Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Announces the 2021 Reimagined New York State Fair

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the 2021 Reimagined New York State Fair, a special end-of-summer celebration at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse from August 20 to September 6. This one-of-a-kind fair will feature New York's best food and drink, live music and entertainment, Midway rides, and agriculture education and awareness in four different, concurrent festivals that will take place exclusively in the outdoor areas of the fairgrounds. Admission is $3 per person, with children under 12 admitted free of charge.

VIDEO of the Governor's remarks is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of today's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. It's a pleasure to be in Syracuse this morning. Beautiful day. Let me introduce some of my colleagues who are with me today.

We have Commissioner Richard Ball who has done a phenomenal job as Commissioner of Agriculture, especially during COVID, the connection we've made between upstate farms people who need food during the COVID crisis has been fantastic so it's a pleasure to be with him. I want to thank him for his great job.

I want to thank Troy Waffner for his management of this fair but also management of the fair during COVID where he has not just been managing the fair but also facilitating a mass vaccination site which is not in the normal definition of a fair director but he has stepped up and really done an amazing job.

We have Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli who has been a long term great representative for this area and I want to thank him.

Assemblyman Al Stirpe, I want to thank him very much.

They just did a State budget. I think it's probably one of the most formidable budgets that we have done ever. It invests in New York. It rebuilds post-COVID, fixes much of the pain that was done during COVID and also opens up a new chapter for the future of New York so I want to thank Assemblyman Magnarelli and Assemblyman Stirpe for that.

I want to thank the vendors who are here with us on the State Fair. I'm going to have an announcement on that in a moment. Let me just give you a quick update on the COVID numbers because this is all interconnected, right? The State Fair, business opening, and the COVID positivity, and the vaccination progress for COVID.

The statewide average on COVID yesterday was 2.39 percent. 41 New Yorkers passed away yesterday from COVID. They're in our thoughts and prayers. Those two facts work together. 2.39 is a great progress on reducing the positivity rate of COVID but the fact that 41 New Yorkers passed away also makes the point that we're not out of the woods and people are still dying so take it seriously. We had 3,100 New Yorkers hospitalized for COVID yesterday. That is the lowest number since November 26, which means we're back to where we were before Thanksgiving, before the holidays, which is good news.

729 COVID patients in intensive care - that's the lowest number since November 30. 454 intubated - that's the lowest number since December 4 so great progress on the positivity numbers. Statewide we see a variance in the positivity. That shows you the nature of COVID. What is controlling the spread of COVID? We are, community by community, and you see a variance across the state depending on how that community behaves and how seriously they take COVID. The range in New York goes from Western New York at 3.5 percent positivity. Next is Finger Lakes, 2.7; Mid-Hudson, 2.4; Long Island, 2.2; New York City, 2.2; Capital Region, 1.6; Mohawk Valley, 1.4; North Country, 1.3; Central New York, 1.2. Congratulations that's great progress. Central New York is second only for the lowest positivity to the Southern Tier which is at 0.8. Statewide that seven-day average is 2.1 percent. That's the lowest level since November 8.

So, the positivity is going down, vaccination rate is going up, and that's what we want to see. We have done now 14.5 million shots for New Yorkers which has been great, great progress. 345,000 shots at the State Fair. Let's give the whole team at the State Fair and the National Guard a round of applause.

On the State Fair, as the State Fair, the changing old saying, the Fair must go on. The State Fair is special. It's special to all New Yorkers. It's a great institution. It's the oldest fair in the United States. It's the third largest fair in the United States. We've invested a lot of money in the Fair. For many years the State Fair was let's say stagnant and it was not developed to its full capacity. You know state fairs like any other business, any other enterprise, any other attraction, you have to update it. You have to invest in it. It has to grow. It has to evolve, and for a long period, the State Fair in New York stagnated. We changed that several years ago. We've done over $120 million investment and let's give Commissioner Ball and Troy a big round of applause for their good work.

