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The Ad Campaign: Supporters Praise Catsimatidis in Ad

First aired: July 9, 2013
Produced by: The Victory Group
For: John A. Catsimatidis

The mayoral primary is still about two months away, but John A. Catsimatidis, the billionaire grocer who is running as a Republican, has already produced three television advertisements about his candidacy. All of them have been biographical in nature. The latest, a 30-second spot that began being broadcast last week, seeks to highlight his long ties to New York City, using testimonials in which a series of supporters praise him with varying levels of specificity.

Fact-Check
0:01
“He’s been creating jobs…”

Most of the assertions in the spot are prosaic. Mr. Catsimatidis is indeed a real person, and his businesses have created jobs for New Yorkers.

0:07
“Catsimatidis will stop those fare hikes.”

As mayor, Mr. Catsimatidis would not have the unilateral power to stop fare increases. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is governed by a board that has 17 voting members, and only 4 of them are nominated at the recommendation of the mayor.

Scorecard

Polls have shown that many Republican voters still have not formed opinions about their party’s candidates for mayor. Mr. Catsimatidis’s advertisement continues his effort to introduce himself to voters as a committed, patriotic, caring New Yorker â€" not an aloof billionaire. The specifics about what he would do as mayor will have to wait.


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Hopi Artifact Is Returned

A French lawyer who represented the Hopi tribe pro bono in April when it tried to halt a Paris auction of 70 sacred artifacts returned one of the masklike objects to tribal elders on Monday at their reservation in northeast Arizona.

The lawyer, Pierre Servan-Schreiber, who acted for the Hopi on behalf of Survival International, a group that advocates on behalf of tribal and indigenous groups, bought the Hopi object, called a Katsinam, for about $9,000 during an auction at the Néret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou auction house that generated $1.2 million in sales.

“It is my way of telling the Hopi that we only lost a battle and not the war,” Mr. Servan-Schreiber said in an e-mail.

The Hopis say the items of religious headwear are sacred beings imbued with divine spirits and have never been intended as art objects. During the court case in Paris, the Hopis said they regarded their public promotion and sale as “a desecration to our religion.” Art dealers have sold similar Hopi religious relics a piece or two at a time during the last half-century, but the Paris auction was by far the largest sale ever held.

The auction house said the objects were acquired lawfully by a French collector and that the sale paid tribute to the Hopis’ vivid and unique culture. But the Hopi tribal chairman, LeRoy N. Shingoitewa, who received the returned item, identified as a Da Sop, or paternal messenger spirit, called the sale a “shameful saga.” A second Katsinam was bought by the family of the French singer-songwriter Joe Dassin, and will be returned to the Hopi later this year, Survival International said.



Union Square, 3:24 P.M.

Damon Winter/The New York Times


More Tests Needed to Determine Cause of Death for Cory Monteith

Cory Monteith, the actor and Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press Cory Monteith, the actor and “Glee” co-star, in 2012.

Further testing will be required to determine a cause of death for Cory Monteith, the actor and “Glee” star who died in Vancouver, British Columbia, over the weekend, the local authorities said on Monday.

Mr. Monteith, who played the high-school football star turned glee-squad member on that hit Fox musical comedy, was found dead in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel on Saturday. He was 31 years old.

The coroners service in British Columbia said in a statement that “it will undertake an autopsy and toxicology testing to assist in determining the cause of death” for Mr. Monteith, and that toxicology samples will be taken during the autopsy, which was being conducted on Monday. However, the statement said, “results are not expected to be available for several days at the earliest.”

Mr. Monteith had struggled with substance abuse and checked himself into a rehabilitation facility for an unspecified addiction in March. He said he had also sought rehabilitation when he was 19.

An initial examination at his hotel room found no obvious cause of death, the authorities said.



Cojocaru to Join English National Ballet

Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg performing with American Ballet Theater in Andrea Mohin/The New York Times Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg performing with American Ballet Theater in “Romeo and Juliet” in 2012.

