NEW YORK — For die-hard Knicks fans, the last year has been a long road.

“When it shut down, we all thought it was going to be a few weeks. Then all of a sudden it was April, May and June and here we are almost a year later,“ said Anthony Donahue, a longtime Knicks season ticket holder. Some fans were so excited to be back at MSG that they arrived well before tip off. To get inside, fans were put through the paces. “I had to go take a test at the clinic. They had to do a nasal swab, you have to show the results when you enter the garden, and they take your temperature and make you sign a declaration,” said Knicks fan Elgin Swift. Even with those precautions, state guidelines on capacity limited the in-person crowd to 2,000. The venue holds a little more than 20,000 at 100% capacity. Fans weren’t sure what to expect when they arrived but they did know they wanted to be here. “I just know the Garden is going to be crazy tonight,” said Knicks fan Nicholas Azzato. At just 10% capacity, those in attendance made a point to be loud to show their support for the team. The players welcomed their fans in return. "It's been tough, but we definitely felt your guys love and energy and support” said Knicks player Julius Randle. Just two blocks away from MSG, the owners of Mustang Harry’s were also celebrating fan’s return to the Garden. Like many other restaurants across the city they were hit hard by the pandemic, but being located in a neighborhood, full of office buildings, there were months they just couldn’t justify being open. “We were almost closed for a year and we still had St. Patrick’s Day decorations up. In fact, we could have left them up,” said co-owner Ian Conroy. Being around for fans return to Madison Square Garden was important to the two brothers who’ve operated this family owned business for more than 20 years. While much of the area is now occupied by big companies, they still think of their customers as family. “A lot of our clients have been season ticket holders since we’ve been here and we’ve been here 25 years, going on 26. So, we’ve been friendly with our customers and along with them being customers they are friends of ours. So, we get to see them now,” said Conroy. However, fans returning to MSG alone won’t be a slam dunk for neighboring businesses. The owners of Mustang Harry’s said their success counts on venues and businesses continuing to open. They said as long as it’s safe to do that, people will get more comfortable doing the things they used to — like going out to dinner or going to a game.

Andy Akers and Jennifer Wilkov traveled from Prospect Heights in Brooklyn to The Teachers Preparatory High School in Brownsville to get the COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday.

Initially, Akers was the only one with an appointment, but he was hoping to give his spot to Wilkov, who has advanced stage 4 non-small-cell lung cancer.

At first, the mayoral contenders were distancing themselves from current Mayor Bill de Blasio. But now it’s also Governor Andrew Cuomo. It comes after more than two weeks of brutal headlines about the governor withholding critical data regarding the actual number of deaths of nursing home residents from the coronavirus.

Candidate Maya Wiley spoke to NY1 exclusively. She is calling for a full investigation on nursing homes and she’d like to see lawmakers revoke the governor’s emergency powers that were granted last year.

More than 60% of registered voters in New York believe Gov. Andrew Cuomo did something wrong in handling nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest Marist College poll.

However, out of this group, only 19% believe he did something illegal. Cuomo’s job performance approval also took a sizable hit amid the ongoing controversy surrounding nursing homes and the administration's dislcosure of fatality data at the facilities.

NEW YORK — Nursing home visitations are set to resume across the state on Friday with new guidelines and rules in effect.

Guests who have had a COVID case within 14 days of their planned visit will still be barred from nursing facilities.

NEW YORK — Everyone knows the owner of Headrush Barbershop in Brooklyn by his nickname “Goose.”

What only those closest to “Goose” realize is how hard it's been to keep his small business going.

NEW YORK — Movie theaters in New York City will be allowed to reopen at 25% capacity next month, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in a conference call on Monday.

The change will go into effect on March 5 and will follow the restrictions already in place elsewhere in the state, according to Cuomo.

