Lin-Manuel Miranda welcomes COVID-19 vaccine site to Broadway
The newest venue on Broadway is a COVID-19 vaccination site for the entertainment community.
The facility that serves theater, movie and television workers in Times Square administered its first shots on Monday and opened with plenty of fanfare and star power.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was joined by "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, health commissioner Dave Chokshi and Anne del Castillo, the commissioner of the Office of Media and Entertainment, to tour the Broadway COVID-19 vaccine site.
"This is the most people I have seen in a year and a half, I'm sure you feel the same way," Miranda said. "And this is the first live performance I've seen in a year and a half. So I'm emotional today."
The "Mary Poppins Returns" star said this step to bring back Broadway will help performers and crews feel secure once again.
"We want to gather again and we want to tell stories in the dark. We cannot do that if we don't feel safe and if you don't feel safe," he said. "So the first step in that process is getting our vaccination shots, and the next steps will follow. But the first step starts today with this clinic."
Miranda joked that he was not going to make a joke about "not throwing away my shot" -- a famous line from "Hamilton."
Overall, the city has administered more than five million COVID-19 vaccinations.
