Live, From New York

As I write this the first weekend in May, the rate of new COVID-19 cases here in New York City, where some 20 percent of the population has caught the virus, has remained level for a week. Far from the recent peaks of infection and death, the numbers are nowhere near what’s needed to return to something recognizable as normal life. Still, it’s enough of an improvement that New York State governor Andrew Cuomo has started to discuss how that normalcy might return, and to lay out four phases of restarting commercial activity. The final phase is the entertainment industry and the arts. When society returns, live concerts will come last.