New York Today: De Blasio and Occupy Wall Street

Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times Coming to the movement’s defense in November 2011.

Two years ago today, demonstrators gathered in the financial district to protest income inequality and the influence of money on politics.

It was the birth of Occupy Wall Street.

Among its defenders was the Democratic mayoral contender, Bill de Blasio, the city’s public advocate.

And so today presents a moment to examine what Mr. de Blasio’s role in Occupy Wall Street what might mean for the race.

In October 2011, when the authorities threatened to halt the occupation of Zuccotti Park, Mr. de Blasio spoke there.

He urged officials to honor a “heartfelt movement that’s speaking to what people are feeling all over this country.”

In recent weeks, Mr. de Blasio’s proposal to tax the 1 percent has spurred his campaign.

(His critics, it’s worth noting, say he has accepted plenty of campaign money from corporate interests.)

Today’s anniversary is being marked with rallies.

“Occupy Wall Street pulled the growing crisis of income inequality out into the light of day,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement on Monday.

His Republican opponent, Joseph J. Lhota, told reporters, “Bill de Blasio’s change is radical. My change is practical.”

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

WEATHER

Kind of magnificent. Sunny and breezy with a high of 68.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit: O.K. so far. Click for latest M.T.A. status.

- Roads: No major delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect today, though not Thursday or Friday.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will commemorate the city’s five-millionth ton of recycled paper at a paper mill on Staten Island.

- Mr. Lhota heads into Democratic territory, meeting with officials of the city’s biggest municipal-employee union in the morning and the Rev. Al Sharpton in the evening.

- Congress members will gather beneath the roaring jets in Queens to urge the F.A.A. not to change flight paths into La Guardia and Kennedy Airports without conducting environmental review. They may need to yell to make themselves heard.

- The city Landmarks Preservation Commission meets to discuss the possible designation of some nice old buildings on the east side of Midtown, including the Graybar Building, and the possible expansion of the Park Slope historic district.

- The parks department wants you to help plant flowers and ground cover around street trees on the Lower East Side. 3 p.m. at Sauer Park on East 12th Street. [Free. Click to register.]

- “Anna Nicole,” a tabloid-inspired opera about Anna Nicole Smith, opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 7:30 p.m. [Click for ticket info]

- “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” a sitcom about a fictitious police precinct starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher, premieres on Fox at 8:30 p.m. “Mild, affable and familiar,” raves The New York Times.

- For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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