Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the government, school, post officer, and financial markets are closed (city subways and buses run on weekday schedules, and there is regular garbage and recycling pick up, though). One interesting MLK Day event in the city is the 19th Annual Tribute to Martin Luther King at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The tribute includes performances by Melba Moore and Lilias White with the Brooklyn Ecumenical Choir of Bedford Stuyvesant. And there will be a number of politicians present, to give remarks: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Hillary Clinton, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Senator Chuck Schumer, NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, City Controller William Thompson, and Congressman Anthony Weiner. [Via Ask Gothamist's discussion about having Martin Luther King Day as a holiday]

For more about MLK, go to The King Center, with an essay about the holiday from Coretta Scott King (she also did a rare recent public appearance last week). And InfloPlease has links to many MLK-related events.