Good morning on this balmy Friday.
Deep within the bowels of Manhattan, a dozen reporters donned protective gear and entered the tunnels of the future Second Avenue subway.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons, who covers transportation for the Times, was among them.
In a hard hat, safety glasses, hard-toe boots, and a neon vest, Ms. Fitzsimmons explored the island’s netherworld from 63rd Street to 86th Street, accompanied by officials from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The trip was organized so that the agency could prove that the long-standing dream of a Second Avenue subway would become a reality in December 2016.
The transit authority official who accompanied the reporters said he was 75 to 80 percent sure that the agency would meet that deadline.
Ms. Fitzsimmons said it was a unique experience to see a subway being built.
“You could see the platforms, mezzanine, ticket booths,” she said. “And escalators that weren’t working yet.”
“It was interesting to see, looking up in the sky, to see how far below ground you are, and all those steps” back up to the street, about 140, she said.
Officials shared another tidbit with Ms. Fitzsimmons:
The Second Avenue subway is the only line in the city that doesn’t have rats — yet. They move in when the people come and leave trash.
You can find a photo of the subway tunnel in our Week in Pictures slideshow.
Here’s what else is happening:
WEATHER
The sunshine returns: It should be clear today, with a high of 80.
The weekend should make May wetter than it’s been.
There’s a slight chance of showers on Saturday, and more probably showers and thunderstorms on Sunday.
Today’s pollen forecast: high.
COMMUTE
• Railroads: L.I.R.R., Metro-North, N.J. Transit, Amtrak
• Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.
• Alternate-side parking: in effect.
• Ferries: Staten Island Ferry, New York Waterway, East River Ferry
• Airports: La Guardia, J.F.K., Newark
• Weekend travel hassles: Check subway disruptions or list of street closings.
IN THE NEWS
• Mayor de Blasio has been to Yankee Stadium once since taking office. For a soccer game. [New York Times]
• Albany has been inhospitable to the mayor, too. He clashed again this week with Governor Cuomo over a housing proposal. [New York Times]
• A cyclist was killed by a car fleeing from state court officers. [New York Times]
• The mayor of San Juan, P.R., had trouble getting a taxi to the Bronx. [New York Times]
• The city backed away from cutting funding for summer programs for middle school students. [New York Times]
• A state senator from Long Island is being investigated for improperly claiming $20,000 in car expenses. [NBC]
• Tickets for “manspreading” have dropped 12 percent this year. [New York Post]
• Scoreboard: Athletics outrun Yankees, 5-4.
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Friday Briefing.
COMING UP TODAY
• Governor Cuomo holds a press conference on nail salons at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York. 11 a.m.
• Sentencing for Ross W. Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, a website on which users could anonymously buy and sell drugs and other illegal items.
• Bike Home from Work Party, a bicycle-focused party with valet bike-parking, in Dumbo. 6 p.m. [Free]
• Watch “Space Jam” in Frederick B. Judge Playground in Queens. 7 p.m. [Free]
• Or see “And God Created Woman,” part of a French film series, in Central Park. 8:30 p.m. [Free]
• There’s a superhero-themed, costumed, five-kilometer run to benefit victims of the earthquake in Nepal, in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. 6 p.m. [$25]
• Camp out on Staten Island with stargazing and s’mores at night, and yoga and hiking on Saturday morning at the Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds site. 6 p.m. [$55]
• Mets host Marlins, 7:10 p.m. (SNY). Rangers host Lightning in the final game of their playoff series, 8 p.m. (NBC Sports). Yankees at Athletics, 10:05 p.m. (YES).
Saturday
• It’s Governors Island Day, when you can hang outside with free fitness events. 11:30 a.m. [Free admission, ferry tickets are $2]
• Celebrate 75 years of the Essex Street Market at a barbecue block party, plus music, games and raffles. Noon. [Free]
• Paintings in Trees, an exhibition of painting and sculpture at the People’s Garden, a community garden, opens today in Bushwick, Brooklyn. 3 p.m. [Free]
• Flow15, an exhibition of site-specific artworks made for the Bronx Museum of the Arts, opens on Randalls Island. [Free]
• Mets host Marlins, 4:10 p.m. (PIX-11). Yankees at Athletics, 10:05 p.m. (YES).
Sunday
• The Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, with fine arts and crafts, closes today. Noon. [Free]
• Head to Habana Outpost for their weekly movie night with Cuban sandwiches and margaritas, and a screening of “Dazed and Confused.” 8 p.m. [Free]
• The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra plays Strauss and Prokofiev at the Brooklyn Museum. 2 p.m. [Tickets start at $18]
• Mets host Marlins, 1:10 p.m. (PIX-11). Yankees at Athletics, 4:05 p.m. (YES).
THE WEEKEND
• The Brooklyn Film Festival starts with a screening of “Manson Family Vacation,” followed by a party, at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. 8 p.m. [Tickets start at $35]
• And Rooftop Films hosts its annual short film festival at Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. 8 p.m. [$15]
• Check out the Collectivity Project, an art installation on the High Line by Olafur Eliasson, where a miniature city made of white Lego is presented, only to be deconstructed and rebuilt by the public.
• Uptown Arts Stroll, an art tour of Upper Manhattan, starts this weekend. [Free]
• Ideas City, a conference founded by the New Museum that explores the future of cities in arts, civic society and music, is this weekend.
• For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.
• And if you seek things to do outside the city, The Times’s Metropolitan section has suggestions. See Friday and Saturday listings for Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut. See Sunday listings for Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.
AND FINALLY …
Today is Manhattanhenge.
It’s not quite as mystical as Stonehenge, but it does have a similar magical feeling.
The term describes the days when the setting sun lines up perfectly with the city’s streets, flooding the urban canyons with rose-gold light.
At 8:12 p.m., half of the sun will sit above the grid, a yellow dome over our gray metropolis.
Then it will set at 8:19 p.m., making Manhattan’s streets the color of a glowing peach.
Because the city’s grid is tilted about 30 degrees to the east from due north, this event doesn’t happen exactly on the solstice, but a few weeks before.
You’ll probably be able to feel the glow from anywhere, but the best views are from the East Side, looking west toward the Hudson River on any of these major cross streets: 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd and 57th.
The full sun will perch above the grid on Saturday, and the next Manhattanhenge is on July 12.
If you’re watching, send us your photos on Instagram. We’ll post a selection on Saturday.
Kenneth Rosen contributed reporting.
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