New York Today: Comeback City

Al Bello/Getty Images Paul Pierce is back, and so are the Nets.

Updated 10:02 a.m.

Good misty Tuesday morning.

You awaken to a city of winners.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we were marveling at the local teams’ dismal seasons.

What a difference 2014 makes.

The region’s pro basketball and hockey teams have won a combined 22 of 31 games this year - 71 percent - after winning only 37 percent from October through December.

Last night, the Knicks kept things rolling, beating the Suns in overtime for their fifth straight win, 98-96.

The reasons for the turnaround are unclear. Coincidence? A sort of long-overdue market correction? A new mayor? (We’re joking, really.)

Players like Iman Shumpert of the Knicks are hitting their stride.

Everything seemed to come together on Jan. 2.

The Knicks stunned the San Antonio Spurs - perhaps the league’s second-best team.

The Nets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at the buzzer.

And the Islanders shocked the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in overtime.

Only the New Jersey Devils have continued their lackluster ways.

Sure, all the local teams but the Rangers are still under .500.

The Olympics will derail the hockey season for most of February, making it harder to maintain momentum.

“But for now,” said Naila-Jean Meyers, a sports editor at The Times, “enjoy it while you can because we have a lot to cheer about.”

Here’s what else you need to know.

WEATHER

Still warm, but wet, with fog and up to half an inch of rain, and a high of 49.

Clearing up by nightfall, not too cold tonight, and sunny on Wednesday.

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 or the 8s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect all week.

DE BLASIO WATCH

From David W. Chen of The Times:

- Forkgate, a.k.a. Pizzagate, may well live another day, after Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” skewered the mayor’s use of silverware to eat pizza. (See video.)

- But Mr. de Blasio won’t be talking about Forkgate today, or anything else, because he has no public events scheduled.

- He may, however, spend time figuring out what to do about a Queens school where the principal is reportedly often absent and students spend much of the day watching television.

COMING UP TODAY

- Education advocates, supported by Public Advocate Letitia James, board buses for Albany to lobby for state funding for city schools. 7:15 a.m. in Brooklyn.

- Three statues of Hindu gods stolen from a temple in India in 2009 and seized in New York are turned over to the Indian consulate here.

- Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, busy these days redefining the word embattled, delivers his State of the State speech at 3 p.m. (Watch live stream.)

- An exhibit on the history of Martin guitars opens at the Met. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. [Pay what you wish]

- Kenny G alert: the saxophonist blows his horn, softly, to promote the softness of Charmin toilet paper, outside the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Noon. [Free]

- Storytellers tell stories at Cornelia Street Cafe. 6 p.m. [$8 includes drink]

- A calligrapher and “stationery artisan,” Bernard Maisner, delivers a lecture at the lovely library of the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen in Midtown. 6:30 p.m. [$15]

- Scott Stossel, editor of The Atlantic, discusses his book about anxiety at McNally Jackson books in SoHo. 7 p.m. [Free]

- An edifying evening of lectures about the history of partying at the Bedford in Williamsburg. Topics include “The Patricians vs. The Plebeians vs. The Pious: Who Partied Hardest in Ancient Rome?” 7:30 p.m. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- Assemblyman Eric Stevenson of the Bronx was convicted of taking more than $20,000 in bribes. [New York Times]

- A police helicopter fished out a kayaker and a windsurfer who got stuck in a marsh in Jamaica Bay. [New York Post]

- The fate of 300 safe deposit boxes remains unknown at an uptown Citibank branch consumed by fire over the weekend. [New York Times]

- Hang up your Cronuts: There is now, alas, a hybrid bagel-croissant called a Cragel. [Gothamist]

- A woman dying of cancer threw a monthlong party for herself, her family and her friends. [New York Times]

AND FINALLY…

This week in 1874, in the midst of a depression, labor advocates tried to march from Tompkins Square Park to City Hall to demand aid for the unemployed.

The 7,000 demonstrators were pre-empted, violently, by the police.

“There were incessant skirmishes in which clubs were judiciously applied with reasonable but not excessive severity,” The Times, which opposed the march, reported approvingly.

Dozens were arrested, dozens injured.

Mayor William F. Havemeyer, the authors of the history book “Gotham” wrote, applauded the police, too.

“Nothing better could have happened,” the mayor said.

Joseph Burgess, Annie Correal, Naila-Jean Meyers and Jay Schreiber contributed reporting.

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