Travelers who violate quarantine rules could face stiff fines, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

De Blasio and the city's sheriff laid out enforcement plans of public health safety guidelines for this Thanksgiving holiday. The plan includes vehicle checkpoints at bridges and crossings and at dropoff bus stations carrying out-of-state travelers.

As New York City’s coronavirus infection rate continues to rise, the city’s contact tracing program is bracing for an even bigger surge after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Despite repeated pleas from health officials to avoid travel, more than three million people traveled through U.S. airport checkpoints this past weekend, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Friday and Sunday marked the second and third times since the beginning of the pandemic when more than one million people were screened in a day.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — By this time next month, one or more COVID-19 vaccines will likely be available. The federal government says 20 million people could be vaccinated against the deadly corovnaivus by the end of the year. But who will be the first (and second, and third) to get the shots?

It’s a question that public health officials, bioethicists, and political leaders have grappled with for months. With confirmation last week that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are more than 90% effective, it’s also more releavant now than ever. Official word on the protocol for distribution and prioritization is still weeks away, but here’s what we know now:

NEW YORK - Claire Quigley would have spent a lot of time playing field hockey this semester, but nothing about her senior year at Wagner College has gone the way she thought it would.

"I understand why we're not playing, so like that's fine, and it's really nice because I had so many good memories here," said Quigley.

NEW YORK - One of the most highly anticipated elements of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the inflated balloons. This year, there will be 12 large character balloons, but with some modifications on how they are presented, all with safety in mind.

"This parade is something that everybody, every Thanksgiving across the country, they can rely on. They can depend on. They know that in the morning when they're making their Thanksgiving dinner, they can turn on the TV, they can see the balloons, they can see the floats and they'll be able to do all of that this year," said Susan Tercero, the Executive Director of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday that the southern part of Staten Island will transition from a yellow zone to an orange zone.

The decision means that businesses like restaurants and gyms will face new restrictions which will go into effect Wednesday. For schools in Staten Island’s new orange zone, additional restrictions will go into effect on Thursday. For the owners of the Historic Old Bermuda Inn Restaurant and Catering Hall on Staten Island, the governor’s announcement means the cancellation of Thanksgiving dinner plans.

With Thanksgiving just days away, Sophie Krakowski wanted a COVID-19 test, and the results, right away. So she came to a storefront on Elizabeth Street.

"We’re doing a small Thanksgiving, just my family, my aunt. But we’re all getting tested because my parents are over 65. So just to be smart, me and my three sisters are all getting tested ahead of Thanksgiving," she said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday some elements of a reopening plan for in-person learning.

He didn’t give a set date for when classrooms would begin to reopen, but he did lay out a plan for which students would go back first.

NEW YORK - Jared Thomas of the Bronx says his life wasn't going in the right direction after graduating from community college and he struggled to stay out of trouble.

"I didn't want to keep on making the same mistakes, being around the same people and I wanted a job,” said Thomas, who is now a Chef for City Beet Kitchens.

Sebastian Pineda is not only a bartender at Bayou, which serves Cajun food. He also rings up tabs and buses tables.

But with Governor Cuomo issuing a warning Sunday that parts of Staten Island could be designated a red zone in the near future, Pineda fears he and some coworkers could be out of a job, if the Island’s coronavirus numbers do not drop soon.

Bodies of hundreds of city residents who died from COVID-19 are reportedly being stored in freezer trucks on the Brooklyn Waterfront.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the bodies are of people whose families either can't be located, or can't afford the cost of a proper burial.

Parts of Staten Island could become a red or an orange zone if the numbers don’t improve this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned on Sunday.

“Staten Island is a serious problem,” Cuomo said during a press briefing. “We’re running into a hospital capacity issue that we’re dealing with on Staten Island.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announces an $11 billion plan to produce and distribute more PPE around the country as cases continue to rise.

