Back to the Real Lower East Side

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Dear Diary:

Hipsters seeking Sel Rrose restaurant last month were startled to see Orchard Street restored to its natural state, courtesy of Steven Soderbergh’s circa-1900 set for “The Knick.”

Clothing retailers, textile merchants, kosher shops and a bar, “The Stag’s Head,” where “No Spitting is Allowed,” lined the former retail mecca.

While they stomped out their ciggy butts on the fresh “dirt road” replacing pavements, some huffed and puffed about their preference for the set of “New Girl.” Tourists exiting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum were overjoyed that they had stumbled onto the real thing. “I can’t believe we almost missed this,” said one. ” I wouldn’t have noticed if so many people weren’t stopping for pictures.”

One child asked her mom, “What’s a pawnshop?” outside of T. Lichenstein Pawnbroker, where period furniture pieces were stacked out front. Mom taught Eco 101: People sold their furniture for money. Other children posed for pictures in empty buggies and dug their heels deep in the dirt to peer at the peppermint candies in pushcarts.

The most popular film shooting since “The Ten Commandments” - at least on the Lower East Side.

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

New York Today: Gridlock Alert

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Good morning and happier travels: Metro-North’s Hudson Line is running again.

But the evening commute may still be a slog â€" Wednesday is the first of seven Gridlock Alert Days this month. Here’s what you need to know:

Don’t be fooled by the twinkling lights and rosy faces.

All around the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, which will be lighted tonight between 7 and 9, people will be feeling miserable.

They’ll be the ones stuck in traffic.

It will start in the afternoon, when the four blocks around Rockefeller Center will be closed to cars and filled with barricades.

As Fifth and Sixth Avenues shut down, traffic will be pushed from avenue to avenue.

With 48th to 52nd Streets closed, the 40s and 50s will be virtually impassable.

In 1982, the city traffic commissioner Samuel I. Schwartz, now known as Gridlock Sam, released a list of the days with the heaviest traffic.

The city has recognized Gridlock Alert Days ever since.

The list has evolved over the years, but because of the holidays, December has always been bad.

People shop on Thursdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays around Christmas, matinees are the cause.

Our advice: To avoid frustration today, walk or take the subway.

If you must drive, pack a 45-minute cushion.

WEATHER

Reminiscent of days of old: yesterday. Sun, clouds, high around 54.

But clouding over tonight, with a 50-50 chance of light rain.

COMMUTE

Subways: Check latest status.

Rails: Metro-North’s Hudson line is back in service, with almost all scheduled trains running. But only on one track, so expect congestion delays of up to 15 minutes. See details.

Fans of the temporary shuttle bus from the Yonkers train station to the 1 subway line in the Bronx will find it still operational.

Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.

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

Alternate-side parking is in effect till Christmas.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio makes an announcement at 11 a.m. Could it be his long-awaited choice of police commissioner?

- Mr. De Blasio speaks at a fundraiser for the animal rights group NY-Class, leaders of the move to ban carriage horses, in Midtown at 6 p.m.

- A myriad of companies send recruiters to a career fair at the Holiday Inn Midtown. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. [Free, register]

- The lessons of superachievers are presented in an illustrated lecture at the Mid-Manhattan Library. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- A Filipino-American journalist who rose to prominence while undocumented, Jose Antonio Vargas, offers a peek at his new documentary at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- Sotheby’s will auction paintings by Norman Rockwell, including “The Gossips,” at 10 a.m.

- Movie opening: “Out of the Furnace” at Sunshine Cinema, followed by a Q-and-A with the director. 7:45 p.m. [$13.50]

- Chefs and authors serve up a smorgasbord of food writing at Housing Works bookstore in SoHo. 7 p.m. [$5 suggested donation, R.S.V.P.]

- Wreaths made from rat traps, neckties, acorns and more are exhibited at the Arsenal in Central Park. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. [Free]

- Another tree lighting, at Shore Road Park in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. 6:30. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- The engineer of the Metro-North train that crashed had fallen into “highway hypnosis,” his lawyer said. [New York Times]

- The teenage suspect in last month’s shooting at the Bryant Park ice rink wrote a three-page letter of apology to one of the victims. [New York Times]

- Who will be Mr. de Blasio’s schools chancellor? Maybe one of these educators. [New York Times]

- Prospect Park’s new $74 million dollar ice skating rink is set to open Dec. 20. [Daily News]

- A man carried a stolen cash register onto a Long Island Rail Road train, the police said. He was arrested. [CBS New York]

- Parents at a public school beside the elevated subway tracks in Queens are trying to stop the deafening noise. [New York Times]

- Billy Joel is now a franchise: The singer will perform monthly at Madison Square Garden, and has his own logo [New York Times]

Joseph Burgess and Andy Newman contributed reporting.

