The Week in Pictures for Aug. 30

See the slide show

Here is a slide show of photographs from the past week in New York City and the region. Subjects include a boat club on Newtown Creek, the race for mayor and a baby snow leopard at the Bronx Zoo,

This weekend on “The New York Times Close Up,” an inside look at the most compelling articles in the Sunday newspaper, Sam Roberts will speak with The Times’s Amy Chozik, Jodi Kantor, Matt Flegenheimer, Michael Grynbaum, Eleanor Randolph and Clyde Haberman. Tune in at 10 p.m. Saturday or 10 a.m. Sunday on NY1 News to watch.

A sampling from the City Room blog is featured daily in the main print news section of The Times. You may also read current New York headlines, like New York Metro | The New York Times on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Another Kind of Music

I was in the audience at the Abbey Theater in Dublin on June 9, 1991, when Seamus Heaney read from his new book of poems, “Seeing Things.” I know the exact date because he kindly inscribed his book for me and dated it. But I wouldn’t have forgotten that night with or without the month and year. Seamus gave a mesmerizing, witty and emotional performance, and for me it was a rare opportunity to hear the sound of his words spoken with their true accent.

Popular culture likes to house songwriters and poets under the same roof, but we are not the close family that some imagine. Poets are distant cousins at most, and labor under a distinctly different set of rules. Songwriters have melody, instrumentation and rhythm to color their work and give it power; poets accomplish it all with words.

Seamus, though, was one of those rare poets whose writing evokes music, the fiddles, pipes and penny-whistles of his Northern Irish culture and upbringing. You can hear it in “Casting and Gathering”:

Years and years ago, these sounds took sides:

On the left bank, a green silk tapered cast
Went whispering through the air, saying hush
And lush, entirely free, no matter whether
It swished above the hayfield or the river.

And later in the poem:

One sound is saying, ‘You are not worth tuppence,
But neither is anybody. Watch it! Be severe.’
The other says, ‘Go with it! Give and swerve.
You are everything you feel beside the river.’

I love this poem and return to it from time to time to hear the “hush” and “lush” of the fishermen casting their rods from opposite banks, like politicians across the Senate aisle. And I like the friendly pep talk Seamus gives himself when self-criticism is about to get the best of him.

It’s frustrating to try to capture even a glimpse of the man, his verbal virtuosity, his wit and Irish charm. Recovering from a stroke in the hospital he greeted his friend and fellow poet, Paul Muldoon, with “Hello, different strokes for different folks.”

I admire the directness and simplicity of his work, a virtue most writers aspire to but rarely achieve. Seamus and I met through our mutual friend Derek Walcott. I visited him in his home outside Dublin, and we continued our conversations at my place in Manhattan. Obviously, I’m a fan even more of the man than the poetry, though there are few poets I would rank as his equal.

Paul Simon is a singer and songwriter.

Malevich’s Burial Site Is Found, Underneath Housing Development

MOSCOW â€" The burial site of the Russian avant-garde artist and theorist Kazimir Malevich, in a field near Moscow, has been covered in concrete by a real estate developer to make way for luxury housing, says an enthusiast who spent years looking for the site.

Aleksandr Matveev told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper in an interview published on August 26 that the Moscow regional culture ministry had done an about-face on plans to commemorate the artist. Last winter, a commission that included culture ministry officials visited the site and confirmed his findings on the grave, Mr. Matveev said.

“Developers have already talked to the bureaucrats who are making the decisions,” said Mr. Matveev, who heads an organization called Nemchinovka and Malevich, named after the nearby village where Malevich once lived. “They’ve already put concrete blocks on the site of the grave,” Mr. Matveev said.

Malevich, who died in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1935, his health destroyed by time in prison, had asked to be buried under an oak tree on the outskirts of Nemchinovka, a place to which he felt a special bond.

“The landscape of this place was certainly very stimulating for his well-being and for his mind,”  said Andrei Nakov, a Paris-based art historian who is the author of a four-volume monograph, “Malevich: Painting the Absolute.”