"We do not want to repeat what happened in the first crisis where there was a desperate shortage, of masks of gowns of gear," said Schumer in a press briefing on Sunday. "Now the bottom line is the second wave to New York is coming, so we need an expansive plan that helps docs, nurses, hospital workers, providers get the gear they need before, before the second wave hits us."

WASHINGTON - The head of the U.S. effort to produce a coronavirus vaccine says the first immunizations could happen on Dec. 12.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is set to meet Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer Inc.’s request for an emergency use authorization for its developing COVID-19 vaccine.

U.S. health officials Saturday agreed to allow emergency use of a second antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental medicine that President Donald Trump was given when he was sickened last month.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug to try to prevent hospitalization and worsening disease from developing in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.

NEW YORK - The latest numbers from Mayor de Blasio's office show a 3.11% seven-day average positivity rate.

That’s up from the 3.02% average the city recorded on Friday. More than 1,300 new cases were reported, and 118 patients were admitted to the hospital.

Perched in his office above the shopping aisles of the Westside Market, manager Efren Mones keeps a watchful eye. On the last weekend before Thanksgiving, he’s ready for a rush of shoppers in need of holiday staples.

“Butter, eggs, milk, sugar, all the baking items,” are what’s in most demand, he says.

One of the newer residents of Mott Haven is also one of the most popular. It is a refrigerator on East 141st Street and St. Ann Avenue, which is packed with fresh food for anyone who needs it.

Daniel Zauderer is a sixth-grade teacher in the neighborhood. He got the idea to set up a fridge on the sidewalk after realizing how many of his students don't have enough to eat at home.

A “true COVID survivor.” That’s what 61-year-old James Colon’s doctors call him after being hospitalized for more than six months battling the coronavirus.

“It whacked me April 12. That’s when my whole world fell apart,” the retired school teacher and nursing home worker said.

NEW YORK — Astoria’s Redken Saloon Salon is used to booking clients based on good reviews, but the owner told NY1 on Friday that rumors now appear to be fueling a number of new appointments booked in the last week.

“We’re busy because of people’s fear of a lockdown. It brought in the idea that, ‘All right, let me get in before they lock it down,’” explained Frank Arcabascio, the owner of Redken Saloon Salon.

NEW YORK — In April, more than half of Rikers Island was locked down for quarantine for exposure to the coronavirus.

During the height of the pandemic in the spring, more than 1,400 correction officers caught the virus. Three inmates died.

Pfizer and German partner BioNTech’s application to distribute their vaccine comes days after their final trial results showed it is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 with no major safety concerns.

If the Food and Drug Administration grants the emergency approval, the first doses could be shipped in a few weeks.

President Donald Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for coronavirus, a spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press on Friday.

The spokesperson says the younger Trump learned his diagnosis earlier this week, has no symptoms and has been quarantining.

NEW YORK — New Yorkers can expect that indoor dining, gyms and salons will close “soon after Thanksgiving, probably the first week of December,” Mayor Bill de Blasio projected Friday on his weekly radio program.

“I don’t say that with anything but sorrow,” de Blasio told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer.

NEW YORK — Two influential Brooklyn political insiders apologized Friday after attending a crowded party flouting public safety restrictions that currently prevent people from gathering as the city's rate of coronavirus infections continues to steadily increase.

Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Chaplain Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Carlo Scissura, head of the New York Building Congress, both appeared in photos obtained by The Daily News, which first reported Lewis-Martin and other guests were mingling in a crowd where no one appeared to be wearing masks.

NEW YORK - About 35,000 students opted in to blended learning during a two-week enrollment period in November, the city says.

Families had from November 2 through November 15 to switch into blended learning, which allows students to attend school in person at least part of the time. The city has said it would be the only opportunity to switch from remote learning to blended instruction, although students attending in person can go remote at any time.

NEW YORK - It certainly was nothing like past Fridays before Thanksgiving at LaGuardia Airport. Many folks are heeding calls to not travel as coronavirus cases rise across the nation. Some though did make it to the new Terminal B for flights to see family and friends elsewhere.