NEW YORK — The city is planning to vaccinate New Yorkers against COVID-19 with this week’s allocated supply in addition to the batch delayed by last week’s winter storm, something Mayor Bill de Blasio hopes will lead to a record number of vaccinations — although he acknowledges the sudden supply boom is only temporary.

“We’re basically going to take all of last week’s doses and this week’s doses and combine them and hopefully have as strong or stronger a week than we’ve ever had. The most we’ve ever done in a single week is 320,000. We could be doing 500,000 or more right this moment,” de Blasio said Monday in his weekly “Mondays with the Mayor” interview on Inside City Hall. “I welcome the fact that a lot of supply is rushing in, because that’ll finally allow us to crank up our capacity. But obviously that’s only for a brief period of time. What we need is consistent supply.”

Richard Chupp would attend program services near where he lives in Binghamton. Art has been his primary outlet. But then the pandemic hit.

"I'm not able to see my friends, see the people that I usually see," Chupp said, sitting alongside his sister, Linda.

Monday marked a new week for Governor Andrew Cuomo, but a nagging topic remained: a Justice Department probe into nursing home deaths during the pandemic, a probe he says that goes back several months.

"We have had requests for the DOJ since last year, when President Trump accused Democratic states of the COVID problem,” Cuomo said at his daily press briefing. “The inquiry has been going on since last August. We have complied with the inquiry and we will continue to."

For the first time in nearly a year, local basketball fans can cheer on their favorite teams in person.

"There was a time when we didn’t see this coming, so we are finally here,” said Adina Erwin, the general manager of the Barclays Center.

New York state officials on Monday detailed new guidelines and rules for nursing home visitations as COVID-19 testing of guests will be playing a larger role.

The previous rule of barring guests from nursing homes that have had a COVID case within 14 days remains in effect.

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday appointed a new senior adviser he calls the city's "COVID Recovery Czar".

Lorraine Grillo will be focused on coordinating different agencies and leaders in city government to help the city bounce back from the coronavirus.

NEW YORK — Subway riders have additional hours they can ride the rails after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority began its shorter overnight closures Monday.

The system will shut down for cleaning and disinfecting from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. instead of the usual 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. window.

QUEENS, N.Y. — The city Sheriff's Office busted a Queens restaurant this weekend after deputies found more than 300 people packed in a basement.

Deputies saw groups of people entering Sueno Americano Bar and Restaurant on Junction Boulevard in Jackson Heights early Sunday morning.

New York has surpassed 2.2 million first doses of the vaccine, with more than 1.1 million people receiving the second dose, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office on Sunday said.

Distribution of the vaccine, however, has been complicated by the winter storms across a broad swath of the country last week, even as state officials say their infrastructure can enable up to 100,000 shots a day.

The percentage of workers in New York with union membership held steady last year due to an overall drop in unemployment amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers released this month show.

Nevertheless, the pandemic's impact on employment in New York took its toll on union jobs as well: The number of workers represented by a union fell from 1.8 million to 1.7 million between 2019 and 2020.

Tony Iglesias is back to doing what he loves, at the place he loves. He says when the state ordered that pool halls close to curb the spread of the coronavirus in March of 2020, a big part of his life was also shut down.

"The hardest thing for me with COVID is I haven't seen my closest friends in a year," said Iglesias.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that city restaurants and their employees need immediate relief from the federal government. He's hoping to provide that relief as soon as Congress heads back to Washington to hash out a new aid package.

Schumer highlighted plans for his restaurant relief fund, which is modeled after the bipartisan supported Restaurants Act, providing flexible grants as a lifeline for New York restaurants.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday the state's single-day COVID-19 positivity rate has droped below 3% for the first time since November 23rd.

The state's positivity rate is now 2.99%, according to the governor. More than 6,600 of Saturday's 221,000 tests were positive.

MANHATTAN — Charul Gopal is in her element at the piano.

"Music gives that peace and comfort and it is really a soul settling thing," Gopal said as she sat at the piano bench ready to start her lesson.

