NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — After a year of silence in New York City’s underground, the MTA announced Thursday that music will soon be returning to the subway system.
The popular “Music Under New York” program will return on June 4, 14 months after it was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and on the heels of the return to 24/7 subway service.
“Music Under New York will return,” says said MTA Arts & Design Director Sandra Bloodworth. “If that's not a sign of New York's comeback, I'm not sure what it is.”
According to the MTA, the program, also known as MTA MUSIC, will resume with enhanced safety protocols in place, including protective gear for performers, social distancing and encouraged vaccinations.
Bloodworth says she is excited to welcome artists back into the subway to breathe life and culture into the system yet again.
“I am thrilled that our customers will once again get to experience the power and joy that this program has long been known for. No one has to tell a New Yorker why the arts are so important, but the absence of live performance over the last year has only served to reinforce their cultural significance,” she said.
The program will relaunch with 200 artists at first and will work up to 1,000 again over the next few months.
Among those who will be returning is Rachel Hibbert, of The Opera Collective, who says she hopes that her art can offer some form of healing to New Yorkers.
“As doctors have been tirelessly working to heal our bodies, so artists are now called to heal and tend to our souls,” she said. “We have the unique potential and ability to make music for everyone, not just those who can afford a seat in a theater. What greater audience could there be than the entire City of New York? Magic happens with MTA MUSIC.”
The announcement was made with a concert at the Q line 72nd Street subway station in Manhattan.
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