The 2019 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a Norway spruce from Florida, New York, will be cut down on Thursday and transported to New York City, arriving this Saturday, Nov. 9. Daniel Weitoish, an arborist at Cornell Botanic Gardens, says the Norway spruce is an excellent choice for the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Agriculture and Life Sciences

New York City

---

Concern is growing given the sluggish rollout of the coronavirus vaccination distribution in New York. Cynthia Leifer, associate professor of immunology at Cornell University, says vaccines need to be given quickly as possible and rather than disqualifying sites from getting future distributions, expanding the number of distribution locations and incentivizing rapid use is a better solution.

Health, Nutrition & Medicine

Life Sciences & Veterinary Medicine

New York State

New York City

---

Restaurants in New York City and other city centers around the country are making plans to reopen for reduced-capacity indoor dining. Lilly Jan, senior lecturer of food and beverage management at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell, says that restaurant operators should find creative ways to resume indoor dining while considering maintaining viable options for outdoor dining as well.

Food & Agriculture

School of Hotel Administration

---

Bart Selman, an expert on artificial intelligence technology and professor of computer science at Cornell University, says the GM announcement illustrates the fast pace of artificial intelligence development – and will serve to accelerate the introduction of more self-driving technologies.

Computing & Information Sciences

Industrial and Labor Relations

---

Experts at Cornell University are available for interviews about the long-lasting legacy of the 1911 Triangle fire in New York City.

New York City

Industrial and Labor Relations

Arts and Sciences

Business, Economics & Entrepreneurship

---

The New York City Council’s Health Committee is scheduled to review a series of bills designed to curb smoking on April 27. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced several proposals this month, including a plan to raise the base price of a pack of cigarettes to $13, the highest in the nation.

Human Ecology

---

New York’s foliage season has begun with fall colors starting to appear in the North Country, Central New York, Mid-Hudson and Capital regions. Cornell University experts Taryn Bauerle and Daniel Weitoish offer a foliage forecast for New York.

Agriculture and Life Sciences

New York State

---

The New York state departments of Agriculture and Markets, and Environmental Conservation have confirmed the first-ever discovery of emerald ash borer in New York City. Forestry expert and Cornell Cooperative Extension associate Mark C. Whitmore comments on the new discovery.

New York City

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Agriculture and Life Sciences

---

Natalie Mahowald says Mayor Bloomberg is on the right track for mitigating and adapting to climate change and will raise the profile of the topic now that he has entered the presidential race.

Law and Policy

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

---

Starting this Thursday, cars will be banned from lower Manhattan’s 14th street as part of an 18-month experiment to improve traffic flow. The 1.1-mile stretch will only allow buses, trucks, bikes and pedestrians. Only local businesses and residents will have car access to the street.  

New York City

Cornell Tech

Engineering

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Architecture, Art and Planning

---