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[UPDATE] Donuts, Baseball Tickets, Cheesecake, & More: The Best Vaccine Incentives In NYC

By

Ben Yakas

Published May 7, 2021

Modified May 26, 2021

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A photo of "Joints For Jabs" giveaway on 4/20 in Union Square

 

Alex Cascone

By

Ben Yakas

Published May 7, 2021

Modified May 26, 2021

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This week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the Mets and Yankees would begin offering people the opportunity to get the Johnson & Johnson shot before games—and as a cherry on top, if you get vaccinated there, you can get free tickets to a future ballgame. [UPDATE: Scroll down to learn about all the new incentives the city and state are dangling in front of you.]

This was just the latest grand attempt at incentivizing people to get vaccinated—New Jersey, for example, rolled out a “Shot and a Beer” program this week, allowing anyone with a vaccination card to get a free beer at a local brewery (Connecticut has a similar program). Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested the city would be unveiling their own incentive program soon (A Shot and a Schmear?), and has proposed vaccinating tourists at popular sites, with the incentive being you get to fully participate in the culture of the greatest city in the world.

As of Thursday, over 37% of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, and almost 50% of have received at least one dose; that puts New York in the top ten of states with the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated. But we still have a ways to go, and recent studies have shown that people who haven't been vaccinated yet are highly motivated by Free Stuff (or cold hard cash).

According to a survey by the U.C.L.A. COVID-19 Health and Politics Project, about a third of the unvaccinated population said a cash payment of $100 would make them more likely to get a shot. To that end, West Virginia has already announced that they will give young people $100 bonds to do so, and Detroit is giving out $50 prepaid cards to anyone who drives someone else to a vaccine site.

New York hasn't signaled that it is quite ready to hand out cash yet, but that doesn't mean there aren't a good amount of incentives available immediately. Below is an overview of the freebies that are accessible to both the vaccinated and soon-to-be vaccinated—and if we missed anything, email us at [email protected].

GET VACCINATED TO GET THESE THINGS

But what if you're a responsible person who has already gotten vaccinated? Don't you deserve something for being on top of your shit? Yes, of course you do!

USE YOUR VACCINATION CARD TO GET THESE THINGS

If you find yourself hankering to get vaccinated in another state (which is allowed in many places), here are a few other incentives to watch out for—that includes a surprising amount of dispensaries in other parts of the country, although as you can see in the photo above, NYC got a taste of that on 4/20 in Union Square.

If you're still looking for a vaccination appointment, you should check out the official NYC Vaccine Finder website.

[UPDATE, Wednesday May 26th] In the two weeks since we first published this piece, a whole slew of new vaccine incentives have been unveiled by the city and state. So if you are someone who hasn't yet been vaccinated because you've been waiting for just the right incentive, scroll down below to see what the newest offerings are.

SITE-SPECIFIC INCENTIVES

If you go to get vaccinated at certain locations in the city, you can get free tickets to that place (either for the same day or a future date) automatically. That includes the aforementioned American Museum Of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, Brooklyn Museum, New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanical Garden. There are at least two other places—Lincoln Center and the NY Aquarium— that will also be participating in this, but their vaccination sites aren't setup yet.

SPORTS-ADJACENT INCENTIVES

For the first time in eight years, both the Knicks and the Nets are in the playoffs at the same time, and basketball is good again. Also, both organizations have partnered with the city to encourage people to get vaccinated. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this week that any fans who get the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccination at Madison Square Garden this week can enter for a chance to win tickets (which could be for playoffs or for a game next season, that depends on how the Knicks play in the coming days).

The Nets are being even more generous: you can get vaccinated near Barclays Center and receive a complimentary Nets t-shirt and also enter to win Nets playoff tickets. The team adds, "The Nets will also work with the Mayor’s Office to provide complimentary Playoff home game tickets to 100 fully vaccinated Nets fans who reside in the 33 neighborhoods that have been identified by the Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity." More details on that are forthcoming.

VACCINATION WEBSITE INCENTIVES

If you're thinking of using a different city-run vaccination site, there's more: after you sign up at Vax4NYC, you can choose one incentive as a little prize for yourself, like getting a lollipop after going to the pediatrician, only the lollipop is free use of a Citibike for a few days.

Among the incentives you can choose between are: free tickets to a Brooklyn Cyclones or NYC FC game; an NYC Ferry 10-ride pass; tickets to the Top of the Rock and Liberty Island; $15 to Chelsea Market gift card provided by Google; $25 gift card to NYC Public Markets; a Public Theater Annual Membership; and a two-week membership to Citibike.

COMPETITIVE INCENTIVES

But wait, that's not all: for everyone who signs up through the Vax4NYC site, in addition to getting one of those incentives up above, people 18 and older can also enter a contest to win some big prizes. These prizes change week-to-week, but this week it includes tickets to see Global Citizen Fest and three day passes to Governor's Ball.

INCENTIVES FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN VACCINATED

If you're sitting there thinking, hey, this is no fair, I already got vaccinated like a month ago, where is my metaphorical lollipop, first off, your lollipop is having the peace of mind that comes with being able to go out and live your life relatively free of worry about getting a deadly virus. But if that's not enough for you—and it's never enough for you, is it?—here's some more free stuff:

show your vaccination card at any NYC CityStore and you get a 20% discount. You can also get a discount off Nets merchandise at Barclays the same way.

Through June 12th, you can get free french fries from Shake Shack (with purchase of something else, but who the heck eats french fries without a burger/chicken sandwich?!) by showing your vax card. Also, you can get a two-week free membership to Crunch gym; check out more info here.

HEY, THIS IS ALL NYC STUFF, WHAT ABOUT THE STATE? DOES CUOMO HAVE ANYTHING NEW FOR ME? OR FOR TWEENS & TEENS?

Do you really think Governor Andrew Cuomo was gonna sit around and let the mayor one-up him on cool free shit? On May 20th, Cuomo announced that anyone who receives doses at any of the 10 state-run vaccination sites between May 24th and May 28th will get a "Vax & Scratch" lottery card. The first prize is $5 million, but you could win, like, $20, and that's cool.

On May 24th, Cuomo announced that anyone who gets vaccinated with either a first dose, or single dose of Johnson & Johnson, anywhere in New York between May 24th and 31st is eligible to receive a free two-day pass to any New York State Park, valid through September 30th, 2021. You can get more info about that, and the vaccination pop up sites at various state parks, here.

And on May 26th, Cuomo announced that 12- to 17-year-olds who get vaccinated between May 27th and July 7th can enter a contest to potentially receive a full scholarship to a SUNY or CUNY college. There will be 10 full tuition, room and board scholarships raffled off every Wednesday for the next five weeks. You can get more info about that lottery here.

Tagged

vaccination

COVID-19

pandemic

incentives

coronavirus

vaccines

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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