NY lifts hot-spot restrictions

Cuomo: NY removes most 'hot-spot' designations, including on LI

Cuomo said the spike in cases triggered by more gatherings through the holiday period is over, allowing for relaxing restrictions in "hot spot" zones.

Among the state areas where neighborhoods will be freed from additional limits on business activity and gatherings are orange zones in Staten Island and Westchester County and lesser-restricted yellow zones in Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Westchester.

The yellow zones on Long Island were Hampton Bays, Riverhead, Great Neck and Massapequa Park.

All other statewide virus mitigation rules will remain in effect, state officials said.

Meanwhile, the governor also said he appreciates President Joe Biden's administration increasing vaccine supply to New York by 16% starting this week but said that is still not nearly enough to adequately supply the first phases of the state's vaccination campaign.

"We could do literally millions and millions of doses in a month," Cuomo said at a news briefing in Albany. But "we will never get that level of supply because the federal government won’t get that level of production."

The number of new positives reported today: 977 in Nassau, in 1,084 Suffolk, 4,947 in New York City and 11,028 statewide.

The chart below shows the daily coronavirus positivity rate in Nassau and Suffolk counties each day.

Search a map of new cases and view charts showing the latest local trends in testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.

Robke's restaurant in Northport has liquor license suspended for COVID violations

Robke’s of Northport, the Italian restaurant whose fandom approaches that of the star athletes that dine there, had its liquor license suspended as of Jan. 24 after investigators found the business "in flagrant violation of COVID-related regulations that have been in place for months."

According to a report by the state liquor authority, an inspector witnessed numerous breaches of the state’s safety regulations on Saturday, including tables spaced less than 6 feet apart, an area near the bar "packed" with patrons who were not social distancing and food being served after the state-imposed 10 p.m. curfew. The inspector also noted 28 people dining at a table in a tent adjacent to the restaurant.

Louis Selvaggio Jr., who owns the restaurant with his father, Louis Selvaggio, conceded that things got out of control the night the inspector visited.

"We are very busy on Saturday nights," he said Tuesday. "It’s the only night of the week where this 10 o’clock thing affects us. Other nights of the week, the staff could leave by 9. On Saturday nights, there's a bottleneck."

Curran announces guidelines for high-risk HS sports return

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran unveiled a plan on Wednesday that will allow public and parochial schools in the county to play high-risk sports in the county.

At a news conference at Bay Park in East Rockaway, she described guidance from the Nassau Department of Health that matches closely the measures outlined by Cuomo’s administration but allows individual school districts to add further safety protocols.

The Nassau plan differs from the Suffolk plan unveiled on Monday in that it doesn’t include mandatory testing for student-athletes and coaches in the high-risk sports; however, some school districts are taking measures to get the tests to conduct them. Another big difference is that Nassau will allow spectators at school districts that want them: two per athlete but not to exceed 50% capacity at a playing venue.

With this guidance in place, Nassau high schools will be able to participate in the winter sports deemed high risk for coronavirus transmission by the Cuomo administration: boys and girls basketball, wrestling and competitive cheerleading. Practice and play is permitted to begin Feb. 1.

Suffolk cop lost to virus remembered as a 'great police officer'

As a light snow fell and bagpipes played, family and friends of Suffolk police Lt. Robert Van Zeyl and his fellow cops filed into a Port Jefferson Station church Tuesday.

Tuesday's funeral service for Van Zeyl marked the passing of yet another Long Islander felled by the pandemic, but it was uniquely tragic because he was the first Suffolk police officer to die of COVID-19.

Van Zeyl, 60, had worked in Suffolk's Second Precinct in the Town of Huntington since 2015, according to department officials. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 3 before his hospitalization began a week later, police said.

"It's not fair that you lost your dad at your age, but I will tell you as I did yesterday that you have an extraordinary legacy," Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, addressing Van Zeyl's children. "I know he's your hero, but he is a hero to all of us."

More to know

A record 78 million visitors traveled to state parks, campgrounds, trails and historic sites in 2020, despite the pandemic, Cuomo said Tuesday.

Answering frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. is ramping up vaccine deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall.

Biden administration experts will host briefings three times a week beginning Wednesday to discuss the state of the outbreak, efforts to control it and the race to deliver vaccines and therapeutics to end it.

Longtime Sachem High School baseball coach Bill Batewell died on Jan. 22 from complications of COVID-19 at age 79.

Long Island’s unemployment rate remained largely unchanged in December from the previous month at 5.5% — still much higher than it was a year ago, state data shows.

News for you

You can still get outdoors and have fun. It might be cold outside, but that doesn't mean you have to stay inside and avoid the fresh air. Check out this interactive guide to safe and local winter activities on Long Island.

Kids can design their own masks. Making a mask at home could make wearing them more fun. Some Long Islanders got together to create DIY kits for kids to make one-of-a-kind masks. Each kit comes with a cotton mask, stamps, markers, glitter glue and stickers.

Fast-casual restaurants on LI are booming. Restaurants like Lucharitos and Island Empanada have been booming during the pandemic, and it could very well be quick and comforting bites that help pull the industry out of the COVID-19 foxhole. Comfort food "is what’s keeping people sane," one restaurants operator said. Read more.

Plus: Join us Thursday for our next virtual discussion as doctors answer questions about your health, treatments and the anticipated impact of vaccines on emerging COVID-19 mutations. Register here.

Sign up for text messages to get the most important coronavirus news and information.

Commentary

New York State's vaccine efforts are just chaotic. Reader Mary Koslap-Petraco, of Massapequa Park, writes in a letter to Newsday: I read with interest the letter by a retired pediatrician describing his difficulty trying to volunteer to give COVID-19 vaccinations.

I am a nurse practitioner with 30 years of experience working as a public health nurse for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, for which I developed and ran the immunization program. I retired from the county four years ago and have continued to maintain my license and work in private practice. I am also an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Stony Brook University School of Nursing. After submitting my application for the Medical Reserve Corps, I, too, was told that the wait was up to six weeks for a "background check" by the Nassau County Police Department.

For the federal Trusted Traveler Program, it took only two days for my background check, and I hold an enhanced state driver’s license. Why does it take the NCPD up to six weeks when the federal government can do the same thing in two days? This is a national emergency and there has to be a better system to approve applications to volunteer to assist with defeating this pandemic.

Read more letters from Newsday readers.

By Erin Serpico

erin.serpico@newsday.com

Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.