Thousands of people were planning to visit New York City for attending a concert set to be held in Central Park. However, the event was cut short owing to weather inconsistencies caused by the approaching hurricane, Henri which is set to make landfall this Sunday.
The concert, called the ‘We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert’ was designed keeping in mind some of the biggest musical acts that landed on the Great Lawn of the iconic park. The performance was set to take place on Saturday with 60,000 vaccinated audiences. The concert was supposed to be “a celebration of New York City’s comeback” following the pandemic marking “promote health, safety, and equity”.
The concert already started when the NYPD issued an advisory to the attendees to evacuate “due to approaching severe weather” who then helped everyone to get out safely. Central Park recorded 4 inches of rainfall after the storms arrived as per reports by the National Weather Service.
However, before the concert halt, performances by JP Saxe, Julia Michaels, and Andrea Bocelli mesmerized the audience. Carlos Santana was also seen performing alongside Wyclef on the hit song, ‘Maria Maria’. Other performers included Jennifer Hudson, Rev Run, and LL Cool J. The concert was cut short during Marry Manilow’s performance.
The event was broadcast by CNN and was produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis in coordination with the city of New York and Live Nation. The coverage began with a pre-show hosted by Anderson Cooper at 4 p.m. ET, with the concert kicking off at 5 p.m.
New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio tweeted, “While it’s disappointing that tonight’s concert had to end early, the safety of everyone in attendance had to come first. To everyone who came out tonight: thank you. Thank you for showing the world that New York City is coming back stronger than ever before.” He also declared a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Henri making landfall on Long Island Sunday.
Several parts of the North-eastern side felt the approaching hurricane’s initial impacts as early as Saturday evening when it moved towards the coast ahead of an anticipated Sunday landfall, threatening to bring damaging winds, dangerous storm surge, and flooding to an already saturated area.
