5 Stories You Need to Pay Attention to This Week

NEW YORK, NY — Not much going on this week — just a potentially Earth-changing political election. Maybe you've heard something about it.

So yeah, there's really only one news story to pay attention to this week, and it will likely last all week (and maybe months, who knows) but we'll humor the readers and provide a few other stories to look for this upcoming week...

1. Nov. 7: Get that W — New Yorkers have a new subway train — well, returned subway train — to take this week with the launch of the W train. The signs are up, the announcements have been made, and it'll be a full go on Monday morning beginning at 6:30 a.m. The return will have the biggest effect on Astoria, Queens and those used to taking the N train from Midtown to Brooklyn. The W replaces the Q train in Astoria and makes all the same stops, with the Q train about to be diverted up the Second Avenue in December. But the N will now run express through Manhattan and the W train terminates at Whitehall Street, so a handful of stops in Manhattan will lead to altered travel plans. The 28th Street, 23rd Street, 8th Street-NYU and Prince Street stops will no longer be N, R stops, but R, W stops instead. In other words, if you work in Chelsea, SoHo or Greenwich Village but live in Brooklyn, you'll have to transfer to the N, Q or R if you get on a W train.
2. Nov. 7: Helping missing adults — For decades, missing children have been treated differently than missing adults. In fact, missing adults weren't even required to be reported to the National Crime Information Center. The New York state law, however, has changed and adults who have "a proven disability, may be in physical danger, [are] missing after a catastrophe, may have disappeared involuntarily or [are] missing under circumstances where there is a reasonable concern for his or her safety" to be reported to the NCIC. The law, called LaMont Dottin's Law, is named after a 19-year-old who went missing from Queens in 1995. State Sen. James Sanders, from Far Rockaway, and State Assemblyman Charles Barron will celebrate the enactment of the new law on Monday at 11 a.m. on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan.
3. Nov. 8: Election to end all elections — What piece of hyperbole can we use that hasn't already been used to describe the 2016 Presidential Election? There's generally not a whole lot to be said which hasn't been said sometime over the last two years of this never-ending saga. So, yes, you'll go choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Tuesday (polls open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.), but make sure you read up on local elections, too. It's easy to forget about the people making decisions in your neighborhood when Clinton and Trump appear on TV literally 24/7. Patch has a guide for you if you're in need of help finding how to vote, where to vote, and what you'll be voting on — including local races in New York City. Remember, there's no public school in the city on Tuesday either.
4. Nov. 11: Veterans Day — There is another holiday this week as well, with Veterans Day falling on Friday this year. The biggest event in the city on the day will be the annual Veterans Day Parade, which kicks off at 11:15 a.m. on Friday after the traditional opening ceremony at the Eternal Light Monument in Madison Square Park. There will be special events honoring those who served our country all week, however. Public schools will be out for the second time this week on Friday as well.
5. Nov. 12: Fight night — The long and winding road to legalizing mixed martial arts in New York City will come to a boil on Saturday night with UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden. New York became the last state in the country to legalize the sport earlier this year and UFC will hold its first event in the state Saturday. They've brought out all the stops in the fight capital of the world (traditionally, anyway) with three title fights on the card. Champions and stars, including Conor McGregor, Eddie Alvarez, Tyron Woodley and Joanna Jedrzejczyk will all be fighting. The combination of its debut in the city and maybe the best card ever means tickets are very, very expensive. They've been sold out on the primary market since the day they went on sale, but even on the secondary market you better be ready to pay up. The cheapest ticket on StubHub as of six days before the event was $620. If you want to sit on the floor, the cheapest tickets start at $2,000 each. Wanna sit cageside? Better pony up at least $15,000 per ticket!

Photo Credit: Patch