Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Pedestrians and cyclists enjoyed the absence of cars on a roadway in Central Park on Sunday. A new weekday ban on cars on two of the park's main roads takes effect Monday.Updated, 1:23 p.m. | Something is missing from much of Central Park this morning: cars.
The city has banned them on weekdays north of 72nd Street on the two roads that run north and south through the park. The ban, which begins Monday, lasts through Labor Day.
While you can now move more freely in the park, you do run the risk Monday, in the park and outdoors across the city, of being asked to sign a petition to put former Gov. Eliot Spitzer on the ballot for city comptroller.
Mr. Spitzer, who announced his candidacy Sunday, plans to flood the streets with workers Monday ahead of a Thursday deadline.
Here's what else you need to know to start your Monday.
WEATHER
Not quite as hot, but still pretty darn hot, with a high near 90 and afternoon thunderstorms possible. Bring an umbrella. The city's cooling centers are open.
TRANSIT & TRAFFIC
- Roads: Alternate-side parking: in effect.
- Mass Transit: Click for the latest subway and bus status.
COMING UP TODAY
- On the campaign trail, Anthony D. Weiner will announce tax incentives for bike commuters. Christine C. Quinn will call for reducing fines at restaurant inspections.
- Eliot Spitzer will greet voters at Union Square at noon. NY1 will broadcast an interview with him at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will announce a program to connect young probation clients to Hurricane Sandy recovery projects.
- Free screening of “Bending Steel,†a documentary about a man from Queens and his quest to become a circus strongman, on the beach at Coney Island. Music at 7 p.m., feats-of-strength demonstration at 7:30, movie at 8:30, followed by Q&A with directors and the movie's subject, Chris Schoeck. At end of West 12th Street.
- “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory†screens at sunset in Bryant Park.
- Will pretzel bacon become the new Cronut? You may find out when Nick Lachey, the ex-boy-band frontman and Simpson spouse, rolls out Wendy's newest product at a Wendy's on West 34th Street.
- It's opening night of the New York Musical Theater Festival.
- The illustrator James Gulliver Hancock will talk about his project to draw every building in New York City (he's up to about 500, out of 900,000) in Brooklyn Bridge Park at 7 p.m.
- Free kayaking in the Hudson at Pier 96 off 56th Street every weekday evening through August, from 5 to 7 p.m.
- For more events, see The New York Times's Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- Mayor Bloomberg's daughter criticized his administration's record on animal welfare. [Wall Street Journal]
- Citi Bike kiosks are now being used as alternative benches, gyms, changing rooms, trash cans, canine relief targets and, the city says, kindlers of romance. [New York Times]
- Michael Mastromarino, the former dentist convicted of harvesting and selling bones from corpses at funeral homes, died of bone cancer at 49. [Daily News]
- What was Eliot Spitzer thinking? Read excerpts from his interview. [City Room] Kristin Davis, who supplied prostitutes to the former governor, says that she will challenge him in the comptroller's race. [Politicker]
- Four teenagers who ignored orders to cease horseplay were arrested at McCarren Park pool in Williamsburg. [A Walk in the Park]
- A man was electrocuted in Brooklyn when he went onto the subway tracks to urinate. [DNA Info] The police tell City Room that the man fell onto the third rail and that they had no indication that the act of urination was itself the culprit.
- Mets win, Yanks lose as Rivera blows a save. Both are now in fourth place.
AND FINALLY…
The New York Mycological Society went mushroom-hunting in Wolfe's Pond Park on Staten Island on Sunday. The foray turned up more than 50 species, including this handsome, rather large and entirely edible Sparassis spathulata, the cauliflower mushroom.
Sarah Maslin Nir contributed reporting.
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