NEW YORK — Five community-based vaccine pop-up sites are opening Saturday in each of the city's boroughs and comes as a limited supply of vials threatens the availability of second doses for some New Yorkers.

These are the first of 13 pop-up sites set to open this week at community centers, public housing complexes, and cultural centers in the city.

Daniel J. Watts made a big splash on Broadway playing "Ike Turner" in "Tina: the Musical." But then the music stopped when the pandemic forced theaters to go dark last March.

"We were on a nice run, and it came to a screeching halt," Watts says.

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been under fire recently for what critics describe as sometimes bullying tactics.

But instead of showing humility, the governor on Friday seemed to have the opposite reaction to the growing storm over nursing home deaths from COVID-19.

NEW YORK — "I just was denied, denied, denied," Julie Tadlock said, summing up her experience trying to get an appointment to get the COVID-19 vaccine Monday.

As an emergency medical technician, she was among the earliest groups eligible for the shot. But because of her underlying health conditions, she waited.

NEW YORK — New York City restaurants will be allowed to operate at 35% capacity starting next Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

Indoor dining resumed in the city at 25% capacity last week after two months of it being suspended due to climbing coronavirus rates.

NEW YORK — State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chairman of the state Senate’s Health Committee, weighed in on the growing controversy over Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic in nursing homes.

During a Friday interview with anchor Errol Louis on Inside City Hall, Rivera said that he has long opposed the emergency powers granted to the governor last year because he believes that the executive office has the authority to be able to take care of the crisis without extraordinary powers.

NEW YORK — After another winter storm, New Yorkers are now dealing with the big freeze and a dwindling supply of coronavirus vaccines heading into the weekend.

Icy roads and sidewalks are creating dangerous conditions.

NEW YORK — Naomi Beckwith was recently named the incoming deputy director and chief curator for the Guggenheim Museum, making her the museum's first Black chief curator when she begins her new role this summer. This comes as the city's art scene has been advocating to make the industry more inclusive as the fight for racial justice continues.

Beckwith, who is currently the senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, joined Political anchor Errol Louis on Inside City Hall on Friday evening to talk about her new role.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday confirmed that there is an ongoing federal investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.

“I am certainly aware that there already is an investigation ongoing on the federal level. And I will, of course, monitor that,” Senator Gillibrand said during a press conference.

The state Department of Health will once again allow visitations at nursing homes following new guidance from federal health officials, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced.

The announcement comes amid growing scrutiny of the Cuomo administration's handling of nursing homes during the pandemic and disclosure of fatality.

NEW YORK — For the first time in its 130-year history, Carnegie Hall will miss an entire season.

It's canceling all performances from April 6 through July at its three venues, extending the pandemic shutdown that began last March.

Before the shutdown, you could find the famous French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at the Moulin Rouge - the Broadway show, that is, eight times a week. But despite Broadway being closed, there is another way to encounter the 19th century artist.

"Voyeur: The Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec is an unforgettable walk through Greenwich village that will transport you back to Paris in the 1800s," said Mara Lieberman, executive artistic director of Bated Breath Theatre Company.

A survey of 2,200 AARP New York activists found less than half of them were able to successfully schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine, the group said Thursday.

The survey underscores the difficulty for New Yorkers, and older people in particular, in signing up online for an appointment.

In a new chapter to a nursing home controversy that has dogged his administration, Gov. Cuomo went after Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim, one of the most outspoken critics of Cuomo for his handling of the pandemic in facilities for the elderly.

NEW YORK — Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim says he spoke out about a call with Gov. Andrew Cuomo — in which he claimed the governor threatened him — because he could not lie about the administration’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.

“If it was just yelling at me. I think we could have gotten past it, but it was the yelling plus the request to lie about what I heard that ultimately made me speak publicly about it. Because I can’t be an accomplice. I refuse to lie to cover up something that this administration, you know, possibly had broken the law,” Kim said in a Thursday night interview on Inside City Hall.