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

What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, email us at nytoday@nytimes.com or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday.

Find us on weekdays at nytoday.com.

New York Today: Gridlock Alert

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Good morning and happier travels: Metro-North’s Hudson Line is running again.

But the evening commute may still be a slog â€" Wednesday is the first of seven Gridlock Alert Days this month. Here’s what you need to know:

Don’t be fooled by the twinkling lights and rosy faces.

All around the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, which will be lighted tonight between 7 and 9, people will be feeling miserable.

They’ll be the ones stuck in traffic.

It will start in the afternoon, when the four blocks around Rockefeller Center will be closed to cars and filled with barricades.

As Fifth and Sixth Avenues shut down, traffic will be pushed from avenue to avenue.

With 48th to 52nd Streets closed, the 40s and 50s will be virtually impassable.

In 1982, the city traffic commissioner Samuel I. Schwartz, now known as Gridlock Sam, released a list of the days with the heaviest traffic.

The city has recognized Gridlock Alert Days ever since.

The list has evolved over the years, but because of the holidays, December has always been bad.

People shop on Thursdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays around Christmas, matinees are the cause.

Our advice: To avoid frustration today, walk or take the subway.

If you must drive, pack a 45-minute cushion.

WEATHER

Reminiscent of days of old: yesterday. Sun, clouds, high around 54.

But clouding over tonight, with a 50-50 chance of light rain.

COMMUTE

Subways: Check latest status.

Rails: Metro-North’s Hudson line is back in service, with almost all scheduled trains running. But only on one track, so expect congestion delays of up to 15 minutes. See details.

Fans of the temporary shuttle bus from the Yonkers train station to the 1 subway line in the Bronx will find it still operational.

Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.

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

Alternate-side parking is in effect till Christmas.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio makes an announcement at 11 a.m. Could it be his long-awaited choice of police commissioner?

- Mr. De Blasio speaks at a fundraiser for the animal rights group NY-Class, leaders of the move to ban carriage horses, in Midtown at 6 p.m.

- A myriad of companies send recruiters to a career fair at the Holiday Inn Midtown. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. [Free, register]

- The lessons of superachievers are presented in an illustrated lecture at the Mid-Manhattan Library. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- A Filipino-American journalist who rose to prominence while undocumented, Jose Antonio Vargas, offers a peek at his new documentary at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- Sotheby’s will auction paintings by Norman Rockwell, including “The Gossips,” at 10 a.m.

- Movie opening: “Out of the Furnace” at Sunshine Cinema, followed by a Q-and-A with the director. 7:45 p.m. [$13.50]

- Chefs and authors serve up a smorgasbord of food writing at Housing Works bookstore in SoHo. 7 p.m. [$5 suggested donation, R.S.V.P.]

- Wreaths made from rat traps, neckties, acorns and more are exhibited at the Arsenal in Central Park. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. [Free]

- Another tree lighting, at Shore Road Park in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. 6:30. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- The engineer of the Metro-North train that crashed had fallen into “highway hypnosis,” his lawyer said. [New York Times]

- The teenage suspect in last month’s shooting at the Bryant Park ice rink wrote a three-page letter of apology to one of the victims. [New York Times]

- Who will be Mr. de Blasio’s schools chancellor? Maybe one of these educators. [New York Times]

- Prospect Park’s new $74 million dollar ice skating rink is set to open Dec. 20. [Daily News]

- A man carried a stolen cash register onto a Long Island Rail Road train, the police said. He was arrested. [CBS New York]

- Parents at a public school beside the elevated subway tracks in Queens are trying to stop the deafening noise. [New York Times]

- Billy Joel is now a franchise: The singer will perform monthly at Madison Square Garden, and has his own logo [New York Times]

Joseph Burgess and Andy Newman contributed reporting.

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

What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, email us at nytoday@nytimes.com or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday.

Find us on weekdays at nytoday.com.