Get vaccine, win Brooklyn Nets tix, says ridiculously dressed De Blasio
How do you do, fellow kids?
Mayor Bill de Blasio became an instant meme Tuesday when he donned a Brooklyn Nets jersey under his open blue button-down shirt and a Nets hat for his morning press briefing Tuesday.
Hizzoner donned the James Harden jersey and never-worn flat-brimmed cap to announce the city’s latest scheme for encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine — a chance to win tickets to the team’s playoff games if they get the shot at a new pop-up site outside Barclays Center starting Saturday.
“The Nets are stepping up for Brooklyn, for all of New York,” de Blasio said during his daily virtual press conference. “This is going to be another extraordinary effort to get everyone vaccinated.”
“This is going to be amazing, an amazing opportunity to see one of the greatest teams in a long time, and a team that’s going to bring glory to Brooklyn and New York City.”
One hundred tickets will be up for grabs for each Nets home game, the city later explained. The lottery is open to anyone who gets the jab at the pop-up site, as well as anyone who has already been vaccinated and lives in one of the 33 neighborhoods the city says has suffered the most from the pandemic.
But the 60-year-old mayor’s awkward attire quickly became the bigger story on social media.
“The last thing you see before you’re priced out of your neighborhood,” quipped The Daily Show.
“Brooklyn Nets fan final form,” joked “Desus & Mero” writer Robert Kornhauser.
Several others compared it to an iconic “30 Rock” scene in which a detective played by Steve Buscemi tries to go undercover at a high school, dressing in a backwards baseball cap and asking “How do you do, fellow kids?”
De Blasio’s eyebrow-raising presser came after the mayor last week made headlines by stiffly stuffing Shake Shack grub into his mouth at a press briefing while announcing that the fast food outlet would give free fries to vaccinated customers.
It also comes a day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the Nets and Knicks will be able to host more attendees in their stadiums for the playoffs, with at least 50 percent of seats set aside for vaccinated sections where masks and social distancing won’t be required — though the governor encouraged owners to fill every seat with inoculated fans.
Nets CEO John Abbamondi, who joined de Blasio for Tuesday’s presser, said they would try to get “as close to full capacity” as possible, with most sections of Barclays set aside for vaccinated people and just a “handful” of physically distanced seats for unvaccinated attendees.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel – it comes in the form of a vaccine, and we’re really delighted to be part of the vaccine effort,” he said. “We’re really looking for our fans to get vaccinated”
Abbamondi and de Blasio expect the Nets will go deep into the playoffs, so there will be several opportunities to score tickets.
“We’re super excited for the playoffs. … We make no secret about it, we have very high ambitions for this season,” Abbamondi said.
The pop-up vaccination site — located at the former Modell’s store across from Barclays, at 140 Flatbush Ave. — will be open the day before and the day of Nets games during the upcoming NBA playoffs, officials said.
Appointments can be booked via NYC’s COVID-19 vaccine finder website, where the site will be listed as “Barclays Center: Modell’s.” Walk-in appointments will also be available.