In the last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo has accused at least two people of committing crimes. First, it was a Democratic State Senator on Monday.

“That’s a crime. That’s not raw politics,” he said.

It’s been a hard year for the Coney Island community and its businesses.

Councilman Mark Treyger, who represents the area at City Hall, said that the Brooklyn neighborhood is at a critical juncture in its history.

Sabrina and Giuseppe Falanga are working with their wedding planner, asking their families and friends to save the date once again. The Brooklyn couple initially planned on getting married last June 27th. The pandemic forced the couple to cancel their big day.

“It was it was very hard to accept and to continue planning so we kind of like put a standstill on even talking about it,” said Sabrina Falanga, a Bensonhurst resident.

A routine press call with Governor Andrew Cuomo and reporters to provide an update on COVID-19 statistics veered to a topic that had little to do with the pandemic. The governor lit into Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim of Queens over a nail salon bill that passed six years ago.

“I do believe Ron Kim acted unethically, if not illegally,” Cuomo said. “I do believe he has a continuing racket where he raises money from the owners of the salons who opposed the salon bill. I believe that.”

The openings of two COVID-19 vaccination sites that were set to open on Thursday are now being postponed because of supply shortages and shipment delays caused by snow and sleet across the country, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday evening.

The vaccination sites at the Empire Outlets on Staten Island and at Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village will remain empty Thursday, which was the day they were supposed to begin distributing the shots.

Shellborn Porter woke up before dawn Wednesday without a vaccination appointment.

By 11 a.m., she was at Teachers Prep High School, getting an inoculation.

More than a dozen "pop-up" sites for vaccinations will be put in place around New York in the coming days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

The sites will be in multiple cities — in Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo — as the state seeks to target communities deemed "socially vulnerable" to ensure equal disbursement of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office on Wednesday released the full transcript of a two-hour Zoom meeting between state lawmakers and top aide Melissa DeRosa that has become the focal point of a growing firestorm over nursing homes in New York.

In the meeting, held a week ago, DeRosa acknowledged to lawmakers the administration withheld data requested by lawmakers due to a federal inquiry in August.

BROOKLYN - For Christians around the world, Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and reflection leading up to Easter Sunday.

Ash Wednesday looked a bit different this year for Laurel Frazier, as she attended mass at St. James Cathedral in downtown Brooklyn.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announces the state has sued Amazon regarding COVID-19-related safety measures for employees.

James’ office announced the suit — filed in the Supreme Court of New York County — Wednesday morning, citing both the safety measures and “Amazon’s retaliatory actions against multiple employees amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city will run out of vaccines either today or tomorrow, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.

Currently, there are fewer than 30,000 first doses on hand, he said.

The AARP in New York on Wednesday called for the inclusion of a five-point plan for overhauling nursing home policy in New York, including a full repeal of an immunity provisions first granted last year to the facilties.

The proposals come amid an ongoing controversy over nursing homes in New York and the Cuomo administration's handling of death toll data in long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. That, in turn, is leading to calls for changes to bolster nursing homes and protect residents during this crisis and in future pandemics.

A City Council hearing Wednesday is considering changes to the system New Yorkers are using to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Critics of the current online appointment booking setup say it's too complicated and caters to those who are tech savvy.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — When the Empire Outlets open Thursday for COVID-19 vaccinations, Terrence Elliott won’t be in line. “To me it takes a long time to create a vaccine to a new disease or something and this is rushed out, so I don’t trust it,” he said. Though the vaccine is FDA approved and is scientifically tested, the Stapleton resident says he’s not ready to get the shot despite being eligible.

