5 Stories You Need to Pay Attention to This Week

NEW YORK, NY — The week kicks off with a major religious holiday and could end with a scary storm. We'll have to wait and see whether Hurricane Matthew heads our way, but for now we take a look at the stories which will be dominating the news for the first full week of October.

1. Oct. 2-4: Happy New Year — Rosh Hashanah, one of the biggest Jewish holidays of the year — and the first of the High Holy Days — begins on sundown Sunday night and goes until Tuesday evening. Essentially, it's the celebration of the Jewish New Year. As of 2012, the Jewish population in New York City was about 1.1 million, so that's a whole lot of families coming together and celebrating. Also, for parents regardless of their religion, all NYC public schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday in honor of the holiday. So blow the shofar, eat an apple dipped in honey and ring in the new year. There are also about a half million Muslims in the New York metro area who will be celebrating Hijri New Year, the Islamic New Year, on Oct. 3. Happy Year 1438 to them.
2. Oct. 4: Secondary debate time — OK, so there's no Sarah Palin, it's not even bumbling Joe Biden, but we do have a vice presidential debate on Tuesday. Mike Pence, he's the Republican candidate you've never heard of, and Tim Kaine, the Democrat you've never heard of, will face off at 9 p.m. in Virginia. Take a drink every time Pence has to defend something Donald Trump said and you'll be sloshed by 9:15 p.m. Then again, if you take a drink every time you forget Kaine's name, you'll also be sloshed by 9:15 p.m., too. Elaine Quijano of CBS News will moderate the only debate — president or vice president — with a solo female at the helm. Sure it seems like a snoozefest, but if the VP candidates divorce themselves from their running mates enough, we might actually get some substantive policy discussion.
3. Oct. 5: Playoff baseball in New York — It's time for a one-game, all-or-nothing playoff game for the gritty, gutty Mets. They locked up the wild-card spot and homefield advantage on Saturday with a win over the Phillies, but had to wait until Sunday to find out they'd be hosting the San Francisco Giants at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Tickets here. Noah Syndergaard will be making the start for the Mets, while Madison Bumgarner is expected to start for San Fran. Syndergaard is about the only healthy starter on the team, but he's also had a Cy Young-worthy season, so the Mets are in good shape to advance to the divisional round.
4. Oct. 6: Improving bus service — The City Council's Committee on Transportation will be holding an oversight hearing on bus service in New York City at the Council Chambers on Wednesday at 10 a.m. There will be an opportunity for public testimony, and you can bet it won't be all sunshine and roses directed at the city's bus service. A host of transportation groups came together in late July to present a comprehensive plan to overhaul bus service in New York. Among the proposals in that plan, sure to come up in the council hearing, are a redesign of bus routes, new dedicated bus lanes and countdown clocks on buses and at bus stops.
5. Oct. 8: Here comes Matthew — The category 4 hurricane is churning off the coast of Jamaica on Sunday and aiming north to hit Cuba on Monday and Florida by Wednesday. As for how Hurricane Matthew will affect New York, it's still largely up in the air. Most weather forecasts have an ominous washout of Saturday and Sunday in the forecast, but it could be worse or it could be better depending on how the storm tracks. Many of the predicted paths have it hugging the East Coast, but it could head northeast and out to sea as well. Stay tuned.

Photo Credit: NOAA.gov