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The Brits took over the Crossroads of the World this morning — but they came in peace to invite New Yorkers to visit London. Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was joined in Times Square by cast members of SIX (nominated for eight Tony awards this morning) to attract American visitors back to London.
As London prepares to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee (that’s 70 years on the throne, people!) the Mayor made an invitation to New Yorkers to bring their dollars to the United Kingdom’s capital city. He was joined by Her Majesty’s iconic Coldstream Guards on a stage that included classic red British phone boxes and a black London cab.
Before the performance by the Broadway cast of SIX, Khan said: “We don’t just have great music, with concerts in Hyde Park and Wembley from the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Adele and Ed Sheran — we’ve got world-famous landmarks and historic locations in London. Also, we have some of the best theater in the world in the West End.”
This year also marks the 50th Anniversary of Pride in London. For soccer fans, the UEFA Women’s EURO championship will be held at Wembley Stadium. There are also classics like the Notting Hill Carnival and the Wimbledon Championships for those wanting a traditional British experience.
Anyone interested in hearing more about what London offers can head to Visitlondon.com. At any one time, this site includes 20,000 event listings, plus content designed to inspire and assist visitors.
I would love to go to London, but the U.S. still requires a negative covid test return to the U.S. (or else get quarantined for two weeks on your dime). This is one of the reasons I do not want to leave the country, not to mention that I do not get enough vacation time to spend an extra two weeks in a place.
This is one of the pieces of COVID theater that needs to go. Make people get vaccinated to fly, but stop the dumb testing requirement considering cases are currently going through the roof. (Or are they?) Mask mandates gone, but onerous testing requirements remain.
Oh, and if someone would rather die than get the vaccine, then I suggest they go do it and decrease the surplus population.