The outlets will serve as the borough's first mass vaccination site. Its opening was delayed due to a shortage of doses. It’ll be for Staten Islanders only, with appointments available seven days a week from 8 a. m. to 5 p.m. The shots will be given in an empty storefront next to iOptics and Jewelers on Fifth. “I’m gonna sign up. This is great location for the vaccine, a lot of people go back and fourth to work here so it’s easy for them,” said John Capone of Oakwood Beach. The Empire Outlets are located right next to the St George Ferry Terminal. The outdoor mall has a parking garage that can fit 1,200 cars. Free parking will be offered to the first 1,000 people to help incentivize people to get the vaccine. After that it’ll cost $5 for three hours. The area also has several public transit options nearby. “This is very good idea, I think. A lot of people are waiting to take the vaccine,” said Mahmudul Dewan, who lives in St. George. New city numbers show Staten Island and Manhattan leading the five boroughs when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations. But for people like Terrence Elliott, the skepticism is real. “Tell the Mayor to come take it first. Half the people I work with we don’t wanna take it, let other people take it and if they’re okay in two years, then we will take it,” he said. The Mayor says the city is working on getting a vaccine hub on Staten Island's south shore. Appointments at the Empire Outlets are required.

NEW YORK — Two Democratic state legislators on Tuesday night accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of not being truthful when he claimed his administration told the legislature last fall it delayed releasing full data on COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents to comply with a U.S. Department of Justice request.

In a Monday news conference, Cuomo backed top aide Melissa DeRosa, who told legislators the administration delayed providing them with full nursing home data to comply with a request from the Justice Department. DeRosa also said the administration “froze” any release of the statistics out of fear that it could spur a federal investigation. While expressing some contrition, the governor didn’t apologize for not providing the data in a timely manner to the legislature and the press, and said there is nothing further to investigate.

Sharon Solange has worked at Beach Gardens Rehab and Nursing Center in Far Rockaway, Queens for more than a decade as a certified nursing assistant. She says the coronavirus took a toll: at least 25 residents and one staff member died from COVID-19.

“We were hoping we’d get rid of COVID. Now the facility is clean, you know, we just do our social distancing and everybody's gonna be OK,” she said.

For three days, Seth Urbinder has been glued to his computer trying to get an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine, but so far, no luck.

"It's frustrating because you look at the system and every place you go to says, ‘Schedule your vaccine,’ and there is just nothing there," said Urbinder as he attempted to secure a vaccine appointment at his kitchen table.

There were 250,924 vaccine appointments made over the course of the first day millions of New Yorkers were newly eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office on Tuesday said.

The scheduling total is a record for the state since vaccinations began in New York in December and came as people with a range of underlying health conditions became eligible.

NEW YORK — Manhattan and Staten Island neighborhoods are leading New York City in COVID-19 vaccinations, while the parts of the city hit hardest by the coronavirus — the South Bronx, south and central Queens and central Brooklyn — lag far behind, according to city vaccine data released Tuesday morning.

The Upper East Side and Upper West Side have the highest rates of partially and fully vaccinated New Yorkers out of the city’s densest areas, with neighborhoods like Lenox Hill showing 16% of residents fully vaccinated.

NEW YORK — Frank Moy is definitely what you'd call a hands on kind of guy. Whether it's helping get delivery orders ready, making sure his cooks have what they need to resume indoor dining, or making sure his customers, some whom have been coming in for years, receive the service and the personal touch they've come to expect.

The 70-year-old has owned Cafe Evergreen on First Avenue near 74th Street in Manhattan for nearly 27 years, but has lived in the city since the 1970s.

NEW YORK — After being silent over a controversy sparked by comments from top aide Melissa DeRosa, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday publicly backed up what she told legislators in a private Zoom call last week.

DeRosa said the administration did not fulfill the legislature’s request for data last year on nursing home deaths, opting instead to comply with a request for data from the U.S. Justice Department first.

Nearly one year after the nation's largest school system shut its doors and switched to remote learning, we take a look at the efforts to reopen safely and the hiccups along the way. Pat Kiernan speaks to NY1 Education Reporter Jillian Jorgensen about the state of our schools.

