Good morning on this wet Wednesday.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, despite a general aversion to debates in this race, has agreed to a single televised bout.
Tonight at 8 o’clock, the governor will be in Buffalo to face his Republican challenger Rob Astorino, the Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and the Libertarian Michael McDermott.
The debate, which will be televised in New York on WNET (Channel 13) and in Buffalo on WNED, may leave little time for questions.
So a few pundits offered us questions that they believed would probably not be asked, but should be.
• Bruce N. Gyory, political consultant: “How do you help New York City prepare for population explosion? And at the same time, how are you going to try to turn around the upstate decline?”
• Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union: “Public schools in New York State, according to a recent U.C.L.A. study, are the most racially segregated in the nation. Were you were aware of this? What would you do to address this?”
• Gerald Benjamin, political scientist at the State University of New York at New Paltz: “Who are the greatest governors in New York history? What made them great? Are you confident you could live up to that standard?”
• Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion: “What is the biggest mistake you’ve made as an executive? What went wrong in your thinking that wouldn’t happen again?”
What would you ask in the debate? Share your questions in the comments or on Twitter with #nytoday.
Here’s what else you need to know.
WEATHER
Holy dramatic soundtrack: rain, thunder, cars splashing through puddles, dripping gutters.
And cool, with a high of 57.
The rain tapers off later, but expect sporadic showers into the night.
COMING UP TODAY
• Don’t worry, they’re only testing the city’s response to a nuclear explosion in Midtown, at emergency operation centers in the region. 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
• The Brooklyn borough president hosts a town hall on Ebola and the enterovirus D68 at Borough Hall. 6 p.m.
• Representative Michael Grimm and Domenic Recchia debate at the Iron Hills Civic Association on Staten Island. 7:30 p.m.
• Part of West 121st Street is renamed George Carlin Way in honor of the Manhattan-born comedian. 1 p.m.
• Civic-minded techies share their projects at a weekly Civic Hacknight on Wall Street. 7 p.m. [Free]
• The She-Devil Comedy Festival, a stand-up tournament featuring 60 female comedians, begins at the Broadway Comedy Club. 7 p.m. [$20]
• The Met’s new production of “Le Nozze de Figaro,” featuring a rotating set, starts at 7:30 p.m. [$30 and up]
• For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.
COMMUTE
• 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 today but suspended Thursday for Diwali.
• Air travel: La Guardia, J.F.K., Newark.
IN THE NEWS
• A new poll found that Democrats have strong leads in all statewide races with less than two weeks until the election. [New York Times]
• Officials addressed thousands of health care workers at an Ebola training session at the Javits Center, but the highlight was a demonstration of personal protective equipment. [New York Times]
• The Fire Department’s only transgender firefighter has been selected as the centerpiece of a global L.G.B.T. social media campaign. [Daily News]
• Roughly 2,500 unaccompanied immigrant children have been released to sponsors on Long Island; dozens have not been able to register for school. [New York Times]
• Shelters for homeless families are unevenly distributed across the five boroughs, forcing families to relocate and to compete for housing. [WNYC]
• Airbnb may be an official partner of the New York City Marathon, but it’s still at loggerheads with the attorney general’s office and local hotels. [New York Times]
• Pie Face quietly closed six out of its seven New York City branches. [DNAinfo]
• Critics slammed Taylor Swift’s anthem to New York, calling it “rage-inducing” and predicting it would “make at least 10 New Yorkers move to Marfa, Texas.” [Gothamist]
• For a global look at the news, see Your Wednesday Briefing.
AND FINALLY …
A lucky bidder will walk home today with a yellow glass window, measuring 3-by-4 feet and weighing 1,500 pounds, and valued at up to $250,000.
The window protected scientists from radiation as they watched bombs detonate during the World War II Manhattan Project.
It goes up for auction today at 1 p.m. at Bonhams, along with dozens of items related to the history of science.
They include globes, telescopes, engravings, a vintage Apple computer and a letter that Charles Darwin wrote in 1857 on the sex life of barnacles.
David Kohn, director and general editor of the Darwin Manuscripts Project at the American Museum of Natural History, told The Associated Press the letter was “definitely amusing.”
Darwin spent nearly a decade studying barnacles and discovered that far from being hermaphroditic, the little things possessed the largest penises of any creature, relative to their body size.
For about $30,000, the letter is yours.
Kenneth Rosen contributed reporting.
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