The number of people testing positive each day statewide has increased 40 percent since Halloween. As of Sunday, New York was averaging 5,282 new cases per day over the past seven days, according to the Associated Press. Adults seeking a booster shot in New York City shouldn’t be turned away, said Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner. People need to have been at least six months from their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or at least two months since the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, The New York Times reported....

The ship, equipped with 1,000 hospital beds and 1,200 medical workers, has reportedly only taken 20 patients aboard since it began operations on April 1, with hundreds of beds on the ship remaining unused. But various military protocols and other red tape, including nearly 49 medical conditions other than the COVID-19 virus that disqualify a patient from being admitted onto the ship (such as those in need of obstetric or pediatric care), have reportedly caused major roadblocks in providing the relief the city’s hospitals need, The New York Times reported....

Adams has named Louis Molina as the next commissioner of the city’s Department of Correction. Molina is a New York City native who previously served as the chief of the Las Vegas Department of Public Safety. New York City’s jail system has been the subject of scrutiny for years, especially its Rikers Island complex. “Our future criminal justice system must be transformed,” Adams said at a news conference on Thursday....

The city was requiring all elementary school students in a class to quarantine for 10 days if a positive case was in the classroom, per the NYC Department of Education. Regulations for middle and high school students stated that those 12 and older who were either unvaccinated—or vaccinated but showing symptoms—were also required to quarantine for ten days. The new policy, which is in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, states that if a student has a mask on and was more than three feet apart from a student infected with COVID-19, quarantine is not necessary....

The new mandate requires all teachers and school staff members to be vaccinated. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city plans to bring in substitute teachers where needed for those still refusing the vaccination. A group of New York City school employees asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to block the vaccine mandate on Thursday. The injunction was denied on Friday. “Our parents need to know their kids will be safe....

Last week, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in a case challenging a 100-year-old New York law that requires a person applying for a gun license to carry their firearm outside their home to demonstrate “proper cause.” The gun rights activists that brought the case before the court argue that under the law, “the state makes it virtually impossible for the ordinary law-abiding citizen to obtain a license.”...

The new order, announced Monday by Governor Andrew Cuomo, applies to public transit and airport employees. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week that by mid-September, all city employees, such as teachers and law enforcement personnel, will have to get vaccinated or received weekly coronavirus testing. Last Wednesday, Cuomo announced the same mandate for state employees, who must get vaccinated by Labor Day or get tested weekly....

When asked by The New York Post about complaints from residents about larger-than-normal piles of trash being left for longer periods of time, Teamsters Local 831 President Harry Nespoli responded, “The mandate’s going on.” “Look, you’re going to have some spots in the city that they feel very strongly about this,” he said. Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed the issue would be addressed quickly during a Wednesday press briefing....

The 59-year-old Weir has a lot of stories like this: literate, entertaining narratives that hint at larger ideas but never spell them out. The Australian director’s movies–including “The Year of Living Dangerously,” “Gallipoli,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Witness” and “The Truman Show”–succeed for just that reason, and they’ve earned him four Oscar nominations over the years, three for directing and one for writing. His latest, the 19th-century high-seas tale “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” based on the 20-book series by Patrick O’Brian and starring Russell Crowe, could give him a fifth shot at the gold....

But timing–and fresh talent–are everything. This week a gorgeous, long-awaited production of “Oklahoma!” opens on Broadway, with the kind of advance buzz and box office ($12 million) that could make Max Bialystock go legit. In a spring theater season heavy with revivals and adaptations, this show is the one to beat. It seems providential that “Oklahoma!” has landed at a time when we’re acutely aware of our Americanness, when the bedrock of our history and culture seems particularly precious....

But now that the Orioles have had time to heal from the loss, the club apparently is poking fun at the situation and auctioning off a “game-used” No. 53 jersey. All net proceeds will be donated to charity. MORE: 14 postseason oddities you may not know The bidding price had reached $1,050 as of Friday night. But is Britton’s jersey from the wild-card game really up for bid? Better hurry, you have only until 10 p....