LONDON â€" In early June, the Royal Ballet principals, Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg, an on- and off-stage couple, shocked the dance world by announcing their departure from the Royal Ballet. Ms. Cojocaru, 32, who is considered one of the world’s great ballerinas, and Mr. Kobborg, 41, gave no indication of where they were going, and there was much speculation about which international company they might join.

It appears that the Romanian-born Ms. Cojocaru, who has been a member of the Royal Ballet since 1999, is staying in London. On Monday, English National Ballet, which is headed by another former Royal Ballet ballerina, Tamara Rojo, announced that Ms. Cojocaru would be joining as “lead principal” next season.

The move is a surprising one. English National Ballet does not have the prestige or international recognition of the Royal Ballet, or several of the other major companies with which the ballerina regularly performs. Ms. Cojocaru is also a principal with American Ballet Theater and a frequent guest artist at the Hamburg Ballet â€" until now considered a likely destination as a new home for the couple.

Ms. Cojocaru did not respond to requests for comment, but British journalists lost no time suggesting that her move to a less high-profile London-based company was a clear indication of herâ€"and Mr. Kobborg’sâ€" dissatisfaction with conditions at the Royal Ballet.

With the move, Ms. Cojocaru joins a growing band of star dancers who have shifted between companies in the last two years. Mr. Kobborg has not yet announced his plans.

The acquisition is a coup for English National Ballet and for Ms. Rojo, often posited as Ms. Cojocaru’s major rival at the Royal Ballet. Ms. Cojocaru’s presence will undoubtedly take some pressure off Ms. Rojo, who is still dancing as well as running English National Ballet, and has until now been its major box-office draw.

Ms. Cojocaru will make her debut with the company outside London, in “Le Corsaire” on October 17 at the Milton Keynes Theater, and is scheduled to perform in the company’s Christmas season of “The Nutcracker” and in a program of new ballets by Liam Scarlett, Akram Khan and Russell Maliphant in April.



A Day to Celebrate All That Is Dorky

The Aladdin, via Associated Press The “Dork Diaries” series of books has sold over 10 million copies in less than four years.

Even before the celebration at the Great Kills branch of the New York Public Library on Staten Island on Monday, someone had thought up a word to describe it: Adorkable.

What was being celebrated, according to Paula Amore, the information assistant at the library, was National Dork Day.

It was not a legal holiday like Memorial Day or the Fourth of July â€" banks and post offices (not to mention public libraries like Ms. Amore’s) were open as usual on Monday. And unlike, say, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day â€" two holidays with consistent, solid, seemingly indisputable names â€" it may not be National Dork Day but “Be a Dork Day.”

Whatever, as Nikki Maxwell might say in “Dork Diaries,” the series for tweens that has sold more than 10 million copies in less than four years. Ms. Amore said dork day was about self-confidence and self-esteem, about celebrating one’s shortcomings, about not being ashamed of one’s imperfections. The message of dork day, she said, is: “It’s cool to be yourself, no matter what anyone thinks.”

She said she had discovered National Dork Day online and had written to Simon & Schuster, which published the “Dork Diaries,” saying she was considering scheduling a dork day event. Simon & Schuster “sent a kit filled with giveaways for the readers and T-shirts for our staff to wear to celebrate being a dork,” she said, adding, “I consider myself one, too, because I’m 38 and I love Taylor Swift.”

As if the package from the publishing house was not enough, there was more available on the Internet. Zazzle.com, a Web site that sells mugs and T-shirts, had bumper stickers and magnets for “Be a Dork Day” ($4.45 for a bumper sticker, $4.40 for a magnet).

There is a market for such things because dorkiness “is cool now,” Ms. Amore said, thanks to television programs like the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” about four guys who are long on graduate degrees in science but short on social skills. “Kids, they can laugh now and not wait until they’re 38,” she said.

So maybe Monday was a day for plastic pocket protectors, polyester shirts or shorts worn with dark socks and dress shoes. Then again, maybe not. Chase’s Calendar of Events, a compendium of dates, celebrations and observances, does not list either National Dork Day or “Be a Dork Day.”

