The Concert in Central Park attendees. Although rain fell throughout the day and continued until the start of the concert, an estimated 500,000 audience members made this the seventh-largest concert attendance in the United States in history. The stage backdrop depicted an urban rooftop with water tank and air outlet, symbolic of New York's skyline. At twilight, the backing band went onstage, followed by New York's mayor, Ed Koch, who announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, Simon and Garfunkel!" The duo entered through a side stage door, took center stage amid audience applause, looked at each other and shook hands, and began the concert with their 1968
The Concert for New York City was nominated for an EMMY for best music/comedy special (Greg Sills, Fred Graver and Paul Flattery) and for best production design (by SNL vet Keith Raywood). A one-hour highlight show was broadcast on CBS the following month. An album and DVD of the event was released in January 2002. An encore of the entire concert ran on September 11, 2011 to commemorate the 10th anniversary, commercial free and unedited, from 4 to 10pm. A double CD of the event was released by Sony on November 27, 2001, containing 32 tracks. The concert was released by Sony both on DVD and