In 2009, the City Council decided that roll-down metal gates could no longer be solid. The law goes into effect this summer, after 17 years.

In a special election on Manhattan’s West Side, home to major L.G.B.T.Q. sites and institutions and many gay residents, a straight person could win for the first time since 1991.

In the mountains of northern New York, many local residents are weary of the military activities near an old missile silo and wary of the prospect of a howitzer range.