“We try to keep aware of what people are celebrating out there, but there’s a lot,” said the editor, Holly McGuire. “Web portals smack something out there with no documentation of where it came from. We try to find the documentation.”

The CBS sitcom Michael Yarish/Warner Brothers Television The CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” features characters with big brains but poor social skills.

That may be difficult, at least for National Dork Day. Jonathan Pace, a spokesman for the New York Public Library, sent a link to a Web site with a section headed “How Did Dork Day Start?” The answer did nothing to solve the mystery: “There hasn’t been any known or documented beginning of dork day.” (The Web site holidayinsights.com said more or less the same thing about Tapioca Pudding Day, also listed for July 15, but not by Chase’s.)

Then there is “Be a Dork Day,” started by Thomas and Ruth Roy of Lebanon, Pa.

They are veterans in the holiday business, having invented dozens, including “Humbug Day,” “Panic Day,” “Blah Blah Blah Day” and “Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day.”

As for “Be a Dork Day,” the Roys’ Web site explained, “This is the day to be a dork and be proud,” their Web site said. “Wear goofy clothing, don’t brush your teeth, eat yucky food and fall off a swing set.” They also celebrate geeks with “Embrace Your Geekness Day,” two days before “Be a Dork Day.”

So what is Ms. McGuire’s reaction to dork day? “We’re neutral,” she said. “We just want to put things in the book that people are celebrating.”



A Missing Life Preserver, Last Seen on the Brooklyn Bridge

A life preserver bearing the name S.S. Montero disappeared from the wall of Montero's Bar and Grill on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn last month.Todd Heisler/The New York Times A life preserver bearing the name S.S. Montero disappeared from the wall of Montero’s Bar and Grill on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn last month.

In what could be a clue in the case of the life preserver that went missing from Montero Bar and Grill last month, a pedestrian who regularly walks the Brooklyn Bridge said he was certain that he saw a man carrying it to Manhattan.

“It’s not the most typical object,” said the pedestrian, Michael Napolitano, 52, an assistant administrator at New York University’s journalism department.

Mr. Napolitano walks home from work to South Park Slope every evening, he said. He said he believed he saw the man in question on July 2 or 3, but after reading a column describing the theft and how the preserver was first noticed missing June 25, he said he may have seen it that same week, earlier than his first estimate.

“I saw a guy coming out of the staircase, coming out of the Cadman Plaza area,” Mr. Napolitano said. He was in his early 20s, and struck Mr. Napolitano as a tourist.

“Only because of the location, for one thing,” he said. “He was too casually dressed to be coming from work. You kind of get a read for who’s who up there. I’m up there all the time. I knew who else the regulars would be coming from that direction.”

He has no doubt about what the man was carrying under his arm: a life preserver that read “S.S. Montero.” It was a gift to the bar from a nephew of the owner in the 1990s, and had been hanging on the wall, alongside genuine preservers from old ships, ever since. A bartender noticed on June 25 that the preserver had disappeared. The bar wants it back.

Mr. Napolitano has never been inside Montero’s, but he lived nearby for several years and knew the name. “Why would a guy have that?” he asked. “Seeing anything in broad daylight coming out of Montero’s is sort of unusual.”

The bar’s owner, Pepe Montero, found hope in the sighting. If someone cared enough to carry the preserver over the Brooklyn Bridge, maybe it’s being kept somewhere and has not been thrown out with the garbage.

“Any news is good news,” he said.



Thom Yorke Pulls Songs From Spotify

Thom Yorke performing with Radiohead in 2012.Damon Winter/The New York Times Thom Yorke performing with Radiohead in 2012.

Thom Yorke of Radiohead has become the latest major artist to remove his music from Spotify over complaints that the service pays too little in royalties to musicians.

