By: Ilana Siyance
Five performing arts theatres sued Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday over the city’s vaccine mandate. As reported by Crain’s NY, the venues claim that their businesses are being unfairly restricted, while religious institutions are permitted to gather in the exact same spaces. The rule “discriminates against plaintiffs by singling out theaters and comedy clubs for more restrictive treatment based on the content of speech that theaters and comedy clubs host,” says the suit, which was filed Thursday.
The Theater Center, on W. 50th St. in Manhattan, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said ticket-holders who come to watch the play Perfect Crime in its theatre, must show vaccination. On Sundays though, the Church rents out its other theatre, the Orbach, and participating congregants are exempt from any requirement to show proof of inoculation.
The other plaintiffs in the case are The Players Theatre, The Actors Temple Theatre, Soho Playhouse and Broadway Comedy Club. The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges that the city is unfairly targeting Off-Broadway theaters and comedy clubs in New York City, and requiring stricter restrictions than on religious institutions, schools, or community spaces, without justification. “Religious speech is treated more favorably than live theater or comedy,” which are also constitutionally protected speech, said Daniel Ortner of the Pacific Legal Foundation, in an email on Friday. “A theatrical production put on by a community center or high school drama department is treated more favorably than a production put on by one of our clients. This violates the First Amendment.”
The vaccine mandate, which has been dubbed Key to NYC, was announced in August, requiring patrons and employees of indoor restaurants, gyms, concert halls and theaters to show proof of at least one vaccine dose. Religious institutions were exempt from the requirement because they previously had a court victory, where they argued that no laws can infringe upon the free exercise of religion, as per the first amendment.
“For small venue theaters and comedy clubs like plaintiffs, enforcing this unequal mandate is burdensome and further stigmatizes businesses that are already struggling to bounce back from being shut down for a year,” the venue owners say. The complaint goes on to demonstrate an show an reaction from patrons. “Several staff members have quit after being screamed at, physically threatened, or even spat on by customers upset about Plaintiffs’ enforcement” of the order, the complaint says.
