New York Today: A (Lawful) Trade Center Climb

Karsten Moran for The New York TimesTake the stairs.

Updated 10:02 a.m.

Good morning to you. Happy Friday.

About 700 people will converge on the World Trade Center next week.

But not to try anything sneaky, like, say, parachuting from One World Trade Center.

This group will race up 72 floors at Four World Trade Center, on Thursday.

It’s called the “Runyon Up,” and it’s the first stair-climb at the trade center site, organized by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

John Theissen, a climber from Long Island, told us that he expects to reach the top of the glass-paneled skyscraper in about 10 minutes.

“I’ve done a dozen and half races up buildings,” said Mr. Theissen, 43, who heads a charity for children with cancer.

He’s gone up the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower in Chicago (110 floors) and the Empire State Building (86).

What’s stair-climbing like?

“Your throat hurts,” he said. “You get a cough because the stairwell is so dry and it’s usually hot.”

“By the 20th floor your heart is pounding so fast you have to ignore it because it feels like you’re having a heart attack.

“It’s amazing,” he added.

Here’s what else you need to know for today and the weekend.

WEATHER

It’s a trade-off: warmer but overcast, with a high of 57. Showers are likely, later.

The weekend looks about 10 degrees cooler, and wetter â€" with as much as four inches of rain forecast.

Sunday, add wind.

COMMUTE

Subways: Check latest status.

Rails: Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or N.J. 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.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor de Blasio attends a farewell breakfast for the sanitation commissioner, John Doherty, who is retiring. 10:15 a.m.

- Sanitation Department employees pay tribute to the commissioner with pipes and drums outside its headquarters. 3:30 p.m.

- Chirlane McCray, the city’s first lady, speaks at the “Shirley Chisholm Women of Distinction Celebration.” Main Brooklyn Public Library. 6:30 p.m.

- Queens officials announce plans for the 50th anniversary of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Unisphere, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. 11:30 a.m.

- Lil’ Kim tours the city with reality TV celebrities and activists to promote enrolling in health care coverage before the Monday deadline. 2 p.m. to midnight.

- Flutronix, “two blazing young flutists,” play at Lincoln Center to kick off WQXR’s 10-day musical instrument drive for city public schools. 1 p.m. [Free]

- “Unbound: A Tribute to Aaron Swartz” an exhibition in memory of the late programmer and activist, opens online and at ThoughtWorks in Midtown. Noon. [Free]

- The two-day Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show and Sale, featuring 80 vendors, begins at the Metropolitan Pavilion, in the Flatiron. 1 p.m. [$20]

- Dance while two D.J.’s do battle, one spinning Daft Punk, the other spinning Michael Jackson. The Bell House in Brooklyn. 11 p.m. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- The Port Authority official who directed lane closings said he told Gov. Chris Christie of the plan; an inquiry by the governor’s lawyers found he couldn’t recall the conversation.
[New York Times]

- Avonte Oquendo’s mother warned his school to watch her autistic son, a report showed. [New York Times]

- Brooklyn is the fastest-growing borough in the city and one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, according to the Census.
[Daily News]

- Philip Seymour Hoffman’s apartment has been put on the market. [New York Post]

- Riders of the No. 7 train berated M.T.A. officials for suspending service between Queens and Manhattan â€" for 22 weekends out of the year. [NBC]

- Cyndi Lauper reflected on her childhood in Ozone Park, Queens. [Wall Street Journal]

- Giant tortoises have arrived at the Staten Island Zoo. [DNAinfo]

- Scoreboard: Lightning strikes Islanders, 3-2. Coyotes maul Devils, 3-2.

THE WEEKEND

Saturday

- Elected officials speak at a Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day ceremony, followed by wreath-laying, trumpets and a 21-rifle salute. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in Lower Manhattan. 10 a.m.

- Public high school athletes face off with their Catholic school counterparts at the “NYC Mayor’s Cup Basketball All-Star Games” at City College in Manhattan. 10 a.m. [Free]

- “National Girls and Women in Sports Day in the Bronx” includes hula-hoop, double-Dutch, and hip-hop performances. West Bronx Recreation Center. 11 a.m. [Free]

- Pick your pony: The Forest Park Carousel opens in Queens. 11 a.m. [$3] …

- … The Prospect Park Carousel in Brooklyn is open, too. Noon. [$2]

- Closing weekend for the New York International Children’s Film Festival, featuring the Oscar-nominated “Ernest and Celestine” at the IFC Center. [$14]

Sunday

- Rain, meet parades: The Greek Independence Day Parade marches on Fifth Avenue. 1:45 p.m. …

- …The Veggie Pride Parade steps off from Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the (no) meatpacking district. Noon.

- A triple feature in tribute to Harold Ramis, starting with “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. 2 p.m. [$12]

- Last day of the New Directors/New Films festival at MoMA and Film Society of Lincoln Center.

- If you’re looking for something fun outside New York City, The Times’s Metropolitan section has suggestions for Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

AND FINALLY …

On this week in 1923, at New York City’s Audubon Ballroom, a woman named Alma Cummings started dancing.

And she did not stop, for 27 hours.

What came next was described by The Times as an “epidemic” of marathon dancing, as people across the country tried to break her record.

The Times was not fond of the dance craze:

“It has shown … that the human body was capable of a good deal more, and the human brain of a good deal less, than had previously been supposed.”

As for Miss Cummings, she quickly dismissed it all.

“I’m not interested in dancing any more,” she said.

“I started dancing to get notoriety, so my husband, whom I lost several years ago, would locate me. I was successful, so I have no further interest. It was all love with me.”

“Any other motive is vulgar.”

Sandra E. Garcia contributed reporting.

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