Mr. Yorke and Nigel Godrich, Radiohead’s longtime producer and a member of Mr. Yorke’s side project Atoms for Peace, announced in a flurry of Twitter messages on Sunday that they had withdrawn some of their albums from Spotify, which offers streaming music free and by paid subscription.

“Make no mistake,” Mr. Yorke wrote, “new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. Meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it.”

Mr. Godrich called Spotify’s business model “an equation that doesn’t work,” and in another message he added: “Someone gotta say something. It’s bad for new music.”

In fact, plenty of people in the music industry have been saying something how companies like Spotify, YouTube and Pandora are changing the way artists and record companies get paid. Most of these services pay a fraction of a penny each time a song is played, which â€" even in the aggregate of millions of streams â€" can be much lower than what artists would make from the sale of a CD or even a download.

The Black Keys have frequently criticized Spotify’s royalties model, and the group’s most recent album, “El Camino,” is still not available on the service, a year and a half after it was released. Some labels and artists, believing that an album’s availability on Spotify will limit download sales, have experimented with “windowing”: delaying an album’s availability for streaming by a number of weeks or months after its release on other formats.

Other artists, meanwhile, have embraced the format. Metallica, after taking control of its recordings from the Warner Music Group, announced last year that it had struck a deal with Spotify, and last month Pink Floyd also announced that it had added its catalog to the service.

The decision announced by Mr. Yorke and Mr. Godrich appeared to affect only Atoms for Peace’s recent album, “Amok,” along with Mr. Yorke’s 2006 solo album, “The Eraser.” Mr. Godrich tweeted that he was also withdrawing music by his band Ultraísta, but on Monday morning that band’s self-titled album was available. Most of Radiohead’s catalog â€" the bulk of it is controlled by EMI, its former record company â€" was still available.

Spotify executives have long argued that their service does not cannibalize other sales, and released a statement in response to the comments by Mr. Yorke and Mr. Godrich: “Spotify’s goal is to grow a service which people love, ultimately want to pay for, and which will provide the financial support to the music industry necessary to invest in new talent and music. We want to help artists connect with their fans, find new audiences, grow their fan base and make a living from the music we all love.”

The company added that it has already “paid $500 million to rights-holders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach $1 billion.”

According to Spotify’s most recently disclosed numbers, the service has 24 million users around the world, a quarter of whom pay monthly subscription rates of about $5 to $10. Last year Spotify raised $100 million of investment that valued the company at more than $3 billion.



July 15: Where the Candidates Are Today

Planned events for the mayoral candidates, according to the campaigns and organizations they are affiliated with. Times are listed as scheduled but frequently change.

Joseph Burgess and Nicholas Wells contributed reporting.

Event information is listed as provided at the time of publication. Details for many of Ms. Quinn events are not released for publication.

Events by candidate

Albanese

Carrión

Catsimatidis

De Blasio

Lhota

Liu

McDonald

Thompson

Group event


John A. Catsimatidis
Republican

10:30 a.m.
Accepts the endorsement of the New York State Federation of College Republicans in front of John Jay College of Criminal Justice on 11th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Bill de Blasio
Democrat

12 p.m.
Continues a campaign that got him arrested last week by attending a Rally to Save Hospitals with union officials from 1199SEIU and the New York State Nurses Association outside today’s State University of New York’s council meeting, at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

1 p.m.
In his role as public advocate, calls on Saudi Arabian Airlines to end discriminatory practices that prevent Israeli nationals from booking passage on the airline from the United States, at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the Saudi Arabian Embassy.

7 p.m.
Makes brief remarks before the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series featuring Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Joe, at Wingate Field in Brooklyn.

John C. Liu
Democrat

1 p.m.
Accepts award from the Government Finance Officers Association on Centre Street in Lower Manhattan.

5:30 p.m.
Meets with Village Independent Democrats, a political club whose endorsement he gained in a May 9 runoff against Christine Quinn, at Second Avenue and 12th Street in Manhattan.