Nikolai Suetin, a friend of Malevich’s and a fellow artist, designed a white cube with a black square to mark the burial site. The memorial was destroyed during World War II.

The development company responsible for the housing complex, called Romashkovo, says there is nothing to the dispute. On Thursday, a statement was posted on the development’s Web site saying that Malevich would be honored, and that he served as inspiration for the complex, but insisting that the urn with his ashes was removed decades ago.

“Although the artist’s grave has been irrevocably lost, the residents of Romashkovo and Nemchinovka have not forgotten about the importance of these places in the history of Russian art,” the statement said. It added, “In designing the facades, the creators of the Romashkovo housing complex were inspired by Malevich’s famous paintings. They have succeeded in conveying the brevity of his sharp lines with the freedom of space and combined them with dashes of color that are pleasing to the eye.” According to the statement, Malevich will be commemorated with a monument on the grounds.

Mr. Matveev said that the developer and regional officials have cut the world off from Malevich. The Romashkovo development is in a gated community, and although the regional culture ministry said this week that there would be free access, Mr. Matveev said it’s still closed to visitors. Another nearby monument to Malevich put up in 1988 is now also on the grounds of a gated community.

At the moment, Russia is in the midst of officially promoting the artist. Malevich’s works, along with those of Wassily Kandinsky, have inspired the design for the logo of the G-20 meeting opening in St. Petersburg next week.

Low Ratings for ‘Low Winter Sun’

AMC’s “Breaking Bad” has been one of the summer’s great ratings success stories, a testament to the power of binge watching and word of mouth.

But the numbers for that channel’s other Sunday drama, “Low Winter Sun,” have been a disappointment so far, and the show now looks like a missed opportunity to take advantage of the surge in viewership for “Breaking Bad.”

After “Low Winter Sun” scored decent ratings for its premiere on Aug. 11, with 2.5 million total viewers, the next episode drew only 1.5 million. The most recent episode, on Aug. 25, dropped even further, according to Nielsen, to 1.2 million. The show also finished outside that night’s Top 100 cable programs in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic and has now fallen below AMC’s other low-rated dramas.

“Hell on Wheels,” the western that AMC banished to Saturday this season and has no lead-in to speak of, had more total viewers than “Low Winter Sun” for its Aug. 24 episode, with 2 million.

Even “The Killing,” another AMC dark cop drama that was broadcast on Sundays earlier this summer, had a larger audience for its Season 3 finale on Aug. 4: 1.5 million viewers. “The Killing” has not yet been renewed for a fourth season, which does not bode well for the prospects of future seasons of “Low Winter Sun.”

Dave Chappelle Cuts Short a Stand-Up Show

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press Dave Chappelle in 2008.

A live appearance by Dave Chappelle can be an unpredictable affair, promising either brilliance or petulance, and audiences who saw him perform Thursday night got a little bit of both, when this one-time Comedy Central star halted his standup act in mid-performance and proceeded to run out the clock.

Mr. Chappelle, who in 2005 withdrew from his popular Comedy Central series, “Chappelle’s Show,” amid its runaway success and his concerns about how its provocative racial satire was being received, has been a headliner on the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, a national tour presented by the Web site Funny Or Die.

At Thursday’s stop at the Comcast Theater in Hartford, Conn., Mr. Chappelle performed about 10 minutes of his set when he became frustrated by audience members who were shouting at him and interrupting his routine.

In video of Mr. Chappelle’s set that was posted to YouTube, he is seen urging his fans to cease the heckling, and finally conceding defeat.

Mr. Chappelle said in the video that he messed up “when I left my show, you know why?”

“Because,” he continued, “my show only has to be 22 minutes on television. I could have went on television, I could have read the phone book for 22 minutes, and I would have got $50 million.”

Mr. Chappelle added that his live standup show was different. “Tonight my contract says 25 minutes,” he said. “And I have 3 minutes left.” When that time is up, he added: “ I’m going straight to the bank and doing a night deposit.”

As the boos and jeers persisted, Mr. Chappelle said, “You’re booing yourself,” to little avail.

