ART

DOWNTOWN DISPLAY
Wall Street Rising’s “Downtown II” is an assemblage of contemporary art chosen by Mikhail Baryshnikov, brothers Danny and Russell Simmons, Diane von Furstenberg, and Robert Wilson. Each has designed a personal exhibit combining their own work, pieces by artists they admire, and art from Deutsche Bank’s corporate collection. Artists represented in the exhibit include Vik Muniz, Takashi Murakami, Neo Rauch, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, and others. Friday through Friday, December 10, Tuesday-Friday, noon-7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m., 48 Wall St. at William Street, 212-509-0300, free.

BABY BUNTING
Magali Nougarede’s first New York solo exhibit, “Toeing the Line,” closes on Saturday. The show includes photographs of the inhabitants of her adopted home of Eastbourne, England. The French-born artist captures her subjects with emotional remove, photographing torsos bundled in winter clothes or hands folded primly over a purse. Through Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art, 115 Wooster St., between Spring and Prince streets, 212-431-4838, free.

BENEFITS

MONUMENTAL HONOR
The World Monuments Fund honors Mexican financier and philanthropist Carlos Slim Helu with its Hadrian Award at a luncheon today. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to the preservation of historic art and architecture, and every other year publishes a watch list of the 100 most endangered sites in the world. The Hadrian award is named for the Roman emperor who restored the Pantheon and the Forum of Augustus. Friday, noon, The Pierre, Fifth Avenue at 61st Street, 646-424-9594 ext. 44, $600-$2,500.

BOOKS

SOUNDS OF CIVIL RIGHTS
Herb Boyd signs his book “We Shall Overcome” (Source books Mediafusion), a civil rights history which comes with two audio CDs that bring to life the sounds of “Bull” Connor’s barking dogs and the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Friday, 6 p.m., Hue-Man Bookstore, 2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, between 124th and 125th streets, 212-665-7400, free.

POLAR PART 2
Author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg signs the new release of his 1986 Christmas classic “The Polar Express” (Houghton Mifflin). Mr. Van Allsburg won Caldecott awards for “The Polar Express” and for 1982’s “Jumanji” (Houghton Mifflin).Sunday, noon, Barnes & Noble Upper East Side, 240 E. 86th St. at Second Avenue, 212-794-1962, free, signing only. Also: Sunday, 4 p.m., Borders Books Time-Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle at 59th Street, 212-823-9775, free.

COMEDY

CORNELL COMICS
Comedians who attended (or are still enrolled in) Cornell University perform in the two-day Big Red Comedy Festival. Along with a series of comedy sessions, an afternoon forum about careers in humor features President Clinton’s joke writer, Mark Katz, and a writer for “The Daily Show,” Jason Reich (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. tickets available, 3 p.m. forum, free). Shows: Friday and Saturday, 7, 8:30, and 10 p.m., Theater at St. Clement’s, 423 W. 46th St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues, 212-868-4444, $12 one show, $25 day pass, $40 for all shows.

FAMILY

HOSPITAL HOOPLA
The Halloween-themed “Light Up a Life” event welcomes costumed children and families to enjoy live music, magicians, and rides of a 60-foot indoor ferris wheel. The event benefits Weill Cornell Medical Center’s pediatric programs, including the Clown Care Program, which brings clowns to the hospital to cheer young patients. Saturday, 9-11 a.m., Toys ‘R Us Times Square, Broadway between 44th and 45th streets, 212-821-0967, $150 general, $50 children, $325 family of four.

PUMPKIN PICKS
A Pumpkin Patch party invites families to pick from a bumper crop of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes. Children can then paint their orange beauties in a workshop, with awards going to the silliest and scariest jack-o’lantern. Saturday, 1-4 p.m., Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main St. at Dahlia Avenue, Flushing, Queens, 718-886-3800, $10 each child, $5 members, admission includes one pumpkin and workshop materials.

