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It’s Wednesday. Jumaane Williams will be New York City’s public advocate.

Weather: Cold and cloudy with a chance of flurries starting in the afternoon.

Alternate-side parking: In effect until March 6 (Ash Wednesday).

Jumaane Williams, a Democratic councilman from Brooklyn, won New York City’s special election for public advocate yesterday, defeating 16 other candidates in the race to replace Letitia James.

But with such low turnout — about 400,000 votes were cast — Mr. Williams could have to fight to keep his new job later this year (we’ll get to that in a minute).

[Read more on how Jumaane Williams won the unpredictable contest.]

Here’s why the results matter

• New York City’s three other top elected officials are white men. Mr. Williams is not.

• Two of the three most recent public advocates won higher office (Bill de Blasio became mayor in 2014, and Ms. James the state’s attorney general in January). The role could make Mr. Williams an instant contender for mayor in 2021, when Mr. de Blasio must vacate the office.

• The public advocate temporarily replaces the mayor if he leaves office early (Mr. de Blasio hasn’t ruled out a presidential run).

• The office has a budget of $3.5 million, and can introduce legislation and hold public hearings.

How did Mr. Williams win?

Mr. Williams had a big advantage over his opponents: His spirited but unsuccessful challenge last fall to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul bolstered his name recognition in the five boroughs.

In the public advocate contest, Mr. Williams easily defeated the second-place finisher, Councilman Eric Ulrich of Queens.

The race, however, had two jolts that were seen as potential roadblocks to Mr. Williams’s victory:

• First, the Amazon deal collapsed, giving Mr. Ulrich — a Republican and a prominent supporter of the plan — an opening to win over voters upset that the company would not be employing about 25,000 people on a new Queens campus.

• Then, mere days before the election, a previously undisclosed 2009 arrest of Mr. Williams was leaked to the news media. Mr. Williams said he did nothing wrong, characterizing the altercation as a “verbal disagreement” with his girlfriend at the time.

Still, Mr. Williams attracted 33 percent of the vote. Mr. Ulrich, his nearest competitor, had 19 percent of the vote.

Get ready for more voting.

Mr. Williams will serve only through the end of this year. To hold on to the position through 2021, he needs to win a primary election in June and the general election in November.

3 killed in L.I.R.R. crash

There could be service changes or delays on the Long Island Rail Road this morning after a fatal crash in Nassau County. Check here for updates.

The Times’s Patrick McGeehan reports:

A railroad crossing turned into a chaotic disaster scene last night when two L.I.R.R. trains traveling in opposite directions struck a car that had swerved onto the tracks, killing three people.

The rush-hour collision about 30 miles east of Manhattan set off fires that terrified passengers before they could escape. At least seven people were injured, the authorities said.

After the driver of the vehicle went around lowered gates, an eastbound train struck the car, according to the railroad.

Another train, traveling westbound, then crashed into the vehicle and pushed it down the tracks before the front two cars of the train derailed and collided with the concrete platform.

Service was suspended in both directions on the railroad’s Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson lines.

Yes, Michael Cohen was disbarred

To the age-old question, is Michael Cohen still a lawyer, we finally have an answer: No.

Mr. Cohen, the self-described “fixer” for President Trump, was disbarred in New York, according to documents filed yesterday.

The decision came after he pleaded guilty last year to tax evasion, campaign finance law violations and lying to Congress.

From The Times

Congestion pricing: Mr. de Blasio united with Governor Cuomo in support of a plan that would charge some drivers in Manhattan.

Fare increase: The M.T.A. may vote today to increase weekly subway and bus fares to $33, up from $32; and raise monthly passes to $127, up from $121.

“Racist, homophobic and misogynistic language”: A video of several students at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School has roiled the elite institution.

Canceled after $773 million: The mayor ended his program to help struggling schools with an influx of resources.

Closed for good: After 36 years, a sad goodbye to St. Mark’s Comics.

[Want more news from New York and around the region? Check out our full coverage.]

The mini crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.

What we’re reading

“The entire building will be a sign”: A new building in Times Square could be built by 2022. [CBS]

Kenny Anderson hospitalized: The 48-year-old basketball star and Queens native is recovering from a stroke. [Daily News]

Special delivery: An app specializes in delivering lunch to Chinese workers in the Financial District and Midtown, where authentic Chinese food can be hard to find. [Eater]

“I was naïve”: Angelika Graswald, who pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide after her fiancé drowned in the Hudson River in 2015, spoke to Elle magazine. She was photographed underwater. [Elle]

Coming up today

The rapper Talib Kweli will be on the 1s and 2s at Brooklyn Bowl in celebration of Black History Month. 11 p.m. [$10]

A panel at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Harlem will discuss the contributions Muslims have made to Upper Manhattan. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

Scott Rogowsky of HQ Trivia hosts Powerpoint Roulette at Caveat on the Lower East Side. 9 p.m. [$10]

Blair Imani, the founder of Equality for HER, in conversation with Jamia Wilson, the director of the Feminist Press at CUNY, at the Mid-Manhattan Library. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

— Iman Stevenson

Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times’s culture pages.

And finally: Portraits of women at City Hall

Last December, we told you that women made up 51 percent of New York City’s population, but only 11 of the 51 City Council members. And none holds a citywide office.

That gives a certain poignancy to Women’s History Month, which is celebrated in March. In honor of it, City Hall will display “Women’s Voices: Shaping the City,” portraits of eight women that are scheduled to be unveiled on Friday. Other women may be added to the exhibition in the future.

The women were chosen by leaders at the City Council and New-York Historical Society.

They are:

• Alice Austen, an L.G.B.T.Q. photographer

• Antonia Pantoja, a Puerto Rican educator and community activist

• Beverly Sills, an opera soprano

• Dorothy Day, a founder of the Catholic Worker movement and newspaper

• Frances Perkins, the first female United States cabinet member

• Mabel Lee, a suffragist and Chinatown community activist

• Shirley Chisholm, the country’s first African-American congresswoman and a groundbreaking presidential candidate.

• Zora Neale Hurston, a writer, anthropologist and fixture of the Harlem Renaissance

Council Speaker Corey Johnson said in a statement that “the future is female, but the past was female, too, and the entire city needs to do a better job of celebrating that.”

Valerie Paley, director of the New-York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History, said the exhibit “reminds all New Yorkers of the vital contributions of women to the city’s story.”

Councilwoman Carlina Rivera added that “we need to end the culture of exclusion that tells women to wait their turn when they aspire to lead.”

It’s Wednesday — appreciate the history around you.

Metropolitan Diary: On the High Line

Dear Diary:

I was on the High Line when an older couple approached me. They asked whether I knew how to get to Greenwich Village.

I pointed them toward the entrance that was closest to where they wanted to go. They thanked me.

“Are you from here?” they asked.

“No,” I said.

“We are!” they exclaimed.

— Marcie Goodman

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