New York Today: Feathered Tourists Come to Town

Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesA black and white warbler stopped for a rest in Central Park last week.

Updated 8:42 a.m.

Good crisp Monday morning to you.

Look up in the skies and the trees around the city this week and you are sure to see a visitor.

It’s peak migration season for birds making their way to breeding grounds up north.

Hundreds of species are on the move across the East Coast on a path known as the Atlantic Flyway.

And many will rest and refuel in New York City’s green spaces.

“You’d be surprised at how many migrants a place like Battery Park or Bryant Park” has “tucked amid the skyscrapers,” said Harry Maas, the president of NYC Audubon’s board of directors.

“I’ve found warblers on East 53rd Street.”

Songbirds, like sparrows, thrushes and finches, fly at night, Mr. Maas explained.

By daybreak, they’re desperate for a place to come down to rest and feed.

That can be tricky when they’re passing near the city.

“The more development, the harder it is for birds,” he said.

Which is why our city’s parks are critical pit stops.

Mr. Maas said as many as 175 species will pass through the city by mid-month, like the hooded and prothonotary warblers, summer tanagers, broad-winged hawks and bald eagles.

For Bird Week, City Room’s celebration of avian life, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has drawn up a list of 15 species most likely to be passing through town.

Here’s our own list of resources for bird-watching in the city.

And here’s what else you need to know.

WEATHER

Pleasant indeed: mostly sunny with a good breeze and a high of 66. More of the same is expected Tuesday and Wednesday.

It might not rain until … the weekend.

COMMUTE

Subways: Delays on the northbound 3. The E, F and R are back to normal following Friday’s derailment. Check latest status.

Path: No problems. Check latest status.

Rails: Scattered delays on N.J. Transit Northeast Corridor. L.I.R.R. Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or N.J. Transit status.

Roads: Inbound 40-minute delay at G.W.B. upper level 30 minutes at Lincoln Tunnel. Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect until Memorial Day.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor de Blasio unveils his plan this morning for 200,000 new units of affordable housing.

- The Yankees pitcher and recent retiree Mariano Rivera gets a block of River Avenue outside Yankee Stadium renamed for him. 11:30 a.m.

- A casting crew from the reality show “Child Genius” seeks child geniuses at Brooklyn Amity School, a private school in Sheepshead Bay this afternoon.

- Learn basic bike repair and maintenance at a workshop at Times Up! on the Lower East Side. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- Bebe Neuwirth talks about her life in the theater at the Public Library for the Performing Arts. 6 p.m. [Free]

- High school students from around the country perform August Wilson’s monologues at a competition at the playwright’s namesake theater. 7 p.m. [Free]

- PEN’s annual literary gala at the natural history museum honors Salman Rushdie, the jailed Chinese writer Ilham Tohti and the C.E.O. of Twitter. 6:30 p.m. [$1,250 and up]

- An all-female mariachi band plays at Passenger bar in Williamsburg for Cinco de Mayo. 8 p.m. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- A heroin epidemic has taken hold on Staten Island. [New York Times]

- “Not like it’s the Nobel Prize,” said the 111-year-old Upper West Sider who is now considered the earth’s oldest man. [New York Times]

- A body found in Hudson River is that of a Columbia dental student missing since April 1. [Daily News]

- A turf battle in Prospect Park pits dog owners against bird watchers. [New York Times]

- A driver who fatally struck a 9-year-old Brooklyn girl while fleeing the police was charged with negligent homicide, the authorities said. [WABC Eyewitness News]

- More than half of baristas surveyed in the city say they suffer from repetitive stress injuries. [New York Post]

- A former police officer is charged with spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti on buildings and cars in Borough Park, Brooklyn. [New York Times]

- “I started to cry, and now, we missed our limo.” Chaos erupted after a cruise ship broke down for hours in the Hudson River. [Gothamist]

- Scoreboard: Nets slay Raptors, 104-103, to advance in playoffs. Penguins slide past Rangers, 3-0. Mets topple Rockies, 5-1. Rays devour Yankees, 5-1. In soccer, Red Bulls beat Dallas, 1-0.

AND FINALLY …

There is something else to see in the skies this week: meteors.

Tuesday just before dawn is the peak of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, made up of cosmic litter trailing behind Halley’s Comet as it makes its rounds of the solar system.

At this latitude, any meteors will be very low in the southeastern sky, just above the horizon, according to Space.com.

But if you can find a spot to see them, you’re in for a treat.

Meteors just above the horizon, known as “earthgrazers,” streak horizontally and leave colorful, long-lasting trails.

So head to the beach and keep your eyes peeled.

Joseph Burgess, Sandra E. Garcia and Kenneth Rosen contributed reporting.

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