The 2020 New York International Auto Show is officially canceled while its venue remains a 'standby' COVID-19 field hospital

• The New York International Auto Show has been canceled for 2020, the event's organizers announced on Friday.
• The show was initially postponed to August from its usual April date, but is now called off entirely due to the ongoing pandemic.
• The NYIAS' venue, Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, remains outfitted as a COVID-19 field hospital, although no patients are currently being treated there.

The 2020 New York International Auto Show has officially been called off, the show's organizers announced on Friday.

The event, one of the largest auto shows of the year, is normally held in April and was initially postponed to August amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Its venue, Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, was converted into a field hospital to treat coronavirus patients in late March.

With New York City past its coronavirus apex for now, the 2,500-bed Javits Center field hospital currently has no patients. But the venue is still closed and the hospital remains in "standby mode," causing the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association — which owns and runs the show — to cancel this year's NYIAS entirely. Advertisement

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"We are extremely proud of the role the Javits Center has played during this difficult time, and we understand the need for it to remain ready to serve," Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, said in a statement.

"We also understand the immense planning needed for the automakers and their exhibit partners to construct a show of this magnitude. Because of the uncertainty caused by the virus, we feel it would not be prudent to continue with the 2020 show and instead are preparing for an even greater 2021."

The next NYIAS will take place April 2 through April 11, 2021.

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The show is just one of many major automotive events to be postponed or canceled outright due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Geneva, Detroit, and Paris auto shows have all been impacted.

Read the original article on Business Insider