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What’s on in the park this week (Oct 31–Nov 6) — the marathon tomorrow, then a 70°F November

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Weekly rundown, pulled from the NYC permit feed plus the Conservancy and Parks calendars. Big weekend, and then November does something odd.

Today, Sat 31 — 58°F, sunny

• Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K ran 8:45–11am on the loop, with the finish holding Grand Army Plaza from 8. If you’re reading this after 11 the roads are back.
• North Woods woodland walk, 10am from the Dana Discovery Center
• Conservatory Garden tour, 11am
• Seneca Village tour, 2pm
• Model yachts at Kerbs 9–3; Unity Markets at Farmers’ Gate 9–7
• East Meadow closed all day

Also: it’s Halloween, and there is not one Halloween event on the park’s permit calendar. No parade, no trick-or-treat, nothing. The Village parade takes that crowd. For a park that permits bench dedications and harp circles, it’s a strange gap.

Sun 1 — the marathon, 8am–5pm, 55,000 runners finishing in the park

Forecast is 61°F and mostly sunny with no rain, which is close to ideal for racing — a week ago it was tracking 69 and that would have been warm.

• To watch: the finish by Tavern on the Green, or the last mile up East Drive. A late-afternoon hour is the better one — thinner crowd, and the runners coming through have been out there five or six hours.
• To avoid it: go north. The Ravine, the Loch and the North Woods are nowhere near the course, and marathon Sunday is one of the quietest mornings of the year up there. Almost nobody uses this.
• The loop is gone 8am–5pm. The Reservoir isn’t on the course but will be thick with spectators.
• International Folkdancers at King Jagiello 11am–3pm — shortened from their usual six hours, which tells you how far the race reorganises things.

Mon 2 – Wed 4 — the drives reopen, and it hits 70°F

66, 67, then 70 on Wednesday. All dry. The entire public calendar for those three days is a sports mini-camp Tuesday morning and a kids’ soccer session Wednesday afternoon.

The city’s marathon permit runs on paper to November 10, so there’ll be trailers and fencing coming down across the west side — that’s strike work, not closure. Nothing blocks a lap from Monday.

If you’ve been putting off a long walk or ride, Monday to Wednesday is the last warm window of the year.

Thu 5 – Fri 6 — warm and wet

71°F Thursday with showers around 49%, 69 Friday with thunderstorms likely. The warmest days are the wettest ones.

Friday morning before it breaks: the Conservancy’s Ramble woodland walk, 10am from Belvedere Castle, and the Iconic Views tour at 2pm.

Still closed

Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, as it has been since early September. The permits now run through November 30 — the whole month. Extended eleven times, roughly four weeks at a go, and there’s still no stated reason anywhere in the public record. Ten weeks.

Also worth knowing: field permits across the park are down to 66 this week from a September peak of 223, and the Great Lawn has had zero league play for fourteen straight weeks with no closure permit on file to explain it. North Meadow is carrying almost the whole calendar now.