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New York Today: Balloon’s-Eye View

AirphotosLIVE.comHigh above the chimney tops.

Good Wednesday morning to you.

About that balloon …

This week, a big white balloon appeared over the city.

First on the Lower East Side, then uptown, where 57th Street meets the East River.

Residents were told it was photographing potential views, for architects and real estate developers.

We decided to learn more.

The balloon is called an aerostat, or a tethered balloon.

Its owners call it Lucy, after its seamstress.

It has gone as high as 1,376 feet â€" the height of what became One World Trade Center’s observation deck.

“We’ve taken photos from every new skyscraper in the city,” said Curt Westergard, the president of Digital Design and Imaging Service, a company based in Falls Church, Va.

That is, before they were built.

The balloon is around 12 feet across. It travels in a trailer, which opens on top, like a jack-in-the box. A mast guides the balloon and a winch slowly releases it into the air.

(No, you cannot fly in it.)

Why hire a balloon for the job?

It’s illegal to fly commercial drones over urban areas, and helicopters can’t go below 1,200 feet.

As for the residents on the silk-stocking Upper East Side, no one seemed to mind the slightly bagel-shaped balloon, which hovered over them for around an hour.

“They straightened their jackets and patted their hair,” Mr. Westergard said.

“They thought they were being filmed.”

Here’s what else you need to know for Wednesday.

WEATHER

Uncertainly sunny, steadily breezy, with big gusts now and then.

And a high of 57.

Growing cooler at night.

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 all week.

COMING UP TODAY

- Public schools reopen after spring break.

- It’s the last day to register your child for prekindergarten.

- The City Council will propose adding 1,000 new police officers, to expand community policing and street safety. The number of uniformed officers has dropped in recent years. 11 a.m.

- Police Commissioner William Bratton speaks at the “Empowering Men to Speak Out Against Sexual Violence” rally, on Denim Day, part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. City Hall steps. Noon.

- Happy 450th birthday month, Shakespeare. Actors intone his lines while visitors write them on a giant canvas at Bryant Park. 12:30 p.m.

- Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla, kicks off a preview of the planned “South Africa’s Mandela International Film Festival,” at the Tribeca Film Festival. 6 p.m.

- Old people games for young people: Bingo night at the Royal Palm Shuffleboard Club in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 7 p.m. [Free, $2 per bingo card]

- Books about fighting: Senator Elizabeth Warren appears alongside her new book, “A Fighting Chance,” at Barnes & Noble in Union Square. 7 p.m. [Free] …

- … While the writer and Iraq war veteran Kevin Powers reads from, “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting: Poems,” at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. 7 p.m. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- A police initiative asking New Yorkers to post photos of themselves with police officers on Twitter backfired when users posted photos of police violence. [New York Times]

- Some farms in upstate New York have done away with human hands, using automatic milkers to check and milk cows instead. [New York Times]

- Scoreboard: Raptors devour Nets, 100-95. Rangers ground Flyers, 4-1. Yankees shred Red Sox, 9-3. Cardinals outpeck Mets, 3-0.

Kenneth Rosen contributed reporting.

New York Today is a weekday roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till late morning. You can receive it via email.

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