Good cloudy Friday morning to you.
After all the bad weather and commuting woes and fractious politics of recent days, it’s time for an animal story.
A pint-sized deer. A turtle with a big head. Frisking snow leopards. Graceful cranes. Bounding baby baboons.
Let’s take a trip around the zoos of New York City, where we find a host of new faces (and tails):
- Demoiselle cranes: The Prospect Park Zoo welcomed three this week. The demoiselle looks as dainty as its name, but it is one tough bird: It migrates over the Himalayas.
- Southern pudu: Tiny deer native to Chile and Argentina, pudu top out at just 14 inches high. One was born over the summer at the Queens Zoo. Pudu bark when they sense danger and can climb fallen trees.
- Chinese big-headed turtles: This endangered turtle’s ability to hide from poachers is hindered by a head so big it cannot be withdrawn inside its shell. Five hatched at Prospect Park Zoo in November. See video.
- Mandrill: Back home in West Africa, these primates are a sought-after species of bush meat. At the Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest, life for a year-old mandrill is a little easier.
- Kaiser’s spotted newt: Found only in a five-square-mile region of Iran â€" maybe. It might be extinct in the wild. Five now reside at the Prospect Park Zoo.
- Sea lions: Four California sea lions stranded on the West Coast were brought to the Queens and Prospect Park Zoos recently, and a female was born at the Bronx Zoo in June. Wave a flipper.
- Hamadryas baboons: Two were born in late summer at the Prospect Park Zoo. Helicopter baboon moms find that the babies’ tails make great makeshift leashes.
- Leopard cubs: Two pair is a high hand in the world of critically endangered leopard cubs, and New York’s got them. Male and female snow leopards were born at the Central Park Zoo last summer. And the siblings Valeri and Kolya debuted at the Staten Island Zoo’s new Amur leopard exhibit in November.
Here’s what else you need to know for Friday and the weekend.
WEATHER
Back to the grab-bag: maybe a bit of snow, or sleet, or freezing rain, or rain, with a high of 44.
A very rainy, possibly floody Saturday could see an April-like high of 58, the warmest it’s been since… way back on Monday, when it hit 55.
Remember? What a week.
Sunday: cooler and clearing.
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.
Weekend Travel Hassles: Check subway disruptions or list of street closings.
DE BLASIO WATCH
From Kate Taylor of the City Hall bureau of The Times:
- The mayor heads to the borough least sympathetic to his fiercely liberal agenda: Staten Island. He holds a roundtable with residents at Goodfellas Pizza at 1 p.m.
- Mr. de Blasio criticized Gov. Chris Christie, saying that the revelation that Christie aides created a traffic jam for revenge raised “bigger questions†about his leadership. [Politicker]
- Developers, lobbyists, and members of the taxi industry gave generously to Mr. de Blasio’s transition and inauguration. [Politicker]
COMING UP TODAY
- A rally on the steps of City Hall against the police union’s effort to overturn the law reining in stop and frisk. Noon.
- The last day for Governor Cuomo to sign a bill tightening regulations of pet stores and so-called puppy mills. The A.S.P.C.A. is running a campaign to get people to urge the governor to sign the bill.
- Ben Stiller and the author George Saunders talk about comedy, satire, and hope at the McNally Jackson bookstore in SoHo. 7 p.m. [Free]
- Two film festivals: The African Diaspora International Film Festival at various venues, mostly uptown. [$12 per film, and up]
- First Look 2014, a showcase of new international cinema, at the Museum of the Moving Image. [$10 per film ]
- Export New Orleans kicks off at the Cutting Room in Midtown with brass bands galore. 7 p.m. [$25]
- The New York Guitar Festival begins with a performance by the classical guitarist Pepe Romero at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan. 8 p.m. [Free]
- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- Bridgegate has yielded a class-action suit, filed by people affected by the highly suspicious George Washington Bridge access lane closures and their resulting traffic jams. [Politico]
- An Indian diplomat flew home after being indicted in New York on charges of making false statements about her treatment of a housekeeper here. [New York Times]
- Sloan-Kettering and other leading cancer centers are not exactly rushing to get on board with the governor’s medical marijuana plan. [Capital New York]
- Scoreboard: the suddenly unstoppable Knicks beat the Heat, 102-92. Devils dim Stars, 2-1.
Joseph Burgess and Annie Correal contributed reporting.
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