Michael Nagle for The New York Times Updated 5:56 a.m.
Good Thursday morning to you.
Today, at 12:57 p.m., you may rejoice.
Up in the heavens, the sun will cross the celestial equator.
Here in winter-weary New York City, spring will begin.
In Bowling Green, the city’s oldest park, celebrants will stand eggs on end â€" a feat supposedly easier during the equinox.
In Central Park, the Neo Pagans of New York will “worship, give thanks, send Energies, etc.†within a circle of wooden gnarled benches.
None of this will stop it from getting cold again.
The best we can offer in the way of a weather forecast is three straight days of 50 degrees or above.
On Monday, though, the wind chill will be back in the teens.
Snow is a possibility on Wednesday.
But the signs are unmistakable.
The eastern phoebe, a nondescript brown bird known as one of the season’s first harbingers, is flitting in the trees, said Harry Maas, president of New York City Audubon.
Flocks of blackbirds and grackle are moving through.
The sap is rising. Even in the concrete city, you can smell the living earth.
Here’s what else you need to know.
WEATHER
The mist clears, the sun shines by late morning, the mercury hits 52.
Tomorrow will be sunny, too.
COMMUTE
Subways: Southbound 1 skips some local stops uptown. Check latest status.
Rails: Scattered delays on N.J. Transit Northeast Corridor. Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or N.J. Transit status.
Roads: No major delays. Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.
Alternate-side parking is in effect all week.
COMING UP TODAY
- Two scoops for paid sick leave. Mayor de Blasio signs a bill that expands it at Steve’s Ice Cream headquarters in Bed-Stuy. 12:30 p.m.
- Students and faculty shave their heads at St. John’s University to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. 1:45 p.m.
- Free food abounds. A dozen bakeries give out macarons for Macaron Day NYC. Consult the Macaron Map…
- …While Rita’s gives away ices on the Upper West Side starting at noon.
- Parsons graduate students open their studios to the public. 6 p.m.
- Raquel Cepeda reads from her book, “Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina,†at Word Up Books uptown. 7 p.m. [Free]
- The sanitation department’s resident anthropologist, Robin Nagle, talks trash in Williamsburg. 8:30 p.m. [$20]
- Five short films about Chinatown, at MOCA. 7 p.m. [Free]
- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- An inmate died in a cell at Rikers Island that had “unusually high temperatures.†[New York Times]
- Services were held for three victims of the explosion in East Harlem. [Daily News]
- The ashes of an eighth victim were taken home â€" to Japan. [New York Times]
- The city courts are getting more efficient: an arrested person now typically appears before a judge in under 24 hours. [New York Times]
- A driver who crash-landed an S.U.V. onto a Q train Tuesday morning turned herself in. [DNAinfo]
- The M.T.A. will install cameras and audio recorders in Metro-North and L.I.R.R. trains. [CBS]
- Hobbies of the elderly â€" from crocheting to shuffleboard â€" have been co-opted by Brooklyn hipsters. Could these be next? [The Brooklyn Paper]
- New Yorkers who refuse to own cellphones do not seem any worse off for it. [Daily News]
- Scoreboard: Knicks pass Pacers, 92-86. Nets bag Bobcats, 104-99. Yankees bury Braves, 7-0.
AND FINALLY …
This week in 1831, Edward Smith broke into the City Bank of Wall Street at night and made off with a hefty sum.
A whopping $245,000 â€" worth more than $6 million today.
Since then, all manner of thieves have called upon the city’s financial institutions - including a 9-year-old boy, and the Vietnam veteran in “Dog Day Afternoon.â€
But no one can rob Mr. Smith of his title.
He is remembered as the city’s first bank robber.
Sandra E. Garcia contributed reporting.
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