As of Friday afternoon, Mr. Chappelle was still scheduled to perform 11 more shows on the Oddball festival between Friday and Sept. 22.

Lesli-ann Lewis, who reviewed Mr. Chappelle’s performance for the Ebony.com Web site, wrote, “Chappelle wasn’t having a meltdown. This was a Black artist shrugging the weight of White consumption, deciding when enough was enough.”

A Quiet Beauty Flying By

Tadeusz Strzelecki

Each summer, a quiet migration gets under way for North American shorebirds. Measured in sheer numbers, the volume is astounding as millions of birds collect along the Atlantic coast. What is both miraculous and unnerving is that the North Atlantic Flyway guides them directly through some of the densest population centers on earth virtually unnoticed. Except for delighted bird watchers and worried managers at local airports, most New Yorkers are unaware that outside their windows, birds are coursing along an ancient migration route.

Many New York City shorelines afford a chance to stand with your boots in the mud, surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of the birds’ journey. There is a near-divine beauty in the throngs of shorebirds wheeling, banking and flying in unison, or simply resting or feeding on a beach. Challenged by weather and hounded by predators, most of the birds have hundreds, if not thousands, of miles yet to fly to reach their overwintering grounds.

Shorebirds are a rather loosely defined group that includes familiar species like sandpipers, plovers and killdeers as well as the more exotic avocets, stilts and whimbrels. They are beautifully adapted to life along the coast, often sporting gracefully curved bills for probing in mud; long, brightly colored legs for wading in shallow water; or eye-catching wing patterns that are thought to be visual cues to stitch flocks together or confuse predators.

Generally as they pass through the city on their southbound migrations, the birds have shed their bright breeding plumage and have assumed subtler warm tans and browns. This “fall migration” is something of a misnomer. It actually begins in the sweltering heat of mid-August, and reaches its peak in September. It is more properly a postbreeding migration, the result of a successfully completed nesting cycle in the brief northern summer.

Remarkably, young birds are not schooled in migration routes. Neither were their parents, nor theirs before them. Migration is still one of the world’s great mysteries. Directions to points north and south may be hard-wired into the brains of these birds, as they follow geologic features such as shorelines or mountain ranges, invisible magnetic fields or the positions of the moon, stars and planets. This could account for birds’ steadfast dedication to certain routes and stopovers like New York City. This site fidelity may imperil the birds, as rampant development, or even natural events, can eliminate critically placed resources necessary for successful migration.

Some of New York City’s best shorebird observation sites are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Among them are the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s famous East and West Ponds, the Salt Marsh Nature Center’s Mill Basin trails, and Pelham Bay’s alternately rocky and muddy shorelines. You’ll see the birds in the air and all around you. Shorebird migrations are impressive and provocative, a must-see for urban naturalists. Best yet, they are participatory. To enjoy them, you need only stick your feet in the mud.

Book Review Podcast: Life With J. Paul Getty

Ben Wiseman

In The New York Times Book Review, Judith Newman reviews “Alone Together,” the new memoir by Teddy Getty Gaston, the fifth and final wife of the billionaire J. Paul Getty. Ms. Newman writes:

“Alone Together” is a private memoir of a public man, and a very whitewashed one. We hear about the little Donald Duck stuffed toys they exchanged, but nothing substantive about his business, his relationships with world leaders, his other wives and children, or the famous kidnapping and mutilation of his grandson and the ransom Getty bargained down before finally paying. (From about $17 million to $2.2 million â€" just the amount that would be tax-deductible.) Much here reflects the fond, and I suspect unreliable, memories of a lovely and loving, now 99-year-old woman. But then, perhaps we shouldn’t always read memoirs for facts; we should sometimes read them to get closer to the subject.

On this week’s podcast, Ms. Newman discusses “Alone Together”; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Evan J. Mandery talks about “A Wild Justice,” his new book about the death penalty in the U.S.; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.

Big Ticket | Terrace Swimming for $14.7 Million

Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times The Aldyn has four duplex units.

