New York City Mayor Eric Adams officially lifted the private sector's vaccine mandate, paving the way for unvaccinated Mets and Yankees to play home games.
It also allows Kyrie Irving to play in games at both his home arena in Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden.
The decision was announced at a news conference at Citi Field's Jackie Robinson Rotunda on Thursday, with Mets president Sandy Alderson and Yankees president Randy Levine in attendance.
Adams said it was not a decision that came easy, but a move that had to be done.
"I’m the mayor of this city, and I’m going to make some tough choices" Adams said. "People are not going to agree with some of them, they’re going to look through their lens, they’re gonna talk about different things, but generals lead from the front. I was not elected to follow. I was not elected to be fearful but to be fearless.
"I must move this city forward ... Tough choices take a tough person to be able to make them. And I know what you know – 8.8 million people in this city, 30 million opinions. I got it. And today, the decision we’re making, we’re not making it loosely … We’re not doing it because there are pressures to do it. We’re doing it because this city has to function."
Adams had previously stated the mandate didn't make sense, especially since road players could play in the city in front of unvaccinated fans. But he also said he would not make an exemption for Irving.
But because of the cases lowering in the city, Adams noted it was time to backtrack on his original sentiment.
"Hometown players had an unfair disadvantage for those who were coming to visit, and immediately, I felt we needed to look at that, but my medical professionals said 'we’re at a different place. We have to wait until we’re at a place where we’re at a low area and we can reexamine some of the mandates.' We’re here today," he said.
While lifting the restrictions, the mayor did stress that everyone (and directly referred to Irving) should get vaccinated.
However, he added that he will not be re-hiring the over 1,000 fired unvaccinated city workers "at this time."
Alderson noted that "one or two" Mets employees were terminated because of their refusal to get vaccinated, but "by virtue of our relationship with Major League Baseball, the Players Association," players are exempt from the team's mandate.
Irving will now be able to play in front of a home crowd on Sunday when the Charlotte Hornets visit Barclays Center, while the Yankees will have a full roster against the Boston Red Sox in the Bronx on April 7. The Mets will have the same on April 15 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.