Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times Thursday is the last day for office-seekers to collect the signatures they need to get on the ballot.Thursday’s forecast calls for a deluge of campaign workers. They will roam the city’s busier areas, ever more eager for you to sign a petition as the hours fade.
Candidates who want to run in September’s primary have until the end of the day to turn in signatures to the Board of Elections.
Those seeking a citywide office (like mayor) need 3,750 signatures from members of their party. That may not sound like much, but a large cushion is preferable because opponents may challenge some.
Much attention will focus on whether the campaign of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a late entrant in the comptroller’s race, can collect enough.
Here’s what else you need to know to start your Thursday:
WEATHER
Clammy, mid-80s, rain likely by afternoon. A lot like yesterday, though the chance of thunderstorms, which mostly didn’t materialize yesterday, rises to 70 percent. Bring an umbrella.
TRANSIT & TRAFFIC
- Roads [5:51] O.K. so far, 1010 WINS reports.
Alternate-side parking rules: in effect.
- Mass Transit [5:53] Delays on the D train northbound. Click for the latest status.
COMING UP TODAY
- Amma, the Indian “hugging saint†with the gigantic global following, begins her three-day run at the Javits Center. She will hug many thousands of people.
- City bus drivers will speak out against the “physical and verbal abuse†they suffer at the hands of riders at an afternoon rally in Brooklyn.
- Children in pajamas (and their parents) will protest the proposed closing of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn starting at 5:30 p.m.
- On the campaign trail, some mayoral candidates will attend a forum on the elderly at 9:30 a.m. at N.Y.U., sponsored by the Council of Senior Centers and Services.
- Shakespeare in the Parking Lot opens its season with “Cymbeline†at 8 p.m in municipal lot at the corner of Broome and Ludlow in Manhattan. [Free]
- The rambunctious Hungry March Band will serenade lunch-eaters outside 1 New York Plaza near the Manhattan terminal for the Staten Island Ferry at 12:30 p.m.
- “Easy Rider†screens in Tompkins Square Park at sunset. Live music before the show. [Free]
- 7/11 means free Slurpees at participating 7-Elevens from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Salsa lessons in Hudson River Park at 6:30 p.m.. [Free]
- An astronomer will explain Manhattanhenge, where the sun sets in line with the street grid, at the American Museum of Natural History at 7 p.m.
- For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
E.C. Gogolak contributed reporting.
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