And now the New York Auto Show gets cancelled thanks to the Delta variant of COVID-19
Two weeks before it was supposed to take place, the ever-so-tightening regs of New York have resulted in the Auto Show being cancelled for the second straight year.
Just when it all looked positive (the irony), the disaster of the Coronavirus strikes again, and this time, for the second time, it is the New York Auto Show that has taken the hit. Now, I was surprised to hear this piece of news because it was bound to start on August 20, just two weeks from today!
The official announcement/confirmation came in right after NYC’s mayor Bill de Blasio said patrons of indoor public places, such as gyms, restaurants, and entertainment venues, will be required to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 to gain entry from August 16, with enforcement formally starting a month later. Employees of those businesses will also need to have had at least one dose of the shot.
The venue of the New York Auto Show, held annually, is the Jacob K Javits Convention Center in midtown Manhattan. The Show was scheduled to open to the public on August 20 and conclude on August 29.
Mark Schienberg, President of the New York Auto Show, said the event was scrapped because of “the growing incidences of the Covid-19 Delta variant and the increased measures announced recently by state and local officials to stop its spread. Over the past few weeks, and especially within the last few days, circumstances have changed making it more difficult to create an event at the high standard that we and our clients expect,” Schienberg added.
Further, this year’s edition was always going to be full of major reveals – the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N, Subaru’s next-gen WRX, Nissan’s all-new Z, to name a few. Now, with the show itself not taking place, expect automakers to hold private events and reveal them anyway.
“All signs were positive, and the show was coming together stronger than ever, but today is a different story,” Schienberg said on Wednesday. The organizers also say that they are confident of a return to its regular schedule in April 2022. Well, time will tell. Until then, unfortunate times ahead. What happens to the upcoming Munich Motor Show, again, time will tell.
