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It’s Monday.

? The engagement ring that fell down a subway grate has been found.

Weather: Rock crushes scissors, sun burns fog. By midmorning. Then bright and mild with a high of 57.

Alternate-side parking: in effect until Saturday.

New tools to protect renters

New: New York has about a million rent-stabilized apartments. A bill in the City Council would require landlords to tell new tenants how much they have charged for an apartment in the past four years.

Catch up: In May, The New York Times ran a series called “Unsheltered” (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) that examined why many rent-regulated apartments disappear every year. The investigation revealed that unscrupulous landlords, disreputable lawyers, weak regulations and inefficient housing courts all played a part.

Other new protections: A landlord caught illegally gutting one apartment would be subject to a city review of all their apartments.

The victims: Practically everybody. The Times reporter Grace Ashford, who worked on the series, told me, “Rising rents affect all New Yorkers — when low-income families are pushed out of the only apartments they can afford so that they can be gutted and re-rented for $3,000, nobody wins.”

More resources: Here’s what renters in New York need to know.

Should undocumented New Yorkers be able to get driver’s licenses?

New: Lawmakers and advocates will rally in front of City Hall this afternoon to call for letting undocumented residents get New York State driver’s licenses.

Catch up: Twelve states and the District of Columbia allow it. New York does not.

In January, Democrats will take control of Albany and could change the law. But they are not saying whether they will make it a priority.

The timing: Murad Awawdeh, vice president of advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition, the largest immigrant rights coalition in the nation, said, “Our deadline is this upcoming year. We’re hoping we can get this done early in the session.”

Not just about driving: State-issued driver’s licenses can help people open bank accounts, buy insurance and prevent routine encounters with government officials from escalating into deportation cases, advocates say. The city’s identification cards, which were introduced in 2015, are not as widely accepted as driver’s licenses.

The opposition: Critics argue that the move rewards those who violated immigration rules, and may be the first step toward granting other rights, like voting in local elections.

Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, an upstate Democrat, said earlier this year that such a change would “dilute the validity” of a driver’s license.

Best of The Times

Uber’s man in New York: The new head of Uber’s New York operations is trying a kinder, gentler approach, but he still wants the giant to grow.

Taxi crisis: Three cabbies and five other professional drivers have committed suicide in the last year.

Hanukkah: The lighting of a 4,000-pound menorah in Midtown cut through the darkness of rising anti-Semitism.

Labor pain: New York State has only three free-standing birthing centers.

Can’t stop, won’t stop: Inside the mostly black, underground skate scene.

Center stage: Three actors from Iran and Syria overcame President Trump’s travel ban to perform in New York.

What we’re reading

Cuomo’s promotion: Governor Cuomo is taking a leadership role in the National Governors Association. [New York Post]

Cheers: An old TWA plane will become a cocktail lounge at Kennedy Airport. [Curbed]

Signs, signs: The number of complaints about illegal store signs skyrocketed last year. [Spectrum News NY1]

Pay up: Senator Chuck Schumer wants Marriott to pay customers whose data was compromised by a recent hack. [WPIX 11]

Attacked: Someone is throwing thumbtacks into a bike lane in Brooklyn. [Streetsblog]

The most beautiful trash

Stat of the day: 21

That’s how many people are running for New York City public advocate. The journalist John Kenny has photographed all of them.

Coming up today

A live taping of the popular podcast about black culture “The Nod” at the Greene Space. 7 p.m. [$15]

A talk on efforts to restrict minority voting rights at the New School. 6 p.m. [Free]

Princeton University Professor Imani Perry talks about her book “Vexy Thing” with the poet Simone White at the CUNY Graduate Center. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

For more events, check the going-out guides from The Times’s culture pages.

— Iman Stevenson

Metropolitan Diary: Bench by the plaza

Dear Diary:

While visiting New York a few years ago, I sat down at the end of an empty bench across from the Plaza Hotel to wait for my wife, who was with a friend nearby.

As I watched people coming and going at the Plaza, I felt the presence of someone standing next to me. I turned and saw a small older woman staring at me.

“You are sitting in my place,” she said quietly.

I stood up and offered her the spot where I was sitting.

She thanked me, and I moved to the other end of the bench.

Neither of us spoke another word.

— Michael Brown

And Finally: Reviewing Sandra Lee’s smoothie

Last week, the Food Network star and New York gubernatorial girlfriend Sandra Lee sent us her smoothie recipe. So, we tried it. The reviews from reporters were not inspiring.

“It tastes like broccoli and granola dragged through a garden,” Shane Goldmacher said.

“It does not have a great aftertaste,” Emma Fitzsimmons said.

Dodai Stewart said she wish she didn’t drink it.

It looked like a mess, even before we spilled it on our desk.

Maybe the problem was us.

It’s Monday. May your mistakes taste great.

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