New York Today: Marathon Revival

Aaron Houston for The New York Times Last time around: marathon runners in 2011.

Chances are you remember last year’s New York City Marathon.

The one that didn’t happen.

Hurricane Sandy had just killed scores of people and damaged huge swaths of coastline.

Responding to protests, the mayor cancelled the marathon at the last minute, leaving swarms of angry runners.

The 2013 marathon takes place on Sunday.

Will last year’s cancellation cast a shadow?

Jeré Longman, a sports reporter for The New York Times, told us that it clearly hurt the marathon’s reputation â€" at the time.

“I interviewed runners who had flown in from Italy who were incensed,” he said.

But this year, the number of runners has held steady at more than 47,000, heartening organizers.

The number of charity runners, though, is down sharply. Of 8,000 charity spots offered, 3,000 remain open.

(Charities raise money from the public  through the runners.)

“It’s too soon to tell the long-term effects on the image,” Mr. Longman said. “But it’s still a huge marathon. It’s still New York.”

Here’s what else you need to know for Friday and the weekend.

WEATHER

No parades, but rain. And wind. Lots of it - gusts up to 50 miles an hour.

Steamy, too, with a high of 72.

Rain and wind taper by afternoon, making way for a less tropical weekend.

(For the record books: October was the third driest on record.)

And don’t forget to turn your clocks back Sunday morning. The season of darkness is upon us.

COMMUTE

Subways: Click for latest status.

Rails: Click for L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.

Roads: Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is suspended for All Saints’ Day.

COMING UP TODAY

- Joseph J. Lhota campaigns in Staten Island with his old boss Rudy Giuliani, stops by a Shabbat service in Riverdale and finishes at a Hispanics for Lhota event in Midtown.

- Bill de Blasio speaks at get-out-the-vote rallies in Downtown Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan.

- Bryant Park’s Winter Village opens: an ice rink and more than 100 boutique booths.

- Brooklyn Night Bazaar opens in Greenpoint for three months of music, food and art on weekend evenings. [Free]

- A Mexican Day of the Dead celebration at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery continues through Sunday. [Free]

- The 24-day, citywide performance-art biennial Performa 13 gets under way.

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

AND FINALLY…

Don your khakis, grab your camera, and get ready to go on a safari.

In Brooklyn.

For parrots.

Flocks of them have settled throughout the borough, and Steve Baldwin, proprietor of BrooklynParrots.com, knows where they roost.

On the first Saturday of every month, he leads a free tour of one of the largest colonies, in Midwood.

Click here to register.

Bring binoculars, birdseed and water - and wear anything you want, except bright orange.

“Wild Quaker parrots freak out when they see that color,” Mr. Baldwin says.

Stacy Cowley, Joseph Burgess and Andy Newman contributed reporting.

New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till about noon.

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