TALKS

BOOMING GROWTH An offshoot of the Municipal Art Society, the Historic Districts Council, hosts a discussion about the population of New York City. Mayor Bloomberg’s latest initiative, PlaNYC 2030, projects that the city’s population will grow by 1 million in the next 25 years. The talk focuses on other population booms the city has seen over its history, including the period at the turn of the 20th century, when 2 million people moved to New York over two decades, and after World War II, when all five boroughs saw expansion. Participants include an architecture columnist for The New York Sun, Francis Morrone, and the author of “New York, Year by Year: A Chronology of the Great Metropolis” (New York University), Jeffrey Kroessler. Reservations are required. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., St. Marks Church in-the-Bowery, Parish Hall, 131 E. 10th St. at Second Avenue, 212-614-9107, free.

MUSEUMS

RENAISSANCE MEN Before the Italian masters painted the ceilings of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, there were sketches and planning to be done. “Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi” gathers drawings by Ponteromo, Andrea del Sarto, and Bronzino. They were involved in creating the artworks that decorated the various apartments at the Florentine palace, which served as the home of the Medici dukes in the 16th century. Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned artist Georgio Vasari to create and preside over much of the artistic expansion and direction at the palace. The show comprises nearly 80 sketches — including four by Vasari. Through Sunday, April 20, Tuesday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday, 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave. at 36th Street, 212-685-0008, $12.

THE MARTINI HOUR The Museum of the City of New York presents “Manhattan Noon: Photographs by Gus Powell,” a collection of about 30 recent works inspired by poet Frank O’Hara’s 1964 volume, “Lunch Poems.” Mr. Powell photographed New Yorkers during his own lunch break. Through Saturday, March 15, Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd St., 212-534-1672, $9 general, $20 families, $5 students and seniors, free 10 a.m.–noon on Sunday.

MUSIC

COOL SOUNDS The annual Israel Non-Stop Arts Festival presents a performance by the band Coolooloosh, playing its blend of hip-hop, rap, drum-and-bass, and funk. The week-long festival is presented each year to showcase the best in contemporary Israeli cinema, theater, music, dance, and food. Coolooloosh, which gets its name from a Jerusalemite word for celebration or joy, combines English and Hebrew lyrics on its recordings. The culturally diverse Jerusalem-based band is currently working on an album in Philadelphia, and gives a sneak preview of new tracks during the concert.

Tonight, 8 p.m., Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th Street, 646-505-5708, $20 general, $15 members.

BROKEN VOICE Bronx-born singer-guitarist Ari Hest kicks off the 55UnderGround concert series at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, playing selections from his latest album, “The Break-In.” Mr. Hest’s sound is a blend of soft folk and acoustic pop-rock. The new concert series aims to showcase contemporary music by emerging artists of all genres. Friday, 8 p.m., Baruch College, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave. at 25th Street, 212-325-3101, $25. For complete information, go to 55underground.com.

INFLUENTIAL MOZART The St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble presents “Mozart’s Shadow,” a concert that celebrates the composer’s influence on the generation of Viennese composers that succeeded him. The program includes his Quintet in A major for clarinet and strings, and Beethoven’s “Eyeglass Duo” in E-flat major for viola and cello. Tonight, 7:30 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., between 36th and 37th streets, 212-594-6100, $40 general, $30 members.

READINGS

MEAN STREETS Veteran writer Jimmy Breslin reads from and discusses “The Good Rat: A True Story” (Ecco), his account of the trial of two New York City detectives convicted in 2006 for acting as mob hit men. An informant, Burton Kaplan, delivered grand jury testimony that was key in bringing an indictment against Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappo. While following the trial, Mr. Breslin found that he was drawn more to Mr. Kaplan’s story — and to hose of other mob turncoats or “canaries” who sing under oath — than to that of the embattled detectives. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Mr. Breslin covered the mafia underworld for years at newspapers including the Daily News and Newsday. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 76th Street, 212-868-4444, $15 general, $10 students, faculty, and seniors.

TALKS

BELLA FROM THE BRONX The 92nd Street Y presents “Bella Abzug: The Political Legacy of One Tough Broad from the Bronx.” Abzug, an activist and congresswoman, made a career of championing the causes of the powerless and disenfranchised — from Zionism to the environmental and economic equality movements of the 1990s. A panel of speakers discusses the contributions of Abzug, who died in 1998. Panelists include the authors of “Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, Rallied Against War and for the Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Suzanne Braun Levine and Mary Thom, and the Manhattan borough president, Scott Stringer, who campaigned as a youth for his cousin Bella. Tonight, 8:15 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-415-5500, $26.

THEATER

KISS THE GIRLS The National Theater of the United States of America presents Molière’s “Don Juan” at the Chocolate Factory. Written in the 1600s while Molière’s previous work, “Tartuffe,” was still banned from the stage, “Don Juan” tells the story of the legendary womanizer as he seduces the local women, luring them from convents and other men. Through Saturday, 8 p.m., the Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Ave., between Vernon Boulevard and 5th Street, Long Island City, Queens, 718-482-7069, $15.

PAINTINGS

LIGHT UP THE SKY Karen Arm’s fourth exhibit at P.P.O.W. Gallery, “New Works,” features paintings created with an original mark-making technique that replicates elements of the night sky, including star clusters and galactic spirals. Her artworks employ no more than two colors, highlighting the differences between the heavens and the stars that populate them. Selections from the show include “Untitled (sun #1)” (2008), a detail of which is above. Through Saturday, March 22, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., P.P.O.W. Gallery, 555 W. 25th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-647-1044, free.

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