6:15 p.m.
Attends the cocktail reception before the first-ever “Demmy Awards,” hosted by the Manhattan Democrats to honor “individuals and clubs who have made significant contributions to the Democratic Party and have worked to improve the lives of New Yorkers and people all across the nation,” at the American Airlines Theater in Midtown Manhattan.

Joseph J. Lhota
Republican

11 a.m.
Attends a funeral Mass, closed to the press, for former Councilman Walter McCaffrey, at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church in Woodside.

4 p.m.
Greets voters outside of the Shop Rite on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island.

5:30 p.m.
Greets riders coming off the Staten Island Ferry, at St. George Terminal.

William C. Thompson Jr.
Democrat

7:30 a.m.
Greets morning commuters at the Jamaica Center subway station.

1 p.m.
Accepts endorsements from Brooklyn lawmakers including the State Assembly members Annette Robinson, N. Nick Perry and Walter Mosley, and discusses his affordable housing plan, outside Restoration Plaza in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

4:30 p.m.
Greets afternoon commuters at the Borough Hall subway station in Brooklyn.

Anthony D. Weiner
Democrat

7:30 p.m.
Attends the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series featuring Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Joe, at Wingate Field in Brooklyn.

Sal F. Albanese
Democrat

12 p.m.
Visits with seniors at Hebrew Educational Society’s Senior Center in Brooklyn.

3 p.m.
Visits his second senior center of the day, in Coney Island.

Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Independent

3 p.m.
Meets privately with representatives from Housing First!, an affordable housing advocacy group, at the Bank of America building in Midtown.

George T. McDonald
Republican

5:30 p.m.
Attends the 2013 N.Y.C. Neighborhood Achievement Awards and reception hosted by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion.



July 15: Where the Candidates Are Today

Planned events for the mayoral candidates, according to the campaigns and organizations they are affiliated with. Times are listed as scheduled but frequently change.

Joseph Burgess and Nicholas Wells contributed reporting.

Event information is listed as provided at the time of publication. Details for many of Ms. Quinn events are not released for publication.

Events by candidate

Albanese

Carrión

Catsimatidis

De Blasio

Lhota

Liu

McDonald

Thompson

Group event


John A. Catsimatidis
Republican

10:30 a.m.
Accepts the endorsement of the New York State Federation of College Republicans in front of John Jay College of Criminal Justice on 11th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Bill de Blasio
Democrat

12 p.m.
Continues a campaign that got him arrested last week by attending a Rally to Save Hospitals with union officials from 1199SEIU and the New York State Nurses Association outside today’s State University of New York’s council meeting, at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

1 p.m.
In his role as public advocate, calls on Saudi Arabian Airlines to end discriminatory practices that prevent Israeli nationals from booking passage on the airline from the United States, at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the Saudi Arabian Embassy.

7 p.m.
Makes brief remarks before the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series featuring Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Joe, at Wingate Field in Brooklyn.

John C. Liu
Democrat

1 p.m.
Accepts award from the Government Finance Officers Association on Centre Street in Lower Manhattan.

5:30 p.m.
Meets with Village Independent Democrats, a political club whose endorsement he gained in a May 9 runoff against Christine Quinn, at Second Avenue and 12th Street in Manhattan.

6:15 p.m.
Attends the cocktail reception before the first-ever “Demmy Awards,” hosted by the Manhattan Democrats to honor “individuals and clubs who have made significant contributions to the Democratic Party and have worked to improve the lives of New Yorkers and people all across the nation,” at the American Airlines Theater in Midtown Manhattan.

Joseph J. Lhota
Republican

11 a.m.
Attends a funeral Mass, closed to the press, for former Councilman Walter McCaffrey, at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church in Woodside.

4 p.m.
Greets voters outside of the Shop Rite on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island.

5:30 p.m.
Greets riders coming off the Staten Island Ferry, at St. George Terminal.

William C. Thompson Jr.
Democrat

7:30 a.m.
Greets morning commuters at the Jamaica Center subway station.

