30 million opinions, so you're never going to satisfy New Yorkers, so you must go with the logic, your heart and the science.»

For Adams, that means that he will continue to listen to his medical team and does not sound like he will be swayed by any of the professional teams that may be impacted. The