One traveler said they had no concerns about flying despite the warnings. “I’m going to keep my fingers crossed.”

Macy's has unveiled its holiday window displays at its flagship Herald Square store, paying tribute to frontline workers.

The theme of this year's display is "give, love and believe."

NEW YORK - Since 1924, the employees of Macy’s Department store have been putting on a Thanksgiving Day parade that takes place in the streets of New York City. This annual event has ballooned into a national celebration that, to many, marks the official start of the holiday season.

“We can look at a parade and say, oh, it's just a parade, but I think it's more than, and that's why I think we're so passionate this year of keeping the tradition alive,” said Wesley Whatley, creative producer of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Haz Em is the inventor and founder of Covidisor, a spaceman-like helmet with a battery-powered respirator that keeps the coronavirus out.

The Manhattan-based architect started creating them in May.

With the city reaching the COVID-19 positivity threshold of 3%, public classrooms have officially closed for in-person learning.

NY1’s Juan Manuel Benitez, Courtney Gross, and Gloria Pazmino explain how the announcement unfolded after hours of anticipation, confusion, and political drama.

Millions of New York City tenants have been unable to pay their rents for the past several months, a situation that has in turn left building owners struggling to keep up with their mortgages.

A new report by the nonprofit Community Service Society (CSS) warns that this could set off a chain reaction that could ultimately lead to a housing crisis comparable in scale to the 2008 crash.

NEW YORK — City schools transitioned to a remote model Thursday as the percentage of positive coronavirus tests topped 3% around the city. Indoor dining and gyms might be impacted next.

On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the city could soon entirely be deemed an ‘orange zone’ if the rolling coronavirus infection rate in the city, as measured by the state, hits 3%. The state’s seven-day rate for the city was 2.5% on Wednesday, while the city’s measure was 3.0%. On Thursday, the city’s measure rose to 3.01%.

Transit officials say that even after the pandemic is history, ridership will not fully rebound, squeezing the MTA's budget and likely possibly causing a reduction in service.

"But perhaps a bigger challenge for us is right sizing MTA to meet the new normal in 2024," Robert Foran, the MTA's chief financial officer, said at Wednesday's agency board meeting. "We're going to have to match our service structure and service level to equal rider demand."

In their first official briefing since July, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force addressed the nation on Thursday, publicly acknowledging the current surge in coronavirus cases as a group for the first time.

A number of familiar faces spoke in the briefing room, including Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Deborah Birx, Coronovirus Response Coordinator, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

NEW YORK — The parks department announced Thursday that field permits to use city parks and athletic areas are being pulled until further notice as coronavirus cases continue to rise throughout the five boroughs.

The department is also pausing processing any further permit applications for the winter season, which is slated to start December 1.

Public school buildings closed indefinitely Thursday. What will it take to reopen them? Mayor de Blasio says he doesn't have a plan for that yet.

"Sometimes it is hard to imagine the next phase until you get there. You do your damnedest to plan ahead, but you can't always do that,” de Blasio said Thursday during his daily briefing. “We have a really ever-changing situation here, but the conversations are quickly progressing.”

Dr. Vasantha Kondamudi can recall when nearly every floor of the 175-year-old Brooklyn Hospital Center housed COVID-19 patients.

“By early April, the entire hospital was 90% of them. They had COVID patients,” said Kondamudi, the hospital’s senior chief medical officer.

NEW YORK - Parents and students marched to City Hall on Thursday morning to deliver a petition and send a message.

“We represent more than 12,000 New York City parents,” said one petitioner. "We are demanding that schools open now."

Mayor Bill de Blasio said indoor dining and gyms will likely close in the next two weeks as part of new restrictions coming down from the governor’s office amidst rising coronavirus infection cases in the city.

On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the city could soon entirely be deemed an ‘orange zone’ if the rolling coronavirus infection rate in the city, as measured by the state, hits 3%. The state’s seven-day rate for the city was 2.5% on Wednesday, while the city’s measure was 3.0%. On Thursday, the city’s measure rose to 3.01%.