We have people from 28 states that visit the Fair. People come from over six countries. We have had record attendance at the State Fair over the past few years, showing that the investment in the growth of the fair has worked. It's attracted more people so we should be proud of that, and this year the Fair is going to go on. We're going to understand the reality that we're dealing with but the Fair will go on for the full 18 days. That's August 20 to September 6. We're going to make some modifications in the planning but we want the vendors, we want the public to know, and we want them to know now that we are going to have our State Fair. A lot of planning goes into place to have the State Fair, so we want the vendors to know now to plan to be here. We're going to organize it a little differently. We're going to have the Fair set up in four areas so we have a better sense of what the capacity is and what the crowd size is. We want to keep the crowd size at about 50 percent, so we'll have four separate areas. Food and beverage, amusement rides, concerts, and the agricultural exhibit, and that will give us the ability to control the number of people who are coming and going. As I mentioned, it'll be a 50 percent capacity, is the current plan. The concert area will operate pursuant to the concert protocol. But, we're talking about operational rules that are starting August 20th, okay. That is months away from where we are today. If you had asked me four months ago, would we have made as much progress as we made, I would have been dubious.

So these are general operating principles. They will be revised between now and August, and if things keep going the way they're going, they will be revised up. More capacity, more flexibility. If we keep that COVID positivity going down, we keep the vaccination rate going up, you're going to see more and more economic activity and you'll see that here at the State Fair also. So, these are estimated guidelines to operate, but I believe they're going to be adjusted up by the time we get closer to the actual fair date.

So the main message is, the fair will be open. Mark it on your calendar. Start to plan to buy tickets, and vendors, start to get ready, and then as we get closer to the date, as I mentioned, we'll have more specifics. But to give you an idea of how well the situation is going here in New York, we're going to continue to increase the reopening. This has been conducted on the facts since we began. If you tell me what the positivity rate is doing, you tell me what the vaccination rate is doing, then I can tell you what the rate of reopening is. And as our positivity's coming down, and our vaccination is going up, you're going to see more reopening.

Today we're announcing that outdoor stadiums can go from 20 to 33 percent. So we'll increase the capacity in stadiums. Offices can go from 50 to 75 percent occupancy. Casinos can go from 25 to 50 percent occupancy, and gyms and fitness clubs, 33 to 50 percent occupancy, and that is outside of New York City. So, the arrows are all pointed in the right direction. We just have to keep the arrows pointed in the right direction, and that is a function of what we do.

As hellacious as this has been, as complicated as COVID is, with variants of interest, and this one, and that one, it's still simple in the final analysis. It is a virus, and we know how a virus spreads because we've lived with them all our lives. If you take precautions within the family when somebody gets a virus, you can make sure that other people don't get the virus. I look at New York as an extended family. It's the family of New York. We get vaccinated, we behave smartly, we will control the spread of the virus, which is just what we're doing.

This is personal great news for all of us on the state side. We've worked on the state fair for many years. A lot of creativity, a lot of effort, a lot of growth, a lot of positive. So the sun is shining, it's even going to be warmer in August, we believe. We don't want to say anything definitively in the current times, but it's excited that the fair will go on, and as I mentioned, these are preliminary operating guidelines. I believe it's only going to get better. With that, let me turn it over to Commissioner Richard Ball, who as I mentioned has done a great, great job, and then you'll hear from Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, and then I'll com back and we'll take some questions. Thank you very much. Commissioner Ball.

Commissioner Ball: Well, good morning. It's great to be back at my home away from home in Syracuse at the fairgrounds here. Thank you, Governor. Appreciate the introduction. First of all, I'd like to take a moment and acknowledge some of our partners that are here with us today, standing behind me, they'll wave to you as I call out their names. But it's great to have Grazi Zazzara here, owner of Villa Pizze Frittehere, familiar place on the fairgrounds. Matt McDowell, operator of the State Fair beer garden, is here. Wahid Akl, operator of the Rainbow Milk Bar and the baked potato booth also is here. Dan Giamartino, owner of Tully's Good Times and the CopperTop Tavern is here. Trudy Lombard, State Fair dairy goat superintendent, is here as well. Paul and Karen Glenister, the operators of the Beef Barn, are here. And Eileen Jensen, executive director of the New York Animal Ag Coalition. They operate the birthing center on the state fair. So it's great to have so many partners here today and all of you as well. I have to stop and just say thank you, Governor, for your extraordinary leadership during this past year, and we all know that it has been a brutal year. But the people of New York, they've fought valiantly. We've fought hard to defeat this virus, and now we're on the cusp of actually doing that. I want to thank Troy Waffner for his dedication and his professionalism here. Troy, you and your team epitomize the very best of public service. I often say Troy's my right arm. He's really my right arm and my left arm here. And thank you to assembly member Magnarelli and Stirpe for being here and to our county executive for the leadership and frankly the strong partnerships that we have. But now with today's announcement, we have a very tangible result of the efforts that all of us in New York, the people of New York State, the Governor, and that's the return of the great New York State Fair in person. It may look a little different than it did in 2019, but make no mistake, we're back. And we all know that we've invested a lot in the state fair. We've prioritized some investments over the last several years to make sure that we do remain one of the leading fairs in the county. Two years ago, the Governor announced projects that would increase future visitor access to the fair, including work on the Orange Lot Phase 2, which is now completed, and also investment in the idea of a green fair plan, with the goal of making the fair energy self-sufficient by 2023. We look forward to showing you those results and talking about that when you get back here in August. The fair plays such a vital role for all of us in connecting the dots and inspiring our children, our grandchildren about the joys and the importance of agriculture. As you know, agriculture was not cancelled, was not postponed this past year. New York farmers showed their central role in New York's economy and to our food supply chain. And I'm excited that in just a couple of months now, we'll be able to connect those dots again, welcoming customers back to the New York State Fair. I expect this year the fair will have very special spirit about it. We can look forward to the sights, the sounds, the smell, the taste once again of the New York Fair. Governor, thank for your vision, thank you for your leadership, thank you for your commitment. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Thank you all. And now it's my pleasure to welcome my friend and your assemblyman, Assembly member Bill Magnarelli.