NEW YORK — The New York City subway system is moving closer to returning to 24-hour service.

The MTA announced that starting Monday, Feb. 22, overnight subway closures will be reduced to two hours, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. instead of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

For high school athletes, team sports can offer a chance to make friends, improve their physical and mental health and, for some, earn a college scholarship. The opportunity to play also can provide motivation to go to school. But because of the pandemic, it's been nearly a year since city public school students have been allowed to play major team sports. NY1 education reporter Jillian Jorgensen has one student's story.

Just about every day, Johan Cires goes to Sunset Park to work out. These days, that means heading to a patch of green shoveled from the snow and ice.

NEW YORK — A person from Connecticut who was transferred to New York City for treatment has a concerning variant of COVID-19 first detected in South Africa, Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed Monday afternoon.

In his coronavirus press briefing, Cuomo said the infected person was transferred from Connecticut directly to a city hospital. He said the infected person is not a New York City resident, rather someone from Connecticut who was transferred to the city for a procedure.

More than 1 million New Yorkers have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccination in New York, but better coordination between the federal government and state governments is needed to boost distribution, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said.

All told, 3 million COVID shots have been administered in New York as cases since a holiday surge have leveled off and hospitalizations over a 7-day average have also declined.

New Yorkers with underlying health conditions like cancer, asthma, and kidney disease started getting vaccinated for COVID-19 Monday. But because the state does not have enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all eligible people, getting an appointment is not easy.

Because of his asthma Paul Stolarski is more vulnerable to the coronavirus. “I’m very, very careful. I don’t go anywhere to eat, I stay home, I go to work that’s it," said Stolarski. He finally has some peace of mind. Monday he got his first dose of the vaccine at the Javits Center. “It’s a relief. I hope everyone gets done quick we have to get this done." His wife Leslee was able to get vaccinated a couple of weeks ago because she is a teacher. “Even when I got my vaccine I did not feel relief that I could of because I was worried about him,“ said Mrs. Stolarski. New Yorkers with asthma now qualify for the vaccine, part of an expansion of eligibility that also includes people with cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart conditions and obesity. Pregnant women can now get vaccinated too. The governor says New Yorkers with these kinds of conditions make up about 94% of the state's COVID-19 deaths. Linda Zucker is a breast cancer survivor. She was able to book an appointment at the Javits Center for Monday morning. “They tell me I’m not high risk anymore but I was happy to see that I was included in the list," said Zucker. "I’ll sleep much better tonight.“ But booking these appointments has not been easy. The state system was inundated with requests Sunday, when the newly eligible were first allowed to schedule a vaccination.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Morris Homapour is a salesman. It’s what he loves. It’s who he is, but now these big sales will be his last.

"Just horrible," he said about permanently shutting the doors to his Flatbush Avenue store, High Image Fashion, for good.

NEW YORK — The fitness industry in the city has taken multiple hits during the coronavirus pandemic. Gyms in the five boroughs are allowed to operate at 25% capacity only, while class-based gyms aren't able to operate at all.

Meantime, gyms elsewhere in the state can operate at 33% capacity. Many in the industry have been raising concerns about the disparity, while at the same time calling on the federal government to step in and help.

NEW YORK — When Maria Davis was diagnosed with HIV in 1995, she says many people had a different name for it.

They called it “the monster.”

In a typical year, Great NY Noodletown in Chinatown would be packed the day before Lunar New Year, but this is no normal year.

"We only doing like 40% of the business," said partner Stephen Li.

NEW YORK — A baseball game at Yankee Stadium. The Nets’ new “big three” at Barclays Center. A concert at Madison Square Garden.

New Yorkers will soon get to watch these kinds of massive spectator events, unthinkable for much of the past year, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that state venues can reopen to spectators at 10% capacity starting Feb. 23.