1 p.m.
Accepts endorsements from Brooklyn lawmakers including the State Assembly members Annette Robinson, N. Nick Perry and Walter Mosley, and discusses his affordable housing plan, outside Restoration Plaza in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

4:30 p.m.
Greets afternoon commuters at the Borough Hall subway station in Brooklyn.

Anthony D. Weiner
Democrat

7:30 p.m.
Attends the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series featuring Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Joe, at Wingate Field in Brooklyn.

Sal F. Albanese
Democrat

12 p.m.
Visits with seniors at Hebrew Educational Society’s Senior Center in Brooklyn.

3 p.m.
Visits his second senior center of the day, in Coney Island.

Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Independent

3 p.m.
Meets privately with representatives from Housing First!, an affordable housing advocacy group, at the Bank of America building in Midtown.

George T. McDonald
Republican

5:30 p.m.
Attends the 2013 N.Y.C. Neighborhood Achievement Awards and reception hosted by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion.



The Secret Behind a Mysterious Traffic Code? It’s Made Up

William Roberts

It’s a head-scratcher all right. Search the official city directory and its state and federal counterparts and try to find what AWM stands for. No Standing signs in Lower Manhattan prohibit standing at a few locations on weekdays except for authorized vehicles. The only clue to exactly who is authorized are the letters AWM.

Turns out, AWM doesn’t stand for anything at all. The letters are a figment of the imagination of Samuel I. Schwartz, a former traffic commissioner. In the 1980s, he was asked to reserve spaces for certain secretive federal agencies, which did not want to advertise their presence or have their vehicles identified. So he made up the AWM designation, which the agencies and, presumably, traffic enforcement agents, all wink at.

“I just randomly picked the letters and issued AWM permits,” he recalled.



After Performer’s Death, Cirque du Soleil Show Will Resume

A photograph of the Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guillot-Guyard, who was killed in an accident at a performance.Associated Press A photograph of the Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guillot-Guyard, who was killed in an accident at a performance.

Cirque du Soleil said that it would resume performances of a Las Vegas show in which one of its acrobats was killed last month but that it would omit the closing scene in which she died.

Renee-Claude Menard, a spokeswoman for Cirque du Soleil, told The Associated Press that performances of “Ka,” a show presented at the MGM Grand hotel, would resume on Tuesday night, about two weeks after the death of Sarah Guillot-Guyard.

Ms. Guillot-Guyard, a trained aerialist and acrobat, died on June 29 after falling about 90 feet during a performance. The local authorities ruled that her death was accidental. A further investigation by Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration could still take several more months to complete.

Ms. Menard told The A.P. that the closing aerial battle scene of “Ka,” during which Ms. Guillot-Guyard sustained her accident, will be replaced with a “dressing-ritual” scene. Tuesday evening’s performance of “Ka” will be dedicated to Ms. Guillot-Guyard, she said.



After Performer’s Death, Cirque du Soleil Show Will Resume

A photograph of the Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guillot-Guyard, who was killed in an accident at a performance.Associated Press A photograph of the Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guillot-Guyard, who was killed in an accident at a performance.

Cirque du Soleil said that it would resume performances of a Las Vegas show in which one of its acrobats was killed last month but that it would omit the closing scene in which she died.

Renee-Claude Menard, a spokeswoman for Cirque du Soleil, told The Associated Press that performances of “Ka,” a show presented at the MGM Grand hotel, would resume on Tuesday night, about two weeks after the death of Sarah Guillot-Guyard.

Ms. Guillot-Guyard, a trained aerialist and acrobat, died on June 29 after falling about 90 feet during a performance. The local authorities ruled that her death was accidental. A further investigation by Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration could still take several more months to complete.

Ms. Menard told The A.P. that the closing aerial battle scene of “Ka,” during which Ms. Guillot-Guyard sustained her accident, will be replaced with a “dressing-ritual” scene. Tuesday evening’s performance of “Ka” will be dedicated to Ms. Guillot-Guyard, she said.