The MTA's proposed budget lays clear the massive service cuts and layoffs that could be in store for next year if the federal government fails to come through with $12 billion in aid.

The agency has been warning for months that without a bailout it would be forced to cut transit service between 40% and 50%.

New York City is suspending in-person learning Thursday after hitting the citywide 3% coronavirus positivity threshold for shutting down schools.

While this metric has been regarded as the “switch” that sends students back to remote learning atmospheres, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza told NY1 in an exclusive interview that this threshold could change.

NEW YORK – With so much happening virtually these days, parents with young kids know how hard it can be to get kids off of their tablets and other devices.

One Brooklyn inventor has spent years developing something that he thinks will click with kids, but with no electronic components, can it keep them engaged? We headed to Assaf Eshet’s new office and retail space to find out.

"You’re gonna split that into thirds,” Alexander Harris told three budding cooks.

The instructions he provides at Emma's Torch are an education.

NEW YORK — In-person classes at public schools across the five boroughs will shift to fully remote starting Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

But will schools that are not part of the city education department also shut down? Does this announcement mean students can still get free meals?

NEW YORK - "Ugly” and “grim” - that’s how MTA officials described a budget that would drastically slash service and jobs - set to hit the riding public in May, unless the agency gets its federal bailout.

MTA officials at its monthly board meeting offered more details on their threats to cut service between 40 and 50% and lay off thousands of workers to make up a budget shortfall caused by the coronavirus.

ALBANY - All of New York City could soon be swept under an ‘orange zone’ if the rolling coronavirus infection rate in the city, as measured by the state, hits 3%, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a briefing on Wednesday.

The state's seven-day average for New York City currently stands at 2.5%.

NEW YORK - In-person learning at public schools will be suspended starting Thursday after the city's coronavirus infection rate reached 3%, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced first on Twitter and then in his daily press briefing, which occurred more than five hours later than its original start time.

It's a big blow for the nation's largest school system, which pushed hard to reopen for in-person learning in September following a spring of remote instruction.

Jesse McCoy has quite the remote learning set up at his home in Astoria. “But it's nothing like being in person. All we do is sit on our computers all day. It’s so boring,” he said.

Different press conferences, different calculations for tracking the coronavirus, different messages about whether the city’s public schools are closed for in-person learning amid rising COVID-19 rates.

“If by the state’s numbers you hit 3%, the schools close," Governor Cuomo said. "What’s going on here is nothing that the law hasn’t said over a month.”

Despite the cold, a line stretches along Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island's East Shore to get into an Urgent Care clinic.

It's become a common sight, day after day, across the borough, as the number of coronavirus cases rise.

Music has always been James Smith’s passion — a way of life.

For more than 40 years, he’s played the trumpet in clubs, in bands, on tour, even on Broadway. The pandemic brought all of that to a halt.

NEW YORK - In this room, everything from designing the boxes to the items placed inside is done with care by a group of school safety agents forming an assembly line of Thanksgiving dinner packages. It's a holiday gesture to families of the coworkers they lost to COVID-19.

"We lost 13 amazing school safety agents who will be greatly missed," said Yvette Perkins, an administrative staff analyst. "No one can ever replace them but they can never be forgotten."

The flames are burning again in the kitchen at Mustang Harry's.

Executive Chef Luis Tenecela started there as a dishwasher 25 years ago, and is one of the longtime employees at the famed Irish Sports Bar.

The state has fined and permanently shut down a Brooklyn funeral home months after dozens of bodies were discovered decomposing in unrefrigerated rental trucks during the height of the pandemic.

At least 50 bodies were found in April inside U-Haul trucks parked outside Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services on Utica Avenue in Flatlands.

For several hours on Monday and Tuesday, five attorneys sat in front of a Manhattan Supreme Court judge on Zoom arguing over the fate of more than 200 homeless men.

For months, the Upper West Side and Lower Manhattan have been clashing over who would take them. The men originally moved to the Lucerne Hotel in July — and immediately created a stir uptown. Residents complained their quality of life was deteriorating. Some said they saw drug deals, public urination and more.

MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS) — In recent months, the scientific world has seen a steady flow of research updating what we know about the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and how it affects humans. Because the virus is so new, researchers are still grappling with many questions about its function. And because of the nature of the scientific process, no single study can completely answer those questions. Instead, new research is constantly challenging our understanding of the pandemic.

Here, we explore some recent studies that have shed new light on the virus.

Pedro Cruz is heading to Brooklyn for a shift behind the wheel of his green taxi. But this day, as he does twice a week, Cruz is transporting food, not people.

“Sometimes, I get here earlier so I could be first on line,” Cruz said outside a warehouse in East Flatbush, waiting to load his car with boxes of food. The food is from the Met Council on Jewish Poverty to serve Holocaust survivors, largely Ukranian and Russian immigrants in Brooklyn. The Met Council signed up drivers through Arro, a company with an app to hail and pay for taxi trips. These programs are a life line for drivers like Cruz, an immigrant from Mexico and father of four, who saw his taxi trips all but disappear in the pandemic. "Right after the pandemic there was no business," Cruz said. "Everything shut down.” The pandemic hit Cruz personally as well as financially. His older brother in Mexico died. And he fell ill, too, taking him out of the drivers seat for a month last spring. "I felt, like, dizzy and my coffee, especially, I used to taste it, like, with a spoon of salsa in there," Cruz said. "That's how I knew I was sick." His wife, who also contracted coronavirus, lost her job and now they scramble to pay the rent for their Bronx apartment. "The rent money is a little bit of an issue right now," Cruz said. "For the meantime, we applied for food stamps, thank God we got it, and we’re getting there, little by little." Green taxis can pick up passengers anywhere in the city outside of central and lower Manhattan, and the airports. According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, green taxis averaged a combined 3,000 trips a day in September - less than half the number before the pandemic erupted in March. Cruz says he can make more money after a few hours of delivering food, as he can on a good day of driving for 10 hours. And unlike his taxi fares, there are no surcharges and fees he has to give back. "With these kind of deliveries, I make $150 - clean.” There's also the benefit of helping out New Yorkers in need. “This is a difficult time, and it help us," said Alex Feldman, who received a food package from Cruz. "It’s a way better feeling to help others," Cruz said.

Schools will stay open through at least Wednesday, Nov. 18, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

With the city currently below a 3% positivity rate for coronavirus infections over the past seven days, it remains below the threshold Mayor de Blasio has set for shutting schools down and going fully remote.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told NY1 city cops won't be breaking up large Thanksgiving gatherings next week.

Last week, Governor Cuomo said that the state would prohibit New Yorkers from holding Thanksgiving celebrations with more than 10 people present.

Andrea Scanniello, a bartender at The Rookery Bar in Bushwick, will be counting on the tips she get from her “regulars” to make it through the next few months.

Up until this past weekend, she had a second job at another Brooklyn bar. However, after the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions were implemented on Friday, she said that her second job has ended.

On a chilly day in the Melrose section of The Bronx, a line stretched for blocks, with neighborhood residents waiting for food for their holiday tables and beyond.

Among the first on line at the Bronx Works Classic Community Center was Julio Ortiz, a maintenance worker at Barclays Center who hasn't collected a paycheck during the pandemic. He arrived at the center at East 156th Street at 5 a.m.

NEW YORK — Kavita and Amit Padhiar will head out of the city to visit family for the holidays — as long as their COVID-19 tests come back negative.

They plan to keep their gathering small and safe.

NEW YORK — The city's health department estimates 2 to 3 million people in New York have already been exposed to COVID-19, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who says the department is ready to administer the vaccine when it’s ready.

In his weekly “Mondays with the Mayor” interview with NY1’s Bobby Cuza on Inside City Hall, de Blasio didn’t provide further details and evidence on how the health department reached the 2 to 3 million estimate, but experts agree that the number of reported COVID-19 cases in the country and across the world is very likely an undercount since not every person gets tested, or because people have been incorrectly diagnosed with an illness with symptoms similar to COVID-19.

