The lawsuit argues that if bowling alleys, casinos and gyms can open, why can’t performance venues with fewer than 200 seats?
A group of eight small theaters and comedy clubs in New York City has filed a lawsuit challenging the closing of their venues during the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, argues that the orders shutting down theaters “shock the conscience and interfere with plaintiffs’ deeply-rooted liberty and property rights, including the right to work, right to contract, and right to engage in commerce.” The theaters filing suit include the Theater Center, the Players Theater, Actors Temple Theater, SoHo Playhouse, the Gene Frankel Theater, the Triad, Broadway Comedy Club and New York Comedy Club, all of which are in Manhattan and have 199 seats or fewer, and most of which are commercial operations. They sued Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. In the lawsuit, the theaters argue that pandemic restrictions have been enforced arbitrarily, noting that bowling alleys, casinos, catering halls, gyms and shopping malls have been allowed to reopen, as have schools, colleges and “Saturday Night Live.