Cultural Programs to Focus on Climate Change

In his best-known works, Robert Rauschenberg used nontraditional materials, including found objects, to produce provocative pieces that he called combines. Now the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, which he set up to provide support for causes that were important to him, is joining forces with two other like-minded organizations to present a series of exhibitions, panel discussions and performances that will explore climate change.

The other organizations are Ballroom Marfa, a contemporary arts center in Marfa, Tex., and the Public Concern Foundation, a New York nonprofit that focuses on public education about social and political issues. Their project, “Marfa Dialogues,” is to include events at 18 of New York’s cultural and academic institutions and involve other organizations in ways that have not yet been determined. It is to open on Oct. 15 with an exhibition of environmentally engaged works, selected by Ballroom Marfa, at the Rauschenberg Project Space in Chelsea.

Other events include a performance by Nora York of her multimedia song cycle “Water’s Getting Deeper/Water’s Getting Scarce,” at Joe’s Pub; “Solar,” a program of video works to be shown by Friends of the High Line; and an untitled exhibition of art works, at the IMC Lab + Gallery. The Earth Institute at Columbia University will present “Don’t Be Sad, Flying Ace!,” a play about a dog that sits on top of his doghouse watching the waters rise around it. Superhero Clubhouse, a collective of artists and environmental activists, plans to offer “Field Trip (A Climate Cabaret),” a theatrical evening of songs, dance, poetry and stories, in which six climate scientists talk about their findings. And an exhibition by the Danish artist Tue Greenfort at the SculptureCenter will be the starting point for panels and workshops about the history of environmentalism and the relationship between art and ecology.

The Marfa Dialogues began in Texas in 2010 as a symposium in which the intersection of culture and politics were explored. This year’s series is the first to be presented in New York and will run through November.



New York Today: Heat Wave

Water sellers should do well this week, with the temperature expected to break 90 every day.Michael Nagle for The New York Times Water sellers should do well this week, with the temperature expected to break 90 every day.

There is no pleasant way to spin this.

It will be brutally hot on Monday.

And Tuesday. And the rest of the week, too.

The forecast high for Monday in Central Park is 97 degrees - the highest temperature since last July 18, when it hit 100. The heat index today will be over 100.

Tuesday may be even hotter. The forecast is for 98.

Unsurprisingly, a heat advisory is in effect for Monday and Tuesday.

Nights will provide little relief this week, with lows barely getting below 80.

We are sorry. Bring a parasol.

Here’s what else you need to know to start your Monday

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit [6:14] Delays on G trains northbound. Click for the latest status.

- Roads [6:01] Emergency construction work en route to the Lincoln tunnel on 495 eastbound, with a lane closed, 1010 WINS reports.

Alternate-side parking rules: in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- Outside the federal courthouse downtown, three New York City Congressmen will call on the federal Justice Department to investigate the George Zimmerman verdict for possible civil rights violations.

- In the lead up to Tuesday’s l All-Star Game at Citi Field, you can root root root in air conditioned bliss as the “T-Mobile All-Star FanFest” continues as the Javits Center. Baseball lovers can try batting practice and even meet the sport’s stars: mascots like Mr. Met.

- Tonight at Citi Field, there’s a Home Run Derby featuring David Wright, Robinson Cano and other sluggers.

- On the campaign trail: William C. Thompson Jr. picks up endorsements from Brooklyn leaders. Joseph J. Lhota greets voters at the Staten Island ferry terminal. Bill de Blasio attends a rally to save hospitals in Brooklyn. Eliot Spitzer is on PIX11 morning news at 8 a.m., Geraldo Rivera’s 770WABC radio show at 11:06 a.m. and MSNBC at 8 p.m.

- Attention city candidates: today is filing day for campaign expenditures for the past 60 days.

- The Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series at Wingate Park in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, getsunderway with a tribute to and performance by Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, the producer behind slews of smooth-crooning R&B hits. [Free]

- Monday may be the best day of your life. Twinkies. Are. Back.

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

Michaelle Bond and Sarah Maslin Nir contributed reporting.

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