Professional baseball teams in New York State - to include the Mets, Yankees, and minor league clubs like the Syracuse Mets - will no longer have to abide by capacity restrictions when it comes to the number of fans who can attend games.

Sort of.

On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that capacity restrictions are going away, effective May 19. Teams will be allowed open seating areas where fully vaccinated fans can sit and mingle as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. They will, however, need to wear a mask.

The Governor said there are now basically two teams in New York - not Mets and Yankees, but vaccinated and unvaccinated. This is a 'rush transcript' of Cuomo's explanation, via Governor.NY.gov:

Vaccinated people, normal capacity, normal seating for people who are vaccinated. Sit next to each other in a section, sit next to your friends, sit next to your family. Just normal capacity, normal seating. Vaccinated families who have a child 16 under who's not eligible, that child can be seated with the family. We ask them to wear masks, but you attend the ball game like you attended the ball game two years ago. For unvaccinated people the six-foot distancing applies with masks and that comes out to roughly 33 percent in those sections, capacity for unvaccinated people. So if you're vaccinated, that's one category. You're un-vaccinated, that's another category, no testing. But if you're vaccinated, you have the Excelsior Pass, you have proof of vaccination and that will determine where you sit.

Additionally, Citi Field - home of the Mets - and Yankees Stadium, will soon have vaccination clinics at the stadiums. Unvaccinated fans will have the opportunity to receive the one dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine prior to the game. Those fans will still have to sit in the 'unvaccinated' seating sections, however, Cuomo says those who get inoculated at the ballpark will receive a free ticket to a future Mets or Yankees game.

Again, via Cuomo's press office:

Thanks to the generosity of the Yankees and the Mets, if you get a vaccine, they will give you a free ticket to the game. Next time you go to the game and you're vaccinated, you can enjoy the game sitting next to your friends, sitting next to your family which to me is a big part, part of the enjoyment of the game. We call that a New York home run. It's smart, it recognizes the civic responsibility of all of us. It's generous, it's convenient, and it's another good, easy reason and reminder that we all have to get a vaccine.

Interestingly, both the Mets and Yankees are on the road the week of May 19, so while the Governor specifically mentioned that date, fans and the above mentioned separate seating sections won't take effect until later in the month.

The Yankees are in Texas to take on the Rangers on May 17-20. They'll return home to host the Chicago White Sox on May 21.

The Mets will be in Atlanta to battle the Braves May 17-19, then a weekend series in Miami, before returning to New York City to welcome the Colorado Rockies on May 24.

Currently, outdoor sporting events in New York, like MLB games, are limited to 20-percent capacity.

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