A sprawling seven-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bath duplex with a 3,800-square-foot terrace including a private outdoor swimming pool at the Aldyn, at 60 Riverside Boulevard near 63rd Street, sold for $14,711,621.25 and was the most expensive sale of the week, city records show.

The nearly 6,000-square-foot interior space is one of four duplex apartments with double-height living rooms and large terraces built on a setback at the Aldyn, Extell Development’s glassy 40-story luxury condominium on the Upper West Side. The apartment, No. 2102, listed for $16.9 million, was the pricier of two with private 15-by-37-foot outdoor pools and expansive Hudson River and city views that were unabashedly marketed in the name of charity. They were transformed into designer fantasy spaces last year for the 40th anniversary of the Kips Bay Decorator Show House, which raises money for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club.

“It raised a lot of awareness in the marketplace and certainly in the brokerage community of these residences, which are sort of fun and unexpected,” said Beth Fisher, a senior managing director of the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, which represented the building. “Who expects to find a residence of nearly 6,000 square feet with a private pool in Manhattan?”

But with this particular unit, the show house “almost killed the deal,” said Kristen Magnani of Rutenberg Realty, who represented the buyers, listed as Joseph and Maria Lucania in city records. Though the apartment met her clients’ demands for a spacious urban abode with amazing views and outdoor space that rivaled their big suburban backyard, Ms. Magnani said, the show imposed the wildly different styles of the various designers, creating “an absolute distraction.”

“It’s a hodgepodge of everything,” she said, recalling red zebra wallpaper, an assortment of Venetian glazes on the walls, “and every conceivable color you can imagine,” throughout the apartment. Afterward, she added, “they were like, ‘We don’t see ourselves living here.’”

It wasn’t until the fancy furnishings were removed, the wallpaper and other designer imprints stripped out, and their own interior designer helped them conceptualize the space, that they began to envision themselves there, Ms. Magnani said. In the end, it was a combination of the unique space, the impressive views, and the many building amenities that sealed the deal. (The Aldyn has a full-size basketball court, a two-lane bowling alley, a golf simulator, a gym and a rock-climbing wall.)

Big Ticket includes closed sales from the previous week, ending Wednesday.

Seamus Heaney’s ‘Journey Into the Wideness of Language’

Dylan Martinez/Reuters Seamus Heaney in 1995.

Seamus Heaney, the esteemed Irish poet who died on Friday at 74, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. At the time, the poet Derek Walcott, a fellow Nobel winner, called Mr. Heaney “the guardian spirit of Irish poetry.”

In a 1997 interview in The Paris Review, Mr. Heaney described winning the Nobel as “a bit like being caught in a mostly benign avalanche. You are totally daunted, of course, when you think of previous writers who received the prize. And daunted when you think of the ones who didn’t receive it.” In his Nobel lecture, Mr. Heaney described listening to the radio as a child, and how he “got used to hearing short bursts of foreign languages as the dial hand swept round.” He continued: “And even though I didn’t understand what was being said in those first encounters with the gutturals and sibilants of European speech, I had already begun my journey into the wideness of the world. This, in turn, became a journey into the wideness of language.”

In addition to writing his own poetry, Mr. Heaney was widely acclaimed as a translator, perhaps most notably of “Beowulf.” Reviewing that translation in 2000, James Shapiro called it a work “for which generations of readers will be grateful,” and said: “Heaney is as attuned to the poem’s celebration of the heroic as he is to its melancholy undertow, nowhere more so than in his hauntingly beautiful description of Beowulf’s funeral.”

In 2000, Mr. Heaney spoke to PBS about his translation of “Beowulf”:

This poem is written down, but it is also clearly a poem that was spoken out. And it is spoken in a very dignified, formal way. And I got the notion that the best voice I could hear it in was the voice of an old countryman who was a cousin of my father’s who was not, as they say, educated, but he spoke with great dignity and formality. And I thought if I could write the translation in such a way that this man â€" Peter Scullion was his name â€" could speak it, then I would get it right. That’s, in fact, how I started it.

