Today is the 64th Annual Columbus Day Parade: According to the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the parade is on Fifth Avenue, from 47th to 79th St, between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., with 35,000 marchers and over 100 bands, floats and contingents. Government offices and schools are closed; there's no mail delivery and sanitation pickup and recycling are suspended today, as is alternate-side-of-the-street parking. However, the stock market is open and many employers do not generally offer this as a holiday. Columbus Day was first celebrated in 1792, on the 300th anniversary of Columbus's voyage; more on the history of Columbus Day from the History Channel.

Barack Obama contributed on an Op-Ed for today's Daily News. Much of it reads like a standard Obama stump speech on the economy--albeit if you read it online, now it's a stump speech with classic News headlines shuffled in like "MAC: YOU'RE LYING! BAM: STOP DIVIDING!" Obama does cater parts of the piece directly to the Empire State, saying that his economic plan would mean $3.2 billion in an economic stimulus for NY and that he'd help save 64,000 jobs here alone. While the Post was one of the first daily papers in the nation to come out with an official endorsement (of John McCain), the News has not yet chosen who they will back. The paper did turn a few heads back in 2004 with their endorsement of George W. Bush over John Kerry.

While some business owners, like these pizzeria owners in Brooklyn, are facing hard times due to the economy, one segment of the workforce is claiming something close to job security. The Daily News proclaims, "Prostitution has not suffered drop-off despite economic meltdown"--one "promotional model-turned- Manhattan prostitute" explained, "The market is down, but we feel it less. We're still busy... If men are horny, they're going to come here." However, one madam says, "the $1,000/hour girls are just not going to make it" (she charges $160/30 minutes and $260/60 minutes for time with her girls). And a 42-year-old laid-off secretary said she was working as a prostitute to pay for her son's education, "He's trying to get an engineering degree."

Weeks after the Department of Education sent a memo around to principals trying to get them to crack down on teachers expressing their political views in the classroom, the teachers' union has responded with a lawsuit saying the rule demanding they maintain neutrality in front of students violates their First Amendment rights. The suit comes on the heels of one teacher being asked to remove political buttons they were wearing and another having the Obama poster they had put up on a union bulletin board taken down. Before the recent enforcement of the rule, teachers say that the Department had turned a blind eye to it and wearing political buttons--as recently as this year's primaries--was second nature. Randi Weingarten, the union president, said to the Times, “Students can only benefit from being exposed to and engaged in a dialogue about current events.”

Today's Post gives a heads up about the site Diaroogle, the place to visit if you're in Manhattan and in need of a public restroom. What started as a gag project for developers Evan Cooney and Kevin Burg has turned into an extensive resource for desperate New Yorkers who can download it as an application for their mobile devices. What makes the site stand out as something more than just a Google Map locator is that each bathroom is rated and comes with specific instructions about the location, such as directions to the exact spot where a restroom is inside a hotel lobby or a warning about what a hassle the required bag check at B&H Camera can be. You also can't help but respect a site that refuses to list the self-cleaning toilet in Madison Square Park because of its hefty twenty-five cent charge.

After the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned the same-sex marriage ban, opponents have set their sights on demanding a constitutional convention. The AP reports groups, including Catholic Bishops, are looking for support for a convention, which is on this November's ballot. However, Conn. State Rep. Mike Lawlor explained, "It is a very elaborate, months-long process in which a group of people basically rewrite the whole state constitution. It costs millions of dollars and requires a special statewide election," and says it's easier put amendment on the ballot--if the Assembly does so. But Conn. State Sen. Andrew McDonald is doubtful the Assembly will tackle an amendment, "I continue to expect a bipartisan effort to eradicate any remaining vestiges of discrimination."

Jets coach Eric Mangini gave his newborn son the middle name "Brett" after quarterback Brett Favre. Zack Brett Mangini, 7 pounds and 13 ounces, was born on Friday, which is also Favre's birthday! Mangini apparently promised to bestow Brett on his unborn child when the Jets were wooing Favre, who said, "The odds of the child being born on the same day as my birthday, I don't know what the odds are ... The odds, in some respects, are a lot like me. What were the odds of me ever coming to the Jets?" Mangini's two other sons' middle names are also related to football: Son Jake Harrison's middle name is after New England safety Rodney Harrison (Mangini worked for the Patriots) and Luke Wiliam's middle name is after Pats coach Bill Belichick. Gang Green faces the Bengals today at 1 p.m.