I had friends who were members of City Opera (the chorus). I’m sorry to hear this. Of course, the last production I saw was several years ago “Candide” with John Cullum. Then they moved out of Lincoln Center. I often wonder if it was in some stupid liberal reaction to the Koch Brothers buying the building. That plus unions.
My first experiences of live opera were performances by the NY City Opera in Los Angeles, where they came every year. We had season tickets, 7th row center, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This was before LA had its own opera company.
Perhaps the NY City Opera can go on permanent tour around the country, even the world.