FILM

PINBALL WIZARDRY
Ken Russell’s loopy musicals are the highlight of a retrospective devoted to the British filmmaker. The Who’s Roger Daltry stars in the rock opera “Tommy” (Saturday and Sunday, 6:30 p.m.) and as Franz Liszt in the lesser known “Lisztomania,” which features Ringo Starr as the pope (Sunday, 4 p.m.). “The Boy Friend,” Russell’s 1971 musical starring Twiggy as an understudy who makes it big, also screens (Saturday, 2 p.m.). All screenings: American Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue and 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, $10 general, $7.50 seniors and students, $5 for children ages 5-18, free for members and children under 5.

FLORIDIAN FOLLIES
The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan screens two films that revisit the 2000 presidential election as it played out in Florida. Aviva Kempner’s 2003 short “Today I Vote for My Joey” follows a group of elderly Jewish voters who discover that their intended ballots for Joe Lieberman as vice president have instead gone to Pat Buchanan. The film is followed by Laurel Greenberg’s “Trouble in Paradise.” The screenings are followed by a Q &A with the directors. Saturday, 8-10 p.m., Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th Street, 646-505-5708, $10 general, $7 members.

MUSIC

POP GOES THE ORCHESTRA
The New York Pops opens its season with conductor Skitch Henderson at the helm of a program that includes Meredith Willson’s “Symphonic Impressions of The Music Man.” Seventeen-year-old New Zealander Hayley Westenra performs as a guest vocalist. Friday, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800, $24-$95.

TIGRE BEAT
Feminist rockers of the band Le Tigre have turned to overtly political songwriting in their recent work – but their new album, “This Island,” also has room for a cover of the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited.” The trio plays a Halloween show next weekend that is likely to sell out. Sunday, October 31, and Monday, November 1, 8 p.m. doors open, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, between 15th and 16th streets, 212-777-1224 for information, 212-777-6800 for tickets, $18.50 in advance, $19 at the door.

READINGS

ART, LITERATURE, & MUSIC
Paul Auster reads from his latest work in progress at CUE Art Foundation, which is currently showing an exhibit that Mr. Auster curated. Bluegrass musician Langhorne Slim provides tunes. Saturday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., CUE Art Foundation, 511 W. 25th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-206-3583, free, reservations required. Note: Regular seating has been filled but standing-room-only spots are still available.

KING OF MEAN
Writer and director Neil LaBute hosts a reading of his short-story collection “Seconds of Pleasure” (Grove). Actors Paul Rudd and Gretchen Mol, who starred in “The Shape of Things” on both stage and screen, participate. Sunday, 7 p.m. tickets distributed, 8 p.m. reading, KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St. at Second Avenue, 212-505-3360, free.

TALKS

HEART’S DESIRE
A conference focuses on human desire in love, sex, and relationships through the prism of psychoanalysis. Speakers include the author of “The Impossibility of Sex” (Touchstone), Susie Orbach, the author of “On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored” (Harvard University), Adam Phillips, and several psychoanalysts. Topics include infidelity, privacy, infertility, “the symbolic meaning of women’s accessories,” and a variety of sexual appetites. The conference is sponsored by the William Alanson White Institute. Saturday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., reception to follow, Sunday, 8:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 1190 Fifth Ave. at 101st Street, 212-873-7788, $300 general, $200 Sunday only, discounts available for students. See www.wawhite.org for full schedule.

ART TALK
Artist Andrea Fraser, who raised eyebrows with a recent sexually charged video piece, gives a lecture on the work of Fred Sandback. Sandback’s work is currently installed at Dia: Beacon in Beacon, N.Y. Monday, 6 p.m. tickets available, 6:30 p.m. talk, Dia Art Foundation, 548 W. 22nd St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-989-5566, $6 general, $3 seniors, students, and members.

THEATER

RATHER FUNNY
“Kenneth – What Is the Frequency?” a new dark comedy, examines the assault on Dan Rather on the street in New York City in 1986. Paul Allman’s play – the title is taken from the words of Mr. Rather’s attackers – posits that postmodern-fiction writer Donald Barthelme ordered the hit on Mr. Rather because of their mutual connection to a 1961 Texas hurricane. Opens: Sunday, 8 p.m. Runs: Sunday through Sunday, November 21, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. 78th Street Theatre Lab, 236 W. 78th St., between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, 212-868-4444, $15. Additional performances on Sundays, October 24 and November 21.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.