Good Thursday morning, with a shiver.
As 2013 gallops into the home stretch, let us pause for just a moment and reflect upon what it has brought us.
Citi Bikes. Avocado-green taxicabs. An interracial first couple.
Can you believe that seven months ago there was no such thing as a Cronut?
Here without further adieu: our salute to things â€" some awesome, some awful â€" that came into existence in 2013.
- The porridge boutiques.
- The dog-walking service that tells you via text and G.P.S. exactly where and when your pooch poops.
- America’s tallest building.
- E-cigarette vaporiums.
- 57th Street as Billionaires Row.
- Space-age stormproof beach bathrooms on stilts.
- A second city hidden within this one, as described by the mayor-elect.
- A bouncy wooden pedestrian bridge to the Brooklyn waterfront.
- Even the possibility of snakehead fish in Central Park.
- Everywhere, but it started here: Harlem Shake videos.
- Back after a long pause: new record megastores.
- Here and gone already: speakeasies secretly built inside water towers.
Perhaps we missed a few dozen.
Tell us, in the comments, or on Twitter using #NYToday, what was new in 2013.
Here’s what you need to know for Thursday.
WEATHER
Only the coldest day of the season.
High of 28, with wind chills under your scarf and into the teens, sun notwithstanding.
Tonight: 19 degrees. Fie on you, King Winter.
COMMUTE
Subways: Check latest status.
Rails: Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.
Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s.
It is a Gridlock Alert Day. Alternate-side parking is in effect today and tomorrow.
COMING UP TODAY
- Mayor Bloomberg signs a stack of bills, including one legalizing political contributions via text message of up to $99.
- Mayor-elect de Blasio makes an announcement at 12:45 p.m. No details, but could be a major appointment.
- Elected officials, school administrators and activists crowd the steps of City Hall to push for gun control as the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting approaches. Noon.
- Veterans lay wreaths at a holiday service at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in the Financial District. 12:30 p.m.
- Second Avenue Subway geeks: the man who runs the project recaps the year’s construction milestones on the Upper East Side. 6 p.m. [Free, register]
- Academics puzzle out the meaning of Keith Haring’s rarely seen videos at a symposium at N.Y.U.’s Fales Library. 3 p.m. [Free]
- Sit with Santa on a cupcake seat: the Brooklyn Jellio Shop within the Flying Squirrel in Greenpoint hosts a holiday event for kids. 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. [Free, with gummy candy]
- A a tree lighting in Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem doubles as “a jazzy Motown celebration.†4 p.m. [Free]
- A conference on “Safe, Respectful and Effective Policing†examines stop-and-frisk and other issues. John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. [Free, RSVP]
- D.J. Questlove spins for Philippine typhoon victims at Brooklyn Bowl. 10:30 p.m. [$10 minimum donation]
- Authors celebrate 15 years of McSweeney’s, and a new collection of that quarterly’s best work, at the quirky hour of 8:15 p.m. The 92nd Street Y. [$27]
- See a Coflore Agitated Tube Reactor Live! Last day to visit the biennial Chem Show at the Javits Center and learn about the equipment used in food, chemical and pharmaceutical processing.
- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- Decision 2013: Gracie Mansion will be inhabited. [New York Times]
- A Baruch College freshman died after a hazing ritual that involves stumbling around blindfolded and being tackled. [New York Times]
- A new version of the classic 1970s subway map shows how easy it is to get to New Jersey for the Super Bowl. [Atlantic Cities]
- Scoreboard: The Knicks won! They beat the Bulls, 83-78.
Joseph Burgess, Denny Lee and Cara Buckley contributed reporting.
New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till about noon.
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