Below are links to more reviews of Mr. Heaney’s work in The Times:

Poetry:
“Human Chain”
“District and Circle”
“The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles’ ‘Antigone’ ”
“Electric Light”
“Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996”
“Seeing Things”
“Selected Poems, 1966-1987”
“The Haw Lantern”
“Field Work”
“North”

Prose:
“The Redress of Poetry”
“The Government of the Tongue”
“Preoccupations: Selected Prose 1968-1978”

Video Reviews of ‘Passion,’ ‘One Direction’ and ‘Abigail Harm’

In this week’s video, Times critics look at “Passion,” “One Direction: This Is Us” and “Abigail Harm.” See all of this week’s reviews here.

Aug. 30: 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.

Kenan Christiansen and Joseph Burgess 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.Maps of all campaign events since April »

Events by candidate

Albanese

Catsimatidis

De Blasio

Lhota

Liu

Quinn

Thompson

Weiner

Group event

John A. Catsimatidis
Republican

8:30 a.m.
Joins senior citizens for breakfast at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Manhattan.

10 a.m.
Visits with senior citizens at the Great Kills Friendship Club on Staten Island.

Bill de Blasio
Democrat

11 a.m.
Holds a news conference to announce recent legal steps in a continuing effort to halt the closing of Long Island College Hospital, specifically a motion the public advocate files this morning asking that the local community play a role in determining the hospital’s next owner, outside of the hospital at Hicks and Pacific Streets in Brooklyn.

John C. Liu
Democrat

7 a.m.
Greets morning commuters at the DeKalb Avenue subway station on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.

9:15 a.m.
Is one of three candidates to participate in a mayoral forum, hosted by the Citizens Defending Libraries and the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, at the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn.

10:45 a.m.
Visits with senior citizens, at the Nan Shan Senior Center in Flushing, Queens.

11:30 a.m.
Visits his second senior center of the day, the Korean Community Services’ Senior Center in Flushing, Queens.

2:15 p.m.
Takes a small-business tour and hosts a get-out-the-vote rally, along Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn.

5 p.m.
Greets evening commuters, at the 45th Road-Court House Square subway station in Long Island City, Queens.

Joseph J. Lhota
Republican

11 a.m.
Visits with senior citizens at the Woodside Senior Center in Queens.

12:45 p.m.
Stops by the Darus Salaam Masjid, along with Alex Blishteyn, a City Council candidate, in the Briarwood section of Queens.

2:30 p.m.
Meets privately with the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, a quasi-governmental service organization that was founded over a century ago, at its offices on Mott Street.

Christine C. Quinn
Democrat

7:30 a.m.
Greets morning commuters, along with former State Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, at the Dyckman Street subway station in Inwood.

8:15 a.m.
Attends a meet-and-greet with residents of Washington Heights, at the Dyckman Express Restaurant in Inwood.

Some of Ms. Quinn’s events may not be shown because the campaign declines to release her advance schedule for publication.

William C. Thompson Jr.
Democrat

11 a.m.
Accepts the endorsement of the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts, the latest prominent African-American to step up and show support for Mr. Thompson after a Quinnipiac University survey, published last Wednesday, showed him trailing Mr. De Blasio among black voters by 25 percent to 34 percent. According to The New York Post, Mr. Thompson has shown that he is ready to fight to win back the key demographic that could make or break his chances for a run-off, by calling on African-American leaders around the country, like Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina and Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, to join him on the campaign trail.

1:30 p.m.
Greets Jewish voters before Shabbat, in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.

5 p.m.
Hosts a bus tour of the Caribbean community to celebrate the weekend-long, 46th annual West Indian American Festival. The bus will set off from St. Matthew’s church and visit the masquerade camps along Eastern Parkway.

8 p.m.
Hosts a “Haitian Young Professionals for Thompson” event, at Kombit Bar and Restaurant on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.

Anthony D. Weiner
Democrat

11:45 a.m.
Visits with senior citizens at the Prospect Park Hill Senior Services Center in Brooklyn.

6:45 p.m.
Takes the Rockaway Ferry from Manhattan, chatting with voters on board, which departs from Pier 11 at South Street.

