New York Today: Overdue

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Damaged by Hurricane Sandy, a library in Brooklyn reopens today.

Updated 7:05 a.m. | In addition to destroying lives and homes, Hurricane Sandy took something less valuable but still precious: library books, by the tens of thousands.

In Brooklyn alone, more than 30,000 soggy, moldering volumes had to be discarded.

Six branches were closed for months.

But today at 10:30 a.m., the library in the Gerritsen Beach neighborhood will reopen.

The modern, church-like building, less than 20 years old, had to be gutted after the storm.

“We lost pretty much everything,” said the Brooklyn library system’s president, Linda E. Johnson.

With storm aid helping to finance a $1.5 million renovation, the Gerritsen branch has added meeting rooms, technology, handicap access and a more open layout.

“The bad news is that the community that was so hard hit was without a library for a long time,” Ms. Johnson said. “The good news is that what’s opening is going to be much better.”

Next month, Brooklyn’s worst-damaged library, in Coney Island, where five feet of water swamped the shelves, is to reopen, too.

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

WEATHER

Yet another gorgeous day, with a high of 74. Clouds are promised for tomorrow, though.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit [7:05 a.m.] Delays on most PATH trains because of a signal failure. New Jersey Transit Montclair/Boonton line trains suspended because someone was struck by a train. Subways are O.K. Click for latest M.T.A. status.

Metro-North has added trains on its crippled New Haven line, but is still up to only 50 percent of normal service as Con Edison works to restore power.

The railroad is offering 8,600 free park-and-ride spaces at stations on the Harlem line and near subways in the Bronx. See advisory and schedule.

- Roads [6:41 a.m.] No unusual delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect all week.

COMING UP TODAY

- On the campaign trail, Bill de Blasio tours the Children’s Aid Society and talks about his plan for universal prekindergarten.

- Joseph J. Lhota is on 1010-WINS radio at 8 a.m. and hosts a tele-town hall with city residents at 6:30 p.m.

- A public hearing on the state’s review of the Indian Point nuclear plant, at 250 Broadway. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Live-streamed here.

- Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott announces the expansion of Advanced Placement programs at city high schools. 10 a.m.

- Federal officials release the final $500 million plan for the Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. 11 a.m.

- The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson touches down in Brooklyn Heights to deliver a public lecture at St. Francis College. 12:30 p.m. [Free, reservation recommended]

- Don’t you wish you could call your memoir “Wild Tales: A Rock and Roll Life?” Graham Nash did. He’s at the Strand bookstore at 7 p.m. [Buy the book or $20 gift certificate to attend]

- The literary historian Carla Kaplan discusses her new book “Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance” (The Times called it “a remarkable work of historical recovery”) at the Gotham Center for New York City History in Midtown. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- “The Last Unicorn,” the beloved 1982 children’s film, shows on a big screen and Peter S. Beagle, author of the book and screenplay, speaks. City Cinemas, East 86th Street, 7 p.m. [$14 for adults, $11 for children]

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

IN THE NEWS

- Most New Yorkers favor more casinos in the state, a poll finds. [New York Times]

- The city often taxes homeowners in poor neighborhoods much more than those in rich ones. [Daily News]

- The city collected $73 million in taxes by cracking down on properties that were listed as tax-exempt but should not have been. [New York Post]

- Elevators in city housing projects are magnets for crime. [New York Times]

- Residents of the Chelsea Hotel settled with its new owners over construction conditions. [DNA Info]

- The City Opera put on what will probably be its last performance. [New York Times]

- Mr. Lhota’s early political career included an investigation of the Georgetown University campus pub. “It has obviously lost all sense of fiscal control,” he wrote in 1975. [New York Times]

- What? I said, “In the long run, subway noise can damage your hearing.” [Newsday]

- Season finales: Yankees beat Astros, 5-1 in 14 innings. Mets beat Brewers, 3-2.

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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