We're staying open. That's the message from the city's Catholic schools to parents, even if the public schools close amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"I'm hoping and praying they stay open. I'm hoping and praying," said one parent. "Because if not, I don't know what we're going to do."

Mayor de Blasio says he's sticking to his guidelines for closing schools: If at least 3% of all coronavirus tests come back positive over seven days, all students will learn remotely.

But he's suggesting the rate may not have to fall below 3% to reopen the schools.

NEW YORK — The MTA wants $12 billion to a cover a falloff in fare and tax revenues caused by the pandemic.

It's looking to Washington for a bailout. But experts say the agency could erase some of the shortfall itself.

Duane Jackson has been an entrepreneur since 1989, selling souvenirs to thousands of tourists on city sidewalks.

“'I Love New York' T-shirts: That’s what people from all over the world come to purchase,” Jackson said.

Governor Andrew Cuomo in an interview with MSNBC on Monday morning did not rule out making further changes to New York City indoor dining rules as COVID-19 cases continues to rise in New York and around the country.

At the moment, indoor dining in New York City is limited to 25% occupancy.

Schools will stay open for at least another day as the city’s coronavirus positivity rate continues to remain below the threshold that would force the suspension of in-person learning, Mayor de Blasio said Monday.

Last week, the mayor warned that schools could close as early as today and switch to fully remote learning if the city’s seven-day infection rate reached 3% over the weekend.

New York City public schools are open for blended learning, but it's not clear how long that will be the case.

With COVID-19 rates rising in NYC and across the state, city and school officials are monitoring the numbers closely.

Across New York City, students attending public schools faced a major deadline Sunday when it came to deciding whether or not to participate in blended learning.

It’s a decision that will ultimately decide whether some students will ever step foot in a classroom this academic year.

New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are calling on Republican leaders to stop blocking a COVID-19 relief bill and work with Democrats to pass legislation aimed at helping millions of Americans.

Schumer and Gillibrand held a press conference in Midtown Sunday accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of blocking Democrats every step of the way on a COVID-19 aid package. It comes after President Donald Trump said in a tweet Saturday that Congress must pass a relief bill. Both Schumer and Gillibrand say Democrats have been ready to get a deal done.

Schools will remain open for in-person learning as the city's infection rate slightly decreased over the weekend. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday warned that schools could close Monday if the seven-day positivity rate went above 3%.

But now, that seven-day average has decreased from 2.69% to 2.57%, allowing classrooms to stay open at least through Monday.

NEW YORK - Parents and students came out in force Saturday afternoon to protest any possible school closures.

Organizers say they put together this rally in Foley Square in less than a day.

NEW YORK - Authorities say they shut down an illegal club in Manhattan that packed hundreds of people in.

It was one of two large indoor gatherings in the city that were busted by New York Sheriffs.

As the city’s coronavirus infection rate continues to increase, Gov. Andrew Cuomo suggested Saturday that schools don’t need to close if the virus isn’t spreading in classrooms.

Under the current guidelines, schools will close if the city’s infection rate hits 3%. But Cuomo said this rule should be reconsidered, now that a testing system is in place to identify if schools are safe.

NEW YORK — “There’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dr. Eric Appelbaum, chief medical officer at St. Barnabas Health System in the Bronx.

The borough ranks among the top five counties with the highest number of fatalities from COVID-19 in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

In March, with New York in the deadly grips of the outbreak, many court operations were halted or went remote.

“We are truly in the middle of a historic pandemic," New York State Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said at the time.

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio said schools could close as early as Monday should the city's positivity rate inch up further this weekend.

The seven-day rolling average for positive COVID-19 cases in the city was 2.8% on Friday, the mayor said on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, just below the city's 3% threshold for shutting down schools.

NEW YORK — Preparations are underway in Queens for Diwali, or the Indian festival of lights. While this year’s celebration will be different, people say the significance of the holiday is not lost during a pandemic.

