SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Climate Week in New York Is Just Getting Started

By Azi Paybarah

It's Monday. Did you see the bat-signal in Brooklyn on Saturday?

Weather: Sunny with a high near 85. Showers and thunderstorms are likely tonight.

Alternate-side parking: In effect until Sept. 30 (Rosh Hashana).

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Their cries were loud: "Sea levels are rising and so are we!"

On Friday, tens of thousands of young New Yorkers marched from Foley Square to Battery Park in Manhattan, joining millions globally who, in a coordinated day of action, implored leaders to take steps to combat climate change.

[Read more on the climate protests: "I feel hopeful seeing the power of all these people here," one teenager said.]

"We are the ones who are making a difference," Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, told the crowd in New York. "If no one else will take action, then we will."

Didn't skip class or work for a rally on Friday? Not a world leader or authorized guest at the United Nation's Climate Action Summit this week?

There are still several events you can attend in New York City, including a ballet, a rap show and several talks with professors and scientists. Here are a few of them:

Today

Midtown: "Glacier: A Climate Change Ballet (and Other Works)." The show, which debuted in 2015, was choreographed by Diana Movius, a climate policy analyst and ballet dancer. 7:30 p.m. Performances are also on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets start at $35.

Tomorrow

SoHo: "Baba Brinkman's Rap Guide to Climate Chaos." A fun performance from a Canadian-born rapper. This is part of Mr. Brinkman's series in which he studiously researches a topic and puts his findings into verse. 7 p.m. Performances are also on Friday and Saturday. $19.50.

Wednesday

Roosevelt Island: "Preventing Climate Change." Cornell University professors and climate change activists discuss potential solutions at the Tata Innovation Center on the Cornell Tech campus. Beer, wine and appetizers will be served. 6:30 p.m. $40 for alumni and guests; $35 for recent graduates.

Thursday

Dumbo: "Parenting in the Age of Climate Crisis." How should you talk with children about climate change? Sunrise Kids N.Y.C. and n+1 will host a conversation featuring Jill Kubit, the director and co-founder of Dear Tomorrow; Katy Lederer, the author of three books of poems and a memoir; Kate Marvel, a climate scientist from Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; and others speakers. 7 p.m. Free.

Chelsea: "Technology Solutions for Climate Change." Experts discuss whether artificial intelligence, block chain and machine learning can improve recycling. Hors d'oeuvres and cocktails will be available. 6 p.m. $20.

Friday

Greenwich Village: "Bringing Labor and Climate Justice Movements Together for a Sustainable Future." At this workshop, labor leaders will discuss organizing strategies that can be used to mobilize people around climate change and other causes. 10 a.m. Free.

Saturday

Fort Greene: "The Role of Plant-Based Diets in Addressing the Climate Crisis." Can you eat chicken fingers and cheeseburgers and be a climate change activist? Food and climate activists discuss the link between food and climate change. A vegan lunch will be provided. Noon. Free.

Find more activities on the Climate Week N.Y.C. website. Remember that events are subject to change, so check with organizers before heading out.

FROM THE TIMES

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Your Subway Was Delayed by 1930s Signals. A Fix Is Finally Coming.

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by emma g. fitzsimmons and rebecca liebson

Does Your Real Estate Broker Owe You a Refund?

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by christina goldbaum

Want more news? Check out our full coverage.

The Mini Crossword: Here is today's puzzle.

What we're reading

A man who helped create the subway map said that if he were to upgrade it, he would include precise station locations and information on where to make free U-turns. [New York Post]

There is an effort to ban chocolate milk from public schools. [Brooklyn Eagle]

Will Staten Island get a professional rugby stadium? The majority owner of Rugby United New York said he was considering it. [Staten Island Advance]

Coming up today

Check out "Climate Crisis and the Human Psyche: A Conversation With Judith Rodin" at the Brooklyn Historical Society. 6:30 p.m. [$15]

The "Love No Border" exhibit opens at the Lower Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan. 5 p.m. [Suggested donation]

Take part in a photography workshop at Domino Park in Brooklyn. 7 p.m. [Free]

— Melissa Guerrero

Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times's culture pages.

And finally: School lessons in draft-dodging and guerrilla tactics

When I was in seventh grade, my social studies class had an unusual assignment: Argue your way out of a military draft.

This was in a public school in Queens, and the United States had recently entered the Persian Gulf war of 1991. The teacher, Frank Skala, said he had been a member of a local military draft board.

In the end, we never tested what we learned; there has not been a draft in the United States in my lifetime.

Mr. Skala's lesson did not draw any attention from the news media. But in 1969, another teacher's unconventional course did.

That year, Rick Perlstein recently reported, The Times ran a front-page article about a high school educator in Scarsdale, a northern suburb of New York City, who was teaching guerrilla warfare tactics.

"Revolution and guerrilla warfare are happening all over the world, and I think students in Scarsdale should know about it," the teacher, Stephen Kling, said at the time.

One student, Cathy Green, wrote a paper that discussed "taking over the Village of Scarsdale" through a variety of tactics, including "putting LSD in the water supply."

According to Mr. Perlstein, the paper received an A.

It's Monday — learn something new.

Metropolitan Diary: Photo op

Dear Diary:

During my third week temping for a company in Manhattan, a photographer was hired to take pictures of new employees.

After he had taken photos of three people, the photographer scanned his list. He said that he only needed to take one more picture.

I honestly thought it was going to be of me.

The boss had told me that I was doing a great job. Maybe this was his plan for telling me I was being hired full time? Maybe I would learn that I was officially joining the company by having my picture taken for the website?

I was feeling great. As the photographer walked toward my desk, my brain started to schedule appointments with doctors thanks to the health insurance I was about to acquire.

It turned out that the last picture the photographer had to take was of a puppy that belonged to one of the company's executives.

If I'm being honest with myself, they made the right decision. And all these years later, that puppy is still listed as an employee on the company's website.

— Mike Lemme

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