Central Park, Nov 2–8: the loop is clear all week, and Monday hits 65°

        Hi all,

The marathon is done and the loop is clear — every day this week. No race, no permit, no closure on any drive from Monday through Sunday, which has not been true since the end of September. It lands alongside 65°, 67° and 68° under full sun. Midweek is where the whole week is.

Weather this week

Mostly sunny and far too warm for November through Wednesday — 65°, 67°, 68° — then light rain Thursday through Saturday before Sunday clears to a breezy 63°. Front-load everything into Monday through Wednesday; by Friday it is 69% rain and you will be choosing between wet and indoors.

Mon Nov 2 – Thu Nov 5 — nothing on the calendar at all

Four days, zero scheduled events. Not a race, not a ride, not a tour.

One thing worth knowing so it does not alarm you: the marathon’s permit runs on paper through November 10, covering East Drive, West Drive, Center Drive and the 102nd Street Cross Drive. That is the load-out — fencing, trailers and the finish-line structure coming down along the west side and around Tavern on the Green. The roads themselves are open. Expect a crew and a truck, not a barrier.

  Wednesday, 68° and sunny, is the ride of the month. If you have been waiting for a long one, take it then.
  Runners: the loop is yours and so is the Reservoir. No course traffic, no cones, nothing closed.
  Lawn maintenance at the East 106th Street Lawn, Monday through Thursday — worth knowing only if you cool down up there.
  Birding Bob at Strawberry Fields Monday 8:30 AM, Loeb Boathouse Thursday 8:30 AM.
  New Dendrology at the Arsenal Gallery, weekdays 9–5, free — a tree show, and a decent use of the first wet hour Thursday.

Fri Nov 6 — the rain arrives, the walks go anyway

69° and light rain likely. Two Conservancy walks run regardless:

  Woodland Walk: The Ramble, 10 AM from Belvedere Castle. Wet woodland is better woodland — the birdsong carries and nobody else turns up.
  Iconic Views of Central Park, 2 PM from Doris C. Freedman Plaza.
  Birding Bob at the Conservatory Garden, 8:30 AM. The best stop in his rotation and the one week he is there.

Sat Nov 7 — the North Woods, and a lawn closure that is not a road closure

65° with showers near 47%.

  Woodland Walk: The North Woods, 10 AM from Dana Discovery Center. Waterfalls, the Loch, peak color.
  Seneca Village Tour, 2 PM from Mariners’ Gate.
  East Meadow is closed for maintenance and restoration. This is the lawn only — East Drive alongside it is open and running and riding are unaffected. I flag it because the permit reads “closure” and it is easy to misread.
  Birding Bob at Loeb Boathouse, 7:30 AM.
  Eighteen private ceremonies booked, two of them in Shakespeare Garden. Wander elsewhere if you want the garden to yourself.

Sun Nov 8 — the best day of the weekend

63°, mostly sunny, breezy out of the northwest. Clearly the day to be out.

  Leaf Peeping Hike with the Urban Park Rangers, 1–2:30 PM from Boys’ Gate at West 100th Street. Free, and well-timed for the north end’s color.
  Woodland Walk: The Ramble 10 AM, Iconic Views 2 PM.
  International Folkdancers at King Jagiello Plaza, 11 AM–3 PM — back to their full four hours now the marathon is out of the way.
  East Meadow closed again; the lawn, not the drive.
  Birding Bob at Loeb Boathouse, 7:30 AM.

Steady all week

  Bethesda Terrace and Fountain is closed every day, now through December 1. The permits have been extended twelve times running. Route around the arcade.
  No play on the Great Lawn for a fifteenth week.
  North Meadow has 56 field bookings over the weekend — relevant only if you cool down up there on Saturday or Sunday morning.

A clear loop, 68° and an empty calendar is about as good as this park gets. Take Wednesday.

Have a strong week,
Kin