It’s Vaccine Education Week on NY1, so we’re bringing you a very special episode in which political reporters Zack Fink, Juan Manuel Benítez, and Courtney Gross discuss New York’s COVID-19 vaccination program with the chairman of the City Council Committee on Health, Mark Levine, who’s been closely following the rollout in the five boroughs.

The governor’s top aide is admitting that the Cuomo administration covered up the number of nursing home deaths from the coronavirus last year in order to avoid prosecution by the Trump administration.

Sources tell NY1 that Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa made the revelation to Democratic state lawmakers in a video conference call to explain why the administration withheld basic information about nursing home deaths.

NEW YORK — When DonChristian Jones founded Public Assistants in the summer of 2020, he had no idea it would quickly become a cultural hub.

At the time, the city was going through a huge uprising after back-to-back incidents of police brutality around the country and the COVID-19 pandemic upending the economy.

When it comes to face coverings, N95 masks are considered the gold standard in the fight against COVID-19, but that’s only when the mask is a real N95.

Now, a warehouse manager from Brooklyn, Zhi Zang of Dyker Heights, is facing charges of trademark counterfeiting after more than one million counterfeit masks were seized in Queens, with more arrests possible as the investigation continues.

Actor/Director Joel Grey is scheduled to get the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination Thursday. Frank DiLella checked in with the Oscar and Tony Award winner about his experience, how he's doing, and why he says it's crucial to get vaccinated for the future of the theater industry. Here is an edited portion of their conversation, as NY1's coverage of Vaccine Education Week continues.

FRANK DILELLA: You got the vaccine. How are you feeling?

When the Buffalo Bills made the playoffs this year, New York State tried an experiment: letting a limited number of fans into the outdoor stadium for its two home games.

Governor Andrew Cuomo says restrictions on those fans helped prevent a COVID-19 outbreak.

NEW YORK — How do you tell if a scientific study is trustworthy? That was the question that three nurses discussed on a call-in radio show last Thursday night, in an effort to educate their community on the science around the COVID-19 vaccine.

For one, the study’s author should be an expert, the nurses said — like how if you have a question about kosher food, you go to a rabbi who is considered an expert on Jewish dietary law.

Even before the pandemic had all of us worried about the coronavirus, Seth Kessler would think about germs - especially when taking mass transit.

"Riding the subway, I always do the subway shuffle, you always try to keep your balance, without touching anything, it's hard," Kessler said.

New Yorkers are now receiving vaccines against COVID-19, and the state recently expanded eligibility rules for who can receive them. More than 7 million New Yorkers are currently eligible.

Here are answers to some of the common questions:

NEW YORK — New York City will be getting two new major vaccine distribution centers by the end of the month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

The sites, which will open in Queens and Brooklyn the week of Feb. 24, are meant to address disparities in vaccine access in communities of color.

MILWAUKEE — The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has offered a hopeful turn in the pandemic’s path. The shots help your body put up its immune defenses and fend off the coronavirus as it tries to take hold.

But those defenses aren’t perfect: It’s still possible to get a COVID-19 infection after you get vaccinated, explains Dr. Joyce Sanchez, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

QUEENS, N.Y. - Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday again called on the state and federal government to up the vaccine supply as Citi Field opened to become the city's latest mass vaccination site.

The site will operate 24 hours a day on Wednesdays through Sundays.

As part of Vaccine Education Week on NY1, Errol discussed the glaring racial gap in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in New York and across the country, with Dr. Uché Blackstock, who is an emergency medicine physician based in Brooklyn and a Yahoo News medical contributor. Dr. Blackstock explained what the Biden administration should be doing to address the racial disparities and discussed the need to improve overall access to the vaccines.

She also shared what she tells patients who are hesitant about taking the shot and explained the differences between all the vaccines and their effectiveness against the new strains of coronavirus. And as New York City prepares to resume indoor dining, she talked about whether or not people should be eating at restaurants indoors.

The home of the Mets opens at 10 a.m. Wednesday to provide vaccines.

