Greek Speakers Unite

Dear Diary:

I speak Greek.

One day, I received in the mail from a linguist friend of mine a T-shirt, bright blue and proclaiming on the front, in Greek, “It’s all Greek to me.”

I lived near the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the time, so I quickly put on the shirt (it was a warm spring day) and decided to go strolling among New York’s cultural elite to see who would take note.

It didn’t take long. Almost immediately I was stopped by a cordial woman who peered at my chest and read out loud, “Eeneh ohla Ellinika ya mehna.”

I wasn’t surprised. This was, after all, New York. But I did think I detected a gentle lilt.

“Where are you from?” I asked.

She smiled warmly.

“Alabama.”

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New York Today: Olympian Dreams

Dita Alangkara/Associated Press John Daly, born in Queens and raised on Long Island, competed Saturday in skeleton.

Updated 5:53 a.m.

Good Wednesday to you from the Sochi Olympics, where the slopes are steep and the temperatures have hovered around 60 degrees.

Who would have thought winter in Russia would offer such a lovely break from New York City?

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia â€" With the Winter Olympics heading toward the finish line, we thought it was time to ask a burning question: How’s New York doing?

There are 18 New Yorkers competing in Sochi, in everything from biathlon to hockey to something called Nordic Combined, which may sound more like a Brooklyn handcrafted clothing label than a winter sport.

Two have won two medals.

(Congrats, Erin Hamlin, a luger from outside Utica who won a bronze in the women’s singles, and Andrew Weibrecht, a skier from Lake Placid who won the silver in men’s super-G.)

None of the athletes live in the city, but we caught up with John Daly of Lake Placid, who was at least born in Queens.

He competed Saturday in skeleton, which involves whizzing down a frozen track head-first with your face an inch from the ice.

He finished 15th, thanks to an unusual mistake.

Daly, who grew up on Long Island, raced B.M.X. bikes as a kid. One of his favorite spots was in Brooklyn, beneath a bridge he declined to name.

“I would tell my mom I was going to a friend’s house,” he said. “Then we would take the train into the city with our bikes.”

Here’s what you need to know back in New York.

WEATHER

A fine day for muck boots:. The big melt continues, with showers during the day and a high of 44.

About a quarter-inch of rain is expected.

Then down to about freezing tonight.

Expect the same for the rest of the week: warmer, with rain.

COMMUTE

Subways: O.K. Check latest status.

Rails: Scattered delays on N.J. Transit and L.I.R.R. 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 suspended all week. Meters remain in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, proposes legislation to make it easier for the wrongfully convicted to recover damages from the state. 8:45 a.m.

- Mayor de Blasio addresses the Real Estate Board of New York at 10:30 a.m. He’s on “All In with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC at 8 p.m.

- Lawmakers and advocates call for state legislation (PDF) to improve police response to emergencies involving emotionally disturbed people. City Hall steps. 11 a.m.

- Kids Week continues at the city’s parks. [Free]

- The singer Adele’s wax figure makes its U.S. debut at Madame Tussauds, to musical accompaniment. This is how she was made. 11 a.m. [$36]

- Rugelach is the cutest pastry. Make some at a workshop at the Museum at Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side. 11 a.m. [$20, R.S.V.P.]

- Then head to a discussion of the expression, “You are what you eat,” attributed to the 19th-century German philosopher Feuerbach, at New York University. 2 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P.]

- A middleweight boxer, Lucius Benson, introduces a preview screening of “The Trials of Muhammed Ali,” at Roy Wilkins Recreation Center in Jamaica, Queens. 4 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P.]

- “City Stages,” big black and white photographs by Matthew Pillsbury of New York and beyond, opens at Aperture Gallery in Chelsea. 7 p.m. [Free]

- “The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency,” a collection from the eponymous website, is unveiled by its creators at Powerhouse Arena in Dumbo. 7 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P]

- Justin Timberlake plays at Madison Square Garden. 8 p.m. [Tickets still available]

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

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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

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