The show may go on at Central Park after all, as the city is considering options to put on an encore homecoming concert after Saturday’s soiree was rained out mid-performance, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.
The mayor said at his daily press briefing that he will be meeting with concert producers Clive and Doug Davis in the coming days “to consider options” for putting on another show, after the star-packed “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” was canceled midway through a performance by Barry Manilow due to Tropical Storm Henri.
“There’s unfinished business there,” Hizzoner said. “We’ve got to look at options now.”
Organizers booked acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Patti Smith, Earth Wind & Fire, The Killers, Elvis Costello, and Maluma for the gig, which the mayor hyped up for weeks as an enduring symbol of the city’s recovery.
After four smaller concerts in each outer borough, tens of thousands of vaccinated fans descended onto the Great Lawn Saturday and watched such acts as Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, LL Cool J, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra perform.
Festivities were halted, however, in the middle of Manilow’s number “I Can’t Smile Without You,” due to thunderstorms associated with the hurricane. Attendees were advised to leave and find shelter, though the mayor sent mixed messages to the crowd by announcing that they would attempt to bring the show back, and that people should simply find shelter nearby instead of going home.
De Blasio said that the city’s Emergency Management Department and “weather analysts” had said the thunderstorm was expected to pass quickly and the organizers were hoping to put it back on before it became evident the storm wouldn’t taper.
“Unfortunately, we had one of the greatest concerts in New York City history, we also had the kind of weather that shut it down,” the mayor said.
The mayor was clearly distressed by the concert’s unceremonious conclusion on Monday. “Anyone who saw it, anyone who was there is feeling a great sense of loss,” he said. “Because we were watching something magical, and an unbelievable statement about New York City.”