The situation only gets weirder. Simpson’s one condition on giving the DNA swab is if Kardashian visits him at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada. MORE: O.J. and Khloe: You be the judge Former Lovelock prison guard Jeffrey Felix said the prison has given permission for Kardashian to visit Simpson and for the DNA sample to be taken. Felix was featured in a Reelz documentary that aired last week about Robert Kardashian....

San Jose Police Department gave the all clear at the Westfield Oakridge shopping mall, in the Blossom Valley neighborhood of San Jose, four hours after issuing the shelter-in-place order after a search ended up with officers not locating a shooter or victim. “Units are currently at Oakridge Mall on reports of a person shot,” the police department said on Twitter. “Officers are working their [way] into the mall. Shelter in place if you can....

Obama is a female candidate for president in the same way that Bill Clinton was the first black president. It was Toni Morrison who first had the insight. In a 1998 essay in the New Yorker, the Nobel Prize-winning author described Bill Clinton as “the first black president,” commenting on his saxophone playing and his displaying “almost every trope of blackness.” Obama doesn’t play the sax. But he is pushing against conventional—and political party nominating convention—wisdom in five important ways, with approaches that are usually thought of as qualities and values that women bring to organizational life: a commitment to inclusiveness in problem solving, deep optimism, modesty about knowing all the answers, the courage to deliver uncomfortable news, not taking on all the work alone, and a willingness to air dirty linen....

UPDATE II: No word from either campaign, but here’s what the Clinton supporter in question has to say. UPDATE III, MARCH 28: So I’ve finally gotten to the bottom of this–or as close to bottom, it seems, as anyone can get. Turns out that the Obama campaign is correct to claim that the Clinton delegate in question, Christopher Cohen, was misidentified on their working list as an Obama supporter. I have obtained a copy of the spreadsheet and double-checked his entry....

Obama started his career as a community organizer, and he thrives when he’s doing grass-roots work. It’s his appeal, but it also exposes a potential flaw: he’s running for commander in chief now, not city council, and Obama’s aides are acutely aware that his approach doesn’t always translate in a modern presidential campaign. His set-piece speeches are often received in respectful silence, not rapturous applause; his political rallies can turn into policy workshops....

In a blog post published this morning, Obama said violent protesters were “putting innocent people at risk” as he urged readers not to participate in destruction. But he also said this time of pandemic and civil unrest could be a “real turning point” in American history if people “channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action.” Writing about protesters demonstrating against the killing of Floyd in Minneapolis Police custody last Monday, Obama said: “The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring....

The progressive group Demand Justice launched the “Breyer Retire” campaign last month, on the anniversary of the late Justice John Paul Stevens announcing his retirement from the bench in 2010. The effort includes an online petition urging people to tell Breyer to “put the country first” and not risk his legacy on an “uncertain political future.” The group also funded a billboard truck reading “there’s no time to waste” to circle the Supreme Court...

Pete Souza, the former director of the White House Photography Office, called the timestamp of the Situation Room picture into question Sunday morning. Souza inferred that it’s very unlikely President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and several top administration officials and generals were actively monitoring the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound when the photograph was taken Saturday in Washington. Souza took the famous photograph of Obama and a shocked then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intently watching the Seal Team 6 raid on the Abbottabad compound that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in 2011....

You remember him: Mazzone was the guy sitting next to manager Bobby Cox during the Atlanta Braves’ domination era. The one who rocked constantly. With Maddux, Glavine and John Smoltz anchoring his rotation, Mazzone became regarded as a genius. MORE: Hall of Fame quiz: take it | Trade deadline: 2009 in review | 300-game winners formula Aces beget championships, and Mazzone guided a pitching staff that produced 14 consecutive division titles, four National League pennants and a World Series title....