An ancient Hindu tradition is being celebrated in a very 21st Century fashion in Queens and beyond.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he would delay sending an approved COVID-19 vaccine to New York until Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorizes it.

“We won't be delivering it to New York until we have authorization to do so, and that pains me to say that," Trump said, pointing to criticism Cuomo has made of the federal government's vaccination distribution plan.

NEW YORK — As coronavirus cases in the city spike, long lines are returning to testing sites.

"I think because the numbers are going up and people are trying to be extra-cautious and safe and take care of each other and make sure we have the information we need,” said Queens resident Gianna Cioffi.

NEW YORK — Mory Yakupov is still seeing red over what coronavirus "red zone" restrictions have done to his shoe repair business.

“I thought we're going to be open, it’s going to come back, but it’s very slow,” she said.

NEW YORK — The Court Square Diner has been a favorite spot for people who live and work in Long Island City for years. Like so many other restaurants in town, things have been rough.

“Everybody’s trying to make it, trying to survive, you know what I’m saying, and keep as many people working as we can,” said Nick Kanellos, the owner of the diner.

It’s lights out and doors locked at 10 p.m. for restaurants and bars starting Friday, the first major rollback of loosened restrictions amid a second coronavirus wave in New York.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the new rule, which only allows for takeout orders after that time, as coronavirus cases across the city and state have continued to climb over the past few weeks.

“I started Survivor Corps on March 24, right here,” said Diana Berrent, while standing in the bedroom of her Port Washington home.

“I was in isolation with the same mission that we have today, which is to mobilize an army of survivors to support science,” she said.

The new season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered Wednesday night after being delayed nearly two months because of the pandemic.

Production for the show was forced to shut down in March and wasn't allowed to resume until mid-July when the city entered phase four. The original premiere date was set for mid-September.

New coronavirus restrictions beginning Friday night include a 10:00 p.m. curfew for gyms citywide. This comes just a few months after gyms reopened in September.

“We’ve been anxious to get open,” said James Innocenti, whose company owns all 45 Planet Fitness locations in New York City.

QUEENS, N.Y. - Napolean Emill is one the many comedians who will miss nights performing at The Creek & The Cave.

“We had a time there, it was a one stop for broke comedians to hang out," Emill told NY1.

The blame game between moderate and progressive Democrats is on after the party lost seats in the House. NY1’s Zack Fink, Courtney Gross, and Juan Manuel Benitez discuss the divide and how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found herself in the middle of the national debate over the direction of the party.

NEW YORK — The city is preparing to shut down schools if the city’s seven-day coronavirus infection rate crosses the 3% threshold.

Currently, the percentage of people testing positive over a 7-day average is 2.6%. The rate has continued to climb over the past few weeks, crossing the 550 threshold of daily new COVID-19 infections for the last 11 days.

NEW YORK — Borough President Jimmy Oddo says he thinks coronavirus is spreading at higher rates on Staten Island compared to the rest of the city because residents are more likely to get in a car and travel throughout the island and into New Jersey.

“In other boroughs, perhaps folks are still a little reticent going on public transit to get to and from. On Staten Island, you hop in your car, you drive all over the borough,” Oddo said in a Thursday evening interview with Inside City Hall anchor Errol Louis. “So while there are hot spots in particular communities, the spread is rather consistent from south to north.”

At dismissal time at P.S. 31 in Greenpoint Brooklyn, some parents worry that in-classroom learning could soon be canceled because of the pandemic.

Willoughby Jenette is a single parent. His four-year-old son gets in-person learning five days a week: two days at P.S. 31, three days at a learning bridges program. He said even though he works mostly from home, remote learning would not work for him or his son.

As COVID-19 cases climb throughout the five boroughs, City Council's Health Committee Chair Mark Levine calls for a suspension of indoor dining.

Councilman Levine said the city needs to act swiftly to stop this second wave by reducing the amount of social interactions.