Central Park, Nov 9–15: three more mild days, then the warm spell ends hard on Friday

Take Monday through Wednesday. Three sunny days at 59°, 61° and 61°, and then the mild autumn the park has been running on since the marathon ends abruptly: Friday is 47° with steady rain and 25 mph wind. The weekend stays cold and grey.

The other news is a permit that keeps growing — the Conservancy’s gala now holds Rumsey Playfield for three days, Friday through Sunday, where a week ago it was one.

Weather this week

Sunny and mild Monday to Wednesday — 59°, 61°, 61° — with Veterans Day the calmest of the three. Then it breaks: Thursday 57° with a 50% chance of rain, Friday 47° with light rain and 20–25 mph wind, Saturday 46°. Do the outdoor things in the first half of the week; there is no second chance in this one.

Mon Nov 9 – Wed Nov 11 — three empty, sunny days

Nothing is booked across all three. Mild, dry, and the park is as quiet as it gets.

The marathon envelope expires Tuesday. It still reports a loop-affecting event Monday and Tuesday covering all three drives — that is the last of the load-out paperwork, not a closure, and the drives have been open since the day after the race. From Wednesday it is gone.

• Veterans Day, Wednesday, is 61° and sunny with the wind finally down to 6–9 mph. That is the pick of the week for a ride, a long walk or a long run.
• Bird Watching with Birding Bob — Strawberry Fields Monday 8:30 AM, Loeb Boathouse Thursday 8:30 AM.
• Lawn maintenance at the East 106th Street Lawn, Monday through Thursday.

Thu Nov 12 – Fri Nov 13 — the turn, and the gala moves in

Thursday 57° with rain arriving by evening. Friday is the hard stop: 47°, light rain most of the day, 20–25 mph wind. The coldest, wettest day since the spring.

The CPC Annual Fall-Winter Gala opens Friday, 9 AM to midnight, holding Rumsey Playfield and Bandshell Plaza — and it now runs three days, through Sunday. It was a one-day permit when I first reported it ten days ago, then two, now three. The Conservancy’s own fundraiser, not a public event, but the whole SummerStage footprint is out all weekend and there will be production trucks from Friday morning.

Friday’s only public event is the Iconic Views tour at 2 PM, and Birding Bob at the Conservatory Garden at 8:30 AM — his best stop, on the worst morning of the week.

Sat Nov 14 — a parade at dusk, and knights behind the Met

46° with showers around 31% and a 20 mph wind. Cold, but the day is well stocked:

• St. Martin’s Parade, 3:15–5 PM at Summit Rock. A lantern procession at the park’s highest point, timed for dusk. If you go to one thing this week, this is the one with atmosphere.
• Santa’s Knights and Gladiators NYC, noon–4 PM on the Lawn Behind the Met. New to the calendar, and about as self-explanatory as the name suggests.
• Model Yacht Racing at Kerbs Boathouse, 9 AM–3 PM — with a 20 mph wind the boats will be flying.
• Iconic Views tour at 2 PM; Birding Bob at Loeb Boathouse 7:30 AM.
• East Meadow closed — the lawn, not the drive.

Sun Nov 15 — the Great Central Park Hike

Cold and clearing.

• Great Central Park Hike, 10 AM from Dana Discovery Center. The Conservancy’s long one, end to end — and a cold bright Sunday is the right day for it.
• International Folkdancers at King Jagiello Plaza, 11 AM–3 PM.
• Birding Bob at Loeb Boathouse 7:30 AM. East Meadow closed; the gala’s final day.

Steady all week

• Five separate closures now all end on exactly December 8 — both Bethesda permits, the Swedish Cottage lawn, the East 96th Street playground lawn, and the East 106th Street lawn maintenance. All five moved from December 6 to December 8 together in this week’s filing. Five permits at five locations do not drift two days by coincidence; something is scheduled for that week. I do not know what.
• Bethesda Terrace is closed every day through December 8 — a fourteenth extension.
• The Great Lawn is back to zero. Last Saturday’s picnic was the first permit on it since July; it has now passed, and nothing is booked behind it.
• Field permits: 56 this week, 45 at North Meadow.
• Coming: Race to Deliver 4M, Sunday November 22, 8–10 AM — a real loop closure, the first since the marathon.

Quick recap

• Mon–Wed: 59°, 61°, 61° and sunny, nothing booked. Veterans Day is the best day of the week.
• Friday it breaks — 47°, rain, 25 mph wind, and cold through the weekend.
• The Conservancy gala holds Rumsey Friday through Sunday, now a three-day permit.
• Saturday: St. Martin’s Parade at Summit Rock, 3:15 PM — lanterns at dusk.
• Sunday: the Great Central Park Hike, 10 AM from Dana.
• Five park closures all now end December 8, having moved together.

See you out there, Kin