“This is not the time to fight for your right to party. I respect your right to party,” Cuomo said during the briefing, the latest in a series of updates from the governor regarding state measures taken to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “I would enshrine it in the state law, if you want to know. You have the right to party. But let’s be smart about it.”
The same sentiment also appeared on an accompanying presentation slide, which said to young people “this is not the time to fight for your right to party.”
Cuomo is referencing the Beastie Boys song “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!),” one of the singles on their debut album Licensed to Ill, which became a top ten hit in 1987.
While intended as a mocking, ironic parody of party songs by Beastie Boys Adam Yauch and his songwriting partner Tom Cushman, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)” subsequently became a hard partying anthem.
Cuomo’s invocation of the song is part of his repeated efforts to quell public gathering outside of bars, which has included new restrictions regarding food and alcohol service.
The State itself has looked at over 5,000 establishments in downstate New York and found many cases of a failure to comply," Cuomo said of social distancing violations outside of bars, in comments delivered during a July 16 press briefing. “It’s wrong. It’s dangerous. It’s selfish. It’s unacceptable.”
According to the New York Times, more than 32,000 people have so far died of COVID-19 in New York state.
