Playing on de Blasio’s Softball Team

Dear Diary:

Andrew Kelly/Reuters Mayor Bill de Blasio shows off his sporty side on Super Bowl Boulevard.

I hesitate to give this away because it gets such great traction at parties, but the timing is too perfect: I played on the same softball team as the new mayor.

Bill and I (I think a first-name basis is still O.K. given all the sweat, dust and crushing defeats we suffered) were teammates in the summer of 2005 on the 78th Precinct coed team in Brooklyn. Our home field was Dimattina Park in Carroll Gardens.

“What’s he like?” guests ask.

“Always upbeat,” I reply, starting with the political side of his personality. “He made you feel like you were his best friend.”

“Could he play?”

“He was good enough,” I tell them. “But what I remember most is that he was always on his cellphone, back when that kind of thing wasn’t so common.”

“You mean in the dugout?”

“Yes. And in center field. You’d see him chattering away while waiting for fly balls.”

It didn’t occur to me until after the election that perhaps the coach played Bill in the wrong position. After all, he did come out of left field to win.

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New York Today: A Slushy Interlude

Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press Is that shiny spot on the street ice or water? You’ll find out soon.

Welcome to Tuesday morning and the 2014 New York City Winter Olympics.

Today’s events include puddle-jumping, sidewalk skating and synchronized slush-splash avoidance.

Another storm is coming late tonight, but meanwhile, here’s what’s happening.

- On the roads, look out for slick spots and reduced speed limits â€" 25 miles an hour on many bridges. But things could be worse.

- Temperatures rising into the mid-30s under sunny skies should melt lingering road ice, but not melt so much snow that we see flooding. For details see “Commute” section below.

- For pedestrians, things may be less fun. The ankle-deep gloptraps that materialized on street corners Monday froze into little moonscapes overnight.

- Depending on when you leave the house, they will either be frozen and treacherous or sloppy and treacherous. All-terrain footwear is in order.

- Schools are open as usual in the city, but some suburban districts are opening late. See list.

- Alternate-side parking is suspended again.

- Toward midnight, snow, sleet and freezing rain will start anew and fall through much of Wednesday.

- If it turns out to be mostly snow, there could be quite a bit â€" up to 8 inches in the city, more north and west.

- If icy stuff predominates, we could see downed branches, wires, trees and a nightmarish commute.

- And since no Olympics is complete without a marathon, more snow is possible all weekend long.

- Oh, and a brief look back at yesterday: the 8 inches of snow in Central Park set a record for Feb. 3. Gold medal!

Here’s what else you need to know.

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.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor de Blasio makes an announcement at City Hall at 9 a.m. Watch livecast.

- Then the mayor joins Hillary Rodham Clinton for the East Harlem kickoff of a child-welfare initiative run by the Clintons’ foundation and the Spanish-language TV network Univision. The City Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, will be there, too.

- A show of unpublished 1964 photos of the Beatles, put on by the gallery Rock Paper Photo, opens at Gallery 151 on West 18th Street. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P.]

- Designers, makers and sellers of pajamas and underwear will be honored at the Underfashion Club’s “Femmy Awards” at Cipriani 42nd Street tonight.

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

IN THE NEWS

- Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death highlighted the resurgence of cheap heroin in the city. [New York Times]

- State Senator John Sampson of Brooklyn was indicted again, this time on charges related to his secret ownership stake in a liquor store. [Politicker]

- Mayor de Blasio bragged about his Che Guevara posters, pizza knife prowess and plans to inflict locusts on the Upper East Side on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.” [New York Times]

- In a radio interview, Gov. Chris Christie revived the idea that the George Washington Bridge lane closings began as a legitimate traffic study. [CBS News]

- Super Bowl Boulevard was a bust for the Broadway theater industry. [Associated Press]

- An elderly man was killed by a private operator’s snowplow in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. [NBC New York]

- Scoreboard: Knicks bow to Bucks, 101-98. Nets nip Sixers, 108-102. Avalanche over Devils, 2-1 in overtime.

Joseph Burgess and Annie Correal contributed reporting.

New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till late morning.

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