New York Today: Flood Watch

Demetrius Freeman/The New York Times Don’t leave home without one.

Updated 6:57 a.m. | It will rain today - possibly a whole lot.

The New York City region is under a flash-flood watch until 6 p.m., with more than an inch of rain forecast, some of it likely coming in bursts accompanied by gusty winds.

Localized amounts over 3 inches are possible. The high will be near 80.

The rain should start during the morning rush, get heavy by lunchtime, taper by nightfall and clear out around midnight, the National Weather Service says.

Wednesday should be sunny.

But for today, prepare to take cover. Bring two umbrellas, or one decent one.

Here’s what else you need to know for Tuesday.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit [6:55] Subway delays on the 2 and 3 train. Click for latest M.T.A. status.

- Roads [6:55] O.K. so far. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- Democratic mayoral candidates face off in a 7 p.m. debate telecast live online and on Channels 7 and 41.

- More from the campaign trail: a mayoral forum on helping minority-owned businesses, sponsored by the New York Real Estate Chamber. Bill de Blasio is on MSNBC at 1:30 p.m. William C. Thompson Jr. unveils his first TV ad.

- Opening of the revamped and - for the first time, round-the-clock - Aqueduct Raceway subway station on the A line, which will better serve Resorts World casino patrons.

- Primary Day in New Jersey in the special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. Cory Booker leads the polls on the Democratic side.

- Make those reservations now: Restaurant Week ends Friday.

- Free ice pops all over town, dispensed by Rockettes no less, from a double-decker bus and a food truck, to promote the Radio City Christmas show. Click for schedule. [Free]

- Bluegrass with Michael Daves and other pickers at the Hudson Square Music and Wine festival’s “Hot Strings Fest” at City Winery in SoHo. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. [Free]

IN THE NEWS

- The Department of Education is asking the state to waive a regulation that requires public schools to employ a librarian. [NY1]

- The world’s most valuable coin was moved Monday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the New-York Historical Society. [New York Times]

- Maybe think twice before plugging in your phone at a public charging station. [Daily News]

- Two new ice rinks are coming to Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Paper]

- Anthony D. Weiner says the campaign is unfolding exactly as he expected. [New York Times]

- The New York Times editorial page called a federal judge’s stop-and-frisk ruling against the city trenchant. The New York Post called it “Death Wish, the Sequel.”

- Yanks beat Angels 2-1. Mets fall to Dodgers 4-2.

AND FINALLY…

Last Wednesday, naturalists from the city, state and federal government were out clearing invasive species on the beach in the Rockaways when they found a low plant with rounded reddish-green spinachy-looking leaves and little yellow flowers. They stopped, they consulted, they probably high-fived.

The plant was no invasive. It was sea beach amaranth, a once-abundant Northeastern species that is now on the federal threatened list. (Click to see photo.)

“The sea beach amaranth needs just the right amount of disturbance,” Mike Feller, the city parks department’s chief naturalist said. “Too well-manicured a beach is not enough, too wild a beach is too much.”

The plant, Amaranthus pumilus, grows only in open sandy portions of ocean beaches between the high tide line and the start of the dune.

Amaranth is familiar to cereal-box readers as the mystic grain of the Aztecs. But if you see this amaranth, please don’t eat it.

Nicole Higgins DeSmet contributed reporting.

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