George Clinton, DJ Hurricane Headline Reopening Concert In Queens

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, DJ Hurricane, and Too $hort, are among the hip hop icons taking to the Forest Hills Stadium stage for a free concert celebrating the city's reopening, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

"This is basically the grand slam of them all," said music executive and concert organizer Rocky Bucano of the Aug. 20 performance in Queens, which is one of five shows during "Homecoming Week," the celebration marking the city's pandemic recovery.

The week-long event, which will begin on Aug. 12 and culminate in Central Park's mega-concert on Aug. 21, will include four hip-hop themed shows in the outer boroughs — aptly titled "It's Time For Hip Hop."

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who was also at Thursday's announcement, said that it's "fitting" to celebrate the city's COVID recovery with hip hop, a genre that was founded by people of color in the South Bronx, amid massive urban decay and disenfranchisement.

"[Early hip hop artists] showed and exemplified that New York grit and resiliency, and now we're going to celebrate that... [as] we're getting out of COVID," said Diaz.

Although the Homecoming Week show in Queens is free, the mayor announced on Tuesday that there is one thing performance-goers need in order to attend: Proof of vaccination.

The vaccination requirement comes as city government leans towards stricter coronavirus vaccination mandates.

Fears of the highly contagious delta variant's spread prompted de Blasio to issue a vaccine-or-testing requirement for all city workers this week, effective Sep. 13. The mayor and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi encouraged private businesses and institutions follow suit, too.

While 71 percent of New York City adults have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, officials are hoping that Homecoming Week's star-studded concert lineup might prompt some of the vaccine hesitant to get the jab.

Last week de Blasio gave New Yorkers a "FOMO Alert" — or "fear of missing out alert" — telling residents that missing the concert series could mean living "a life of regret."

A similar message was issued on Thursday.

"This is going to be the most historic week of hip hop performances that have ever happened here in New York City," said Bucano, hyping up the event. "This is one you do not want to miss," he added.

About 60,000 people will be able to attend the concert in Central Park, but de Blasio did not add details about the ticketing process for the Forest Hills concert — other than to say it is free — and it hasn't been added to the calendar on the stadium's website yet.

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