Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Today we’ll find out about a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” in the church one of its first performances in the United States took place more than 250 years ago. We’ll also get details on Brad Lander’s plans to challenge Representative Dan Goldman for a House seat that covers parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
For singers and their audiences, it’s time for the feathery-light moments in “For unto us a son is born” and the exuberance of “Wonderful! Counselor!” It’s time for Handel’s “Messiah.” Tonight, “Messiah” will be performed uptown, by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, and downtown, at Trinity Church, on Broadway at Wall Street. It has a history there: Trinity is where the second performance of “Messiah” in the United States was heard, in October 1770. The first, nine months earlier, had been in a tavern, a fund-raiser for a former Trinity employee who had gone bankrupt. Since then, as the historian Charles King wrote, Handel’s oratorio has become “full of meaning to those who treasure it and stealthily familiar to everyone else.” Even so, Trinity has managed some more firsts for this round of “Messiah”:
Attebury said she was aware that she was “pushing away from tradition” by programming only Part I now, with Parts II and III to follow in April. That will shorten the performance to about 70 minutes. (The Philharmonic says its performance of the entire “Messiah” will run 2 hours 30 minutes, including an intermission. Obviously there are variables like tempos that can determine how long a “Messiah” actually takes.) Trinity has cut the prices, too: The most expensive ticket will cost $75, down from $110 last year. No falling asleepAttebury said that one reason for presenting “Messiah” into two sittings was to make it “more accessible for families in a busy time of the year.” Scheduling only Part I would make it “easier to bite off a chunk and experience it, rather than saying, ‘It’s three hours long, and your children might fall asleep halfway through,’” she said. “I say this as an experienced parent. My husband has brought my own children to many ‘Messiahs,’ and they definitely fell asleep.” Also, she said, Part I — which covers biblical prophecy and the birth of Christ — “relates directly to the liturgical season we are in.” Handel wrote “Messiah” for Easter, and the later parts celebrate the resurrection. They’ve sung it beforeAs for having the singers memorize the score, Attebury said that “at least half of the choir has done this piece close to 100 times in their careers and probably already had Part I memorized.” Some members of the choir had said it would be “fun if we could do this memorized,” she said, so the idea had been “percolating.” She said that the result would be “a totally different experience” than when everyone is holding the score. “It makes the engagement and connection they have with the audience,” she said. “They look at each other. You see a lot more facial expression. And there’s something that happens when you’re reading from a score in the same way as when you’re preaching a sermon with notes as opposed to preaching without notes or giving a lecture.” Attebury mentioned King’s book “Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times that Made Handel’s ‘Messiah,’” and his account of “what that era was like and what was going on in London at that time, and how relevant it still is to what we are going through in 2025.” “‘Messiah,’” she said, “inspires hope. It inspires anticipation of something better to come.” WEATHER Expect a rainy and windy afternoon, with the temperature reaching about 45. The rain should continue into the evening, with a drop into the low 30s. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Dec. 25 (Christmas) The latest New York news
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With support from Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander plans to run for a House seat that covers parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Lander, the city comptroller, will face Representative Dan Goldman in a potentially contentious Democratic primary next year. Lander is a progressive Democrat who sees himself as an alternative to Goldman, a moderate Democrat who narrowly won the seat in a crowded primary in 2022. Lander says that voters want a stronger voice to oppose President Trump and to fight for immigrants. “Our mayor needs an ally in Washington,” Lander said, “and not an adversary.” Lander plans to announce his candidacy today. In addition to Mamdani’s endorsement, he already has endorsements from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders; from Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate; and the Working Families Party. Lander ran for mayor and came in third in the June primary, behind Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He and Mamdani cross-endorsed each other before the primary. Lander, who like Goldman is Jewish, has been a stronger critic of Israel’s handling of the war. Lander said in the interview that he and Goldman agreed that the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 was a war crime, but Lander said that he also believed that attacks on civilians by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, were war crimes. “That’s how most residents of the district feel,” he said. The race for the district, New York’s 10th, is one of several in the House that could be competitive in 2026. Ten contenders are running to replace Representative Jerrold Nadler in Manhattan. Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, recently announced that he would run for a seat being vacated by Representative Nydia M. Velázquez. Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo, a young ally of Mr. Mamdani’s, is planning to run against Representative Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ms. Septimo will join a field of challengers that includes Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman, and Dalourny Nemorin, a Legal Aid lawyer. METROPOLITAN DIARY Reality TV
Dear Diary: New York City, 3 a.m. The eye sees. Verrazzano-Narrows Br. Brooklyn The eye blinks. The river, black and spangled with light. And blinks again. Cop shot. Call … And again. Three cars waiting, like schoolchildren, for the light to turn green. And again. An intersection somewhere with a lone someone walking. And blinks again. Lights, flares and slow-crawling water drops. And cars and more cars, even now. And again. Young men doing the dance only young men do, pulling and pushing each other, laughing. And again. A rain-shiny street. A bike in the bus lane! The eye sees. The G.W. Times Square. All still there. And oh, there’s the moon. — Ann M. Schwartz Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Stefano Montali and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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