Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Administration today announced that due to growing concerns about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the health and safety of the people of Newark, we are advising that all non-essential public gatherings be cancelled for the next 30 days. Additionally, his Sixth Annual State of the City Address, set for Monday, March 16, at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, has been postponed for at least 30 days.
A “non-essential group event” is defined as a gathering of 250 people or more for social, cultural, or entertainment events where people are not separated by physical space of at least four feet. Please note that this includes all festivals and parades.
Scheduling for all events will be re-assessed at the end of this period.
The Newark Saint Patrick’s Day Parade announced that they would postpone the parade, originally scheduled for Friday, March 13, to September of this year.
The New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center released a statement in support of the NHL’s decision to suspend the season. Similarly, in consultation with their live event partners, promoters and artists, they’ve postponed all events at the Prudential Center through the end of March.
As one of the most highly utilized public spaces in our community, the Newark Public Library is a natural hub for residents to meet, borrow materials, and attend public events. The library will maintain operations as much as possible while mitigating the risk to patrons, performing extra sanitizing of all “high touch” surfaces, including computer keyboards and mice; and making hand sanitizer available to the public at building entrances.
Due to the State of Emergency surrounding the coronavirus, NJIT has cancelled all public events until April. They also announced the cancelation of classes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, March 12-14, in order to afford both students and faculty members additional time to prepare for online learning once classes resume virtually on March 23. NJIT campus remains open and dining services, residence halls, and normal administrative functions will be provided.
Rutgers-Newark cancelled classes Thursday, March 12, through the end of spring break, Sunday, March 22. Beginning on Monday, March 23, all course instruction will be delivered remotely.