7:45 p.m.
Greets moviegoers at the Rockaway Civic Association’s screening of “Despicable Me,” at Beach 121st Street.

Sal F. Albanese
Democrat

9:30 a.m.
Is one of three candidates to participate in a mayoral forum, hosted by the Citizens Defending Libraries and the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, at the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn.

12 p.m.
Visits with senior citizens, at the Midwood Senior Citizen Center in Brooklyn.

6 p.m.
Greets baseball fans outside the Staten Island Yankees’ minor-league subway series against the Brooklyn Cyclones, at Richmond County Bank Ball Park.

7 p.m.
Stops in at the Staten Island Polish Parade Marshal Ball, at the Old Bermuda Inn on Staten Island.

George T. McDonald
Republican

8 a.m.
Is one of three candidates to participate in a mayoral forum, hosted by the Citizens Defending Libraries and the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, at the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn.

It’s a Madhouse: Winner Declared in Chimpanzee Art Contest

Associated Press Brent, a 37-year-old chimpanzee who won a painting contest held by the Humane Society of the United States.

How much more like humans can chimpanzees be? They share what is believed to be more than 90 percent of our DNA, they seek to express themselves creatively and when they win prestigious art contests they can’t be bothered to get on the phone to express their gratitude.

Brent, a 37-year-old chimpanzee from a sanctuary in Louisiana, was named the winner of an online art contest organized by the Humane Society of the United States, the Associated Press reported.

The contest, for which paintings created by chimpanzees were submitted by their sanctuaries and custodians from around the country, was opened to online voting and drew more than 27,000 votes, the Humane Society said.

Brent, a one-time laboratory animal who now lives in the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Keithville, La., won first place and a $10,000 prize for a work in which he applied the paints with his tongue rather than a brush. The canvases that chimps paint on are generally held up to their cages while they work because, as Cathy Willis Spraetz, the president and CEO of Chimp Haven, explained to The A.P.: “If we handed the canvas to them where it was on the inside, they might not want to hand it back. They might throw it around and step on it.”

But when Brent was sought for comment after his victory, a Chimp Haven spokeswoman told The A.P. he was unavailable. “I think he’s asleep,” she said.

Cheetah, a chimpanzee in Fort Pierce, Fla., won a $5,000 prize for placing second in the online voting, and a further $5,000 for having his work chosen as a favorite by Jane Goodall, the noted primatologist.

Hot Night on a Slow Bus

Dear Diary:

The wheels of this bus are made out of molasses and the ground is molten tar.

No, it’s like that science experiment where the same drip of pitch has been waiting mid-drip for the last 80 years. That’s it. Pitch on a cold day during a blizzard on top of a glacier in the most deserted section of Antarctica. And I guess there are penguins there.

It’s 1:14 a.m. on a Sunday in Harlem and all I can think about is the viscosity of liquids in comparison with the amount of frustration I’m going through. I think we’re in the Upper West Side, actually: 86th and Columbus. At least we’re close to our destination, relatively speaking. I’m mean, we’re not in Connecticut anymore. That seemed like days ago.

I look out the window and see this little diner on the corner. I take out my notebook and write down the address, making a note that I’ll take myself out on a date in the near future. I want to get off that bus right there and order myself a plate of waffles and a coffee. Or maybe a double cheeseburger and a coffee.

I can never order the right meal. I keep thinking about that time I bought a hot dog from that Halal cart on Third Avenue and regretted it all night. It’s too late for a burger and too early for waffles. I’m in a decisional purgatory on a bus that’s melting into the earth’s crust.

I got it. Waffles and strawberries and whipped cream, with a side of a sausage, all doused in maple syrup.

My waffle-laden fantasy is interrupted when the traffic jam breaks and we swiftly descend downtown.

Read all recent entries and our updated submissions guidelines. Reach us via e-mail diary@nytimes.com or follow @NYTMetro on Twitter using the hashtag #MetDiary.

