TThe Chainsmokers Driving Concert at Tony Southampton, New York, an allegedly distant charity festival held on Saturday night, violated the terms of his permit and is likely to face fines and fines from various city departments, according to the city supervisor. from Southampton, Jay Schneiderman.
More than 3,000 residents paid up to $ 25,000 to listen to the EDM duo, with subprime sounds from Goldman Sachs DJ alter ego DJ David Solomon, “DJ D-Sol.” The event, which had a permit from the city of Southampton, had a long list of precautionary measures: temperature controls at the entrance, bathroom cleanings every 10 minutes, mandatory masks, large disinfection stations and designated spaces to sit at. 20 feet away.
“People signed COVID waivers promising that they had not had [flu-like symptoms] for the past two weeks and they hadn’t been around anyone with COVID for two weeks, “said a representative from In The Know Experiences and Invisible Noise, which organized the event.
“This was a charity event. It went through a permitting process for a drive-in event, like a movie or a concert, ”said Schneiderman. “The permit went through the police department and the town secretary. It was approved. They reviewed it with code compliance to make sure it met all the requirements. ”
But an Instagram post shared by the manager of Chainsmokers, a group whose pop song was called “#Selfie,” told a different story. In the video, which was widely shared on Monday morning, a crowd had formed near the stage, while unmasked attendees danced to pop-pop on billboards, dropping drops with apparent abandon.
A source who worked with the organizers but spoke in the background claimed that the video was misleading. “The front section that everyone talks about, that was the friends and family section, so to speak,” the source said. “There are rope extensions and steel barricades that separate each section for groups of 10 people.”
But Schneiderman said the permit had not allowed any frontal, family or other sections. “Unfortunately, the organizer did not strictly adhere to the permit,” he said. “At some point in the night they opened a VIP area near the stage. That was not on the permit. The permit was for cars in a very large field. I’m just as upset as anyone about what happened. They will probably be cited for that violation. “
Not long after the video was released on social media, the New York State Department of Health sent a letter to Schneiderman, first reported by Syracuse.com, alerting him to an investigation into the concert. “I am very concerned about reports of the ‘drive-in’ concert held in your city last weekend, which apparently involved thousands of people in the vicinity, outside their vehicles, a VIP area where there was no pretext for a vehicle, and generally do not adhere to the social distancing orientation, “wrote Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. “I don’t know how the city of Southampton could have issued a permit for such an event, how they believed it was legal and not an obvious threat to public health.”
The letter gave the supervisor 24 hours to respond. He said several city departments are investigating actions, on the unauthorized section, the failure to comply with the state-mandated social distancing and the size of the crowd, which had been projected on the permit to limit 2,000 people. Organizers can also be fined for police overtime, as the department doubled its presence in the middle of the night, once people began gathering in nearby groups. “There may be more than one date,” he said. “The police are checking everything. So is the Municipal Public Security Office. ”
“There may be more than one appointment. The police are checking everything … “
Schneiderman had come to the show to act as a starter with his band. “We don’t have a name, we play under my name: The Jay Schneiderman Band or Jay Schneiderman’s Band. This is a relatively new band. All of this was original. We were on stage for 30 minutes. With the exception of the closing song, which was a Joe Cocker tune, ‘Feelin’ Alright, ‘if you know that song, everything else was original. ”
As Schneiderman played, he says, the crowd had remained aloof, sitting in their cars or on the 20 “x 20” lawn squares assigned to “Silver” and “Platinum” ticket buyers. When his set was over, Schneiderman prepared to leave. Her trip home had suffered an allergy attack and she had to leave before the concert ended. Upon leaving, she said, Schneiderman noticed a new section forming in the front. She said she spoke to two security guards about the supervision, who told her they would alert their colleagues. But it was not clear if they did. “They were from the security company, not the police department,” Schneiderman said. “[The organizers] hired people from a private security company. ”
“It is a little sad because we are trying to find safe ways for people to be together,” he said. “We are trying to comply with all state rules. We are trying to raise money for charity. You want something like this to be a success. You want to show them that we can do things safely. “
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