NYC expanding vaccine exemption to city-based entertainers, clearing Kyrie Irving and unvaccinated Yankees and Mets to play at home

By Jason Hanna, Kristina Sgueglia and Jack Bantock, CNN

Updated 1841 GMT (0241 HKT) March 24, 2022

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, right, scored 43 points in Wednesday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis.

(CNN)Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving can go back to playing home games — and all New York Yankees and Mets can play in their home openers next month regardless of their Covid-19 vaccination status.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said he'll sign an order exempting New York-based professional athletes and performers — not just the already-spared visiting performers — from a workers' Covid-19 vaccine mandate.The exemption extends to city-based singers and other entertainers. The decision has drawn discontent from unions of other types of workers, arguing either that the wider mandate isn't necessary or that people fired for not adhering to it should be reinstated.Adams said he expanded the exemption in part because the city's economy — including vendors and businesses that surround the city's venues — thrives best when all its stars attract people to those places. The city's multibillion-dollar tourism industry, he said, still was reeling in losses caused by the pandemic. He also said was doing it out of fairness — to put New York City-based performers «on a level playing field» with visiting performers.Read MoreKyrie Irving: NBA fines Brooklyn Nets $50,000 for allowing player to enter team locker room«We're not doing it because there are pressures to do it. We're doing it because the city has to function,» Adams said at a news conference at the New York Mets' Citi Field. «This is about supporting our local vendors, our local stores… and hearing those vendors on the ground… saying how important it