New York Today: Summer’s End

Clockwise from top right: Eric Thayer/Reuters; Carlo Allegri, via Reuters; Frank Gunn, via The Canadian Press, via Associated Press; Mario Tama, via Getty Images Summer’s somebodies: Eliot Spitzer, Alex Rodriguez, Anthony Weiner and Anthony Marshall.

It’s the last weekday of what is, unofficially, the last week of summer.

Except for a mini-heatwave near the start, it’s been distinctly mild, at least when it comes to weather.

The news, though, has had moments of verve.

Anthony D. Weiner, having apologized for sexting women who were not his wife, ran for mayor in a blaze of contrition, then admitted to previously unknown incidents of sexting women who were not his wife.

He was not the only one forced to issue reassurances about tamed sexual appetites. Eliot Spitzer, of course, also returned.

Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was suspended in a doping investigation. Which caused a bodega to be renamed.

Minority groups in the city took on the police over the stop-and-frisk policy, and won.

There was a shark on the subway.

And a grand New York saga came to an end when Anthony D. Marshall, son of the socialite Brooke Astor, was jailed for stealing millions from her in her old age. He was then paroled.

What were the summer’s momentous events?

Offer your thoughts in the comments, by e-mail or on Twitter with the hashtag #NYToday.

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

WEATHER

Mostly sunny, with a high of 81. A perfect day to end the season. The weekend is more dicey.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit Click for latest M.T.A. status.

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

Alternate-side parking is in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- On the mayoral campaign trail, Christine C. Quinn is endorsed by the carpenters’ union. William C. Thompson Jr. is backed by the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III of the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

- Ever thought your bike had 50 percent too many wheels? The New York City Unicycle Festival begins on Friday and runs through Sunday. [Free]

- Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series brings Alicia Keys to Central Park between 7 a.m and 9 a.m. [Free]

- Witness the best joke ever about a dart gun, as Despicable Me is screened at Rockaway Beach at 7:30 p.m. [Free]

IN THE NEWS

- Bill de Blasio continues his surge in the mayoral race, according to a poll by The New York Times and Siena College. He has 32 percent, with 18 percent for Mr. Thompson and 17 percent for Ms. Quinn. [New York Times]

- The comptroller’s race is less clear. The Times poll shows Mr. Spitzer ahead of Scott M. Stringer. Another poll shows them even. [New York Times]

- A lawsuit claims the city’s Department of Homeless Services paid $3,700 a month for bare-bones rooms for the homeless, supplied by a nonprofit group run by a former commissioner of the agency. [New York Post]

- Two small cats got on to subway tracks, causing a service suspension. [New York Times]

- Not to be outdone, a squirrel disrupted the United States Open. [Gothamist]

- A new professional soccer team is considering a stadium in the Bronx. [Wall Street Journal]

THE WEEKEND

Saturday

- There’s an outdoor art exhibit in Washington Square. [Free]

- Hester Street Craft Fair is teaming up with the Web site Bedford and Bowery to bring craft beers, D.J.s and shopping to the Lower East Side. Free beer is promised. [Free]

- Admire the human form at a dance show at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City at 3 p.m. [Free]

- Last chance for Saturday kayaking â€" no experience necessary â€" at Brooklyn Bridge Park boathouse from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. [Free]

Sunday

- It’s the last Smorgasburg food market of the year, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Brooklyn Bridge Park. [Free]

- There’s a tugboat race and competition at 10 a.m. at Pier 84 in Manhattan. [Free]

- Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” is screened at 8 p.m. at Lincoln Center Plaza. [Free]

- Ballet Hispanico’s BHdos Company performs at the Harlem Meer at 2 p.m. [Free]

Monday

- It’s the West Indian Day Parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn at 11 a.m. [Free]

- There’s a different kind of festival â€" classical â€" on Governors Island at noon. [Free]

AND FINALLY…

Someone has taken the smell of the Lower East Side, and made it into a perfume.

NOVA, the company behind this idea, according to Gothamist, included the scents of “decaying rat, detergent, dog, sweet BBQ,” and “standard stink.”

Nicole Higgins DeSmet contributed reporting.

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