Assemblyman Magnarelli: Okay. Well thank you, Governor, for being here today. It's always an honor to have you here in Syracuse and in the 129th Assembly District. And thank you to my colleagues in government for standing here with us. The past year has been incredibly painful for everyone. I grew up here in Syracuse, so one thing that hit close to home was cancelling in-person attendance at the State Fair. The Great New York State Fair is the nation's first and oldest state fair. And the largest state fair in the east. Not only is it a major economic boon to our region, but it's also a major part of our community and our identity. We went from record attendance of more than 1.3 million people here for the state fair in 2019 to zero in 2020. It was painful, but that was what we had to do to keep everyone safe during the pandemic. In that time, the New York State Fair never stopped its programing. There was drive-thru fair food, there were fair-at-home contests, and of course, the famous annual butter sculpture.

Still nothing beats being able to visit the state fairgrounds in person. With the vaccine, we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to the Governor, we've had a state-sponsored mass-vaccination site here at the State Fair Expo Center. Who would've thought that when we built that, that is what it'd turn into. I'd encourage anyone to get the vaccine. Under the Governor's leadership, we also passed the budget. Hardest budget we've ever done. But in every step of the process, we were thinking forward, not backwards. We're not just looking for a return to normalcy. We're going to build back better and work toward a bolder, brighter vision of the fair and New York State. The Governor and Legislature invested in projects to increase future visitors' access to the fair as has already been talked to by the commissioner, by including Orange Lot Phase 2 project completed in September of last year. Also the state has invested in the green fair plan resulting in the fair being 100 percent powered by renewable energy by 2023, an incredible goal. A few years ago, the Governor lead a transformation of the fairgrounds, investing over $100 million to create a facility that could host events throughout the year that would draw people to the area. Since that time, we've seen record fair attendance. It mirrors investments to restore the iconic Hotel Syracuse and the Syracuse Airport, creating a modern link to the nation. The state's investment in Onondaga Lake, which now boasts boat regattas, and the Onondaga Lake Amphitheater enhance the overall economic ecosystem of the region built around travel and tourism. The impact of the fairgrounds has been magnified. This strategy has been playing massive dividends. These are good examples of the Governor and Legislature working together effectively. And the progress that we make when we work together for the people of the state of New York. So again, thank you Governor, for your leadership in bringing Onondaga County to greater heights, and your support throughout the course of the pandemic and your vision for building back a better New York. Thank you.

Governor Cuomo: Thank you for being here. Thank you. You know the assemblyman, Assemblyman Magnarelli raises a good point. COVID has put so much on hold all across the state, but also community by community. We have made tremendous investments in Syracuse and Onondaga. And they're synergistic, right? Onondaga Lake, the Syracuse Airport, Hotel Syracuse, this state fair. They all work together. They're separate investments, but they have a combined energy. And that's another reason why it's important to get this fair up and running: It's a tremendous magnet. Over $100 million in economic activity comes from operating the fair. And we're talking about the Fair. Don't forget we have the Syracuse Nationals, which are going to be here. I'll be back. That's July, right? Third week in July. So COVID was truly devastating on many, many levels. But getting past COVID is also exciting. And the spring is here. And the renewal and the rebirth. And we have to get on with the task of making it a reality, which is just what we're doing.