Half the appointments are for Queens residents, and the other half are for food service workers and drivers licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Keeping a job during the pandemic has been both a blessing and a curse for Elva Aragon.

She feels lucky to have a job. On the other hand, her job as a grocery store cashier made her sick with COVID-19 last year. She was out of work for eight weeks.

Beginning Wednesday, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) will add the Mets-Willets Point stop to accommodate those getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at Citi Field.

Trains typically only stop there when there is a Mets home game, or during the U.S. Open.

NEW YORK — New York City’s health department has closed 12 of its 15 neighborhood COVID-19 vaccine distribution hubs for three days, citing a lack of vaccine supply, leaving several neighborhoods that have been hit hard by the coronavirus without immunization sites.

This is at least the second week that the city had planned to close down most of its vaccine distribution sites Monday through Wednesday after running out of a weekly allotment of vaccines over the weekend, a health department spokesperson said.

The stage has been mainly barren at Theatre 80 St. Mark's in the East Village since the pandemic arrived in New York last year, a stark contrast to the decades of performances here.

Lorcan Otway owns the theatre, founded in the 1960s by his father Howard, an actor writer and producer. Previously, the location had been home to a jazz club.

The coronavirus pandemic is putting a spotlight on inequality in health care. Black and Latino New Yorkers have the highest rates of COVID-19 infection and death. That’s why officials said they would initially target communities of color in distributing vaccines.

But late last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that only 11% of the New Yorkers who have been vaccinated are Black, and only 15% are Latino.

The overall picture of how COVID-19 devastated nursing homes in New York is growing grimmer. It comes after the Cuomo administration quietly released new data late last week that included deaths of residents who were in long-term care or assisted living facilities.

“The number of hospital deaths of long-term-care facility residents was 1,500. Over 1,500. So that number went from being 200 to 1,700 overnight,” explained Bill Hammond, a senior fellow of health policy for think tank Empire Center.

This week's podcast is part of Spectrum's Vaccine Education Week initiative. On the episode, Pat Kiernan looks at why health care officials say it's important Americans get the COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible. Plus, he dispels the myths and misinformation around the COVID-19 doses, and offers tips on how you can register when you're eligible.

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NEW YORK — Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, will open as a vaccine hub on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a Monday morning press conference.

De Blasio had planned to open the stadium as a 24-hour vaccine hub in January, but the opening was delayed due to low COVID-19 vaccine supply, he said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that indoor dining will reopen in New York City beginning Friday, two days earlier than originally planned.

The governor said that restaurants have been asking to open prior to the holiday, to help them prepare for a big rush after months of being closed for indoor service.

Pop-up performances will be coming to the city and state this spring as part of two initiatives announced by the mayor and the governor to help the theater community make a comeback after nearly a year without live performances.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan calls for hundreds of performing arts events around the state as part of a long-term plan to bring back in-person events scuttled by the pandemic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nearly two months into the U.S. vaccination effort against COVID-19, Pfizer and Moderna remain the only two companies with approved vaccines. That should change soon.

The past year has seen more than 100 COVID-19 vaccines developed, with 54 reaching clinical testing so far, according to an analysis from the Washington Post. Seventeen are in the final stage of testing — known as phase 3 — and could be considered for emergency approval in the coming months.

NEW YORK — Thousands of city public school students will soon be able to return to in-person classes at the end of the month.

The city Department of Education on Monday announced middle schools will welcome back students on Thursday, February 25, one day after staff return to the buildings.

Super Bowl Sunday is typically one of the most lucrative nights for sports bars and food orders. But with the pandemic and Mother Nature teaming up and presenting some formidable obstacles on the day of the big game, one outdoor viewing party in Brooklyn faced an uphill battle trying to lure customers.

In fact, setting up a projection screen for what could have been an awesome outdoor viewing party to enjoy the Super Bowl led to even more disappointment for a struggling business owner, hoping her bar and restaurant will survive the pandemic.