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It’s Tuesday. The old Tappan Zee Bridge will be partially blown up around 10 a.m. The demolition will be televised.

Weather: A perfectly average mid-January day: a few clouds, a high of 37. A stormy weekend ahead, with snow and rain.

Alternate-side parking: in effect till Monday.

The L train was supposed to shut down for repairs come April. The plan to move passengers around during that time took years to prepare, costing millions.

But it would be worthwhile, transit officials said. All they needed was 15 months with no trains in the tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Then Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo stepped in.

His new plan would allow trains in the tunnel during rush hour, and less frequently on nights and weekends. How? New technology never before used in America. Presto!

Mr. Cuomo was praised by some as a subway savior. Others wondered why the eggheads running the trains didn’t think of this in the first place.

But it turns out — they had!

According to documents obtained by The Times, in 2014, transit officials rejected a similar idea — which involved mounting cables on the side of the tunnel walls — because of concerns about safety and reliability.

[Read our full story on why the earlier plan was rejected.]

The aging walls may not be strong enough to hold the cables, transit officials concluded earlier. And drilling into the wall (technically, this part is called the bench wall) may kick up a particularly unhealthy kind of dust that may be hard to clean before the morning rush.

Aides to Mr. Cuomo said key details were different enough in his plan to make it safer and more efficient than what was previously considered.

The Times’s transit reporter, Emma Fitzsimmons, said: “This leaves us with a big question about why Governor Cuomo didn’t reveal that the M.T.A. already considered this option. He presented it as this ingenious idea. But that wasn’t the whole story.”

More broadly, she noted, “This is one of the most high-profile examples of how the governor has taken a hands-on role at the M.T.A., even though he says he’s not responsible for it.”

Best of The Times

How an idiosyncratic video arcade survived for decades: Not quite Barcade. Not quite Dave & Buster’s. Chinatown Fair is something else entirely.

El Chapo’s life, in the mountains: Wake up at noon. Get messages. Work on a book. Is the army nearby? Run!

An expensive art-world split: Libbie and David Mugrabi’s divorce may shed light on how a powerful art-dealing couple amassed a fortune and shielded their finances.

No cottage industry: An empire of illegal Airbnb rentals booked 75,000 guests, a suit says.

Is your neighbor a hoarder? Here’s some advice.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, in “Hamilton,” in Puerto Rico: The show debuted as the island continues to struggle.

Turn down for what? Our critic tells the New York Philharmonic “Louder isn’t better,” and to ditch the hard-edge sounds.

What we’re reading

R. Kelly accuser met with the N.Y.P.D.: Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said she hoped this would lead to an investigation. [1010 WINS]

N.Y.C. tabloid covers, on display in London: An artist collected front pages about President Trump. “The problem is not so much the quality of news, but how quickly we forget,” the artist said. [ItsNiceThat.com]

Moving a Saudi flag away from the World Trade Center: An art installation is being relocated after critics objected. [Observer]

Replace 21 gas-fired power plants with renewable energy: That’s what a councilman wants the city to come up with plans to do by the end of the year. [HuffPost]

Killed over $22 in gas: A gas station worker on Long Island was fatally struck by a driver trying to flee without paying. [WABC]

Emeril Lagasse’s first N.Y.C. restaurant: It’s inside the Chelsea Hotel. The flavor: “healthy Greek fare with a splash of New Orleans decadence.” [New York Post]

Coming up today

The author Rebecca Traister discusses her book “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger” at the Brooklyn Historical Society. 6:30 p.m. [$10]

The scholar Denise Murrell talks about the history of the black female figure in Western art at the Art Students League of New York. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

The 10-year anniversary of Tyrannosaurus, the long-running weekly comedy show at RaR Bar in Astoria. 9 p.m. [Free]

“Crusader,” an exhibition showcasing rare photos of Martin Luther King Jr’s travels, opens at the Schomburg Center. (Happy birthday, Dr. King.) 5 p.m. [Free]

A night of French Jazz at Nublu in the East Village. 8 p.m. [$20]

— 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: Lessons of Flight 1549, 10 years later

Everybody worked together, so everybody survived. This was the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, and he feels we are due for another lesson.

“This lack of civic virtue, this lack of remembering our common humanity, this lack of citizenship, is greatly harmful to our nation, to our democracy, to the world,” Captain Sullenberger, 67, said in an interview.

He added, “I feel that I have yet another mission, to be an advocate for our democracy, be a defender of our democracy, as many others have done.”

As for that flight, he said: “I have even greater appreciation now for what everyone did who pulled together. Especially in light of what’s happening in our nation now.”

The retired pilot known as Sully talked a little more with us about planes and politics:

Michael Bloomberg was mayor the day you landed in the Hudson. He and others may run for president.

I think like many of our fellow countrymen, like many Americans, I think I’m going to wait and see what all our options are.

Sounds like you are running for vice president.

No. First of all, it’s a great honor to be thought of that way by others, by some. But my way of answering that is that I run — in fact, I ran this morning — but I’m not running.

Anything you want people to remember about this flight?

I want to re-emphasize that this is the result, the successful flight was the result of the efforts of many: my crew, the passengers themselves who were cooperative especially in the evacuation, the rescuers, all the first responders of New York and New Jersey. I can’t say enough about the support of my family. And my wife, Lorrie, has been the best partner in all of this.

It’s Tuesday — don’t let them birds get you down.

Metropolitan Diary: Collected works

Dear Diary:

Location: A bookshelf in Gramercy Thrift Shop.

Occasion: Bargain hunting with my mother.

Observation: Three juxtaposed titles: “The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom,” by Phyllis Chesler; “How to Be a Party Girl,” by Pat Montandon; “Mr. Boston: Official Bartender’s and Party Guide”

— Paul Klenk

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