Good morning on this grade-A Thursday. With Hillary Clinton standing by his side yesterday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law a first-of-its-kind program providing free tuition to students at public colleges and universities in New York State. But it’s more complicated than it sounds, and it comes with caveats. We checked in with David W. Chen, a New York Times investigative reporter who has been covering the free-tuition plan, called the Excelsior Scholarship, to understand how it will work. How free is free tuition? It’s actually not. Excelsior would fill in the gaps of costs not covered by financial aid, Mr. Chen said. It would need to be added on top of other scholarships and grants to make college free. For students who are not receiving any other financial aid — those who are making too much money to qualify for need-based support — Excelsior would help even more. Read More, and See Today’s Weather and Commute »

Dear Diary: I worked at 40th Street and Third Avenue in the late 1970s. While heading to the subway one night, I noticed a group of people tiptoeing around and staring down at the sidewalk. It didn’t take long for me to realize they were looking for a contact lens. After watching for about two minutes, I suggested they all move to the side while I stepped into the street, bent down and looked across the surface of the sidewalk. Sure enough, there it was, like a tiny globe reflecting the light coming from the storefront behind it. A young woman thanked me and carefully retrieved the lens. I felt like a hero. Over the years, I have enjoyed telling my children and grandchildren about this experience, suggesting that sometimes it helps to look at a problem from a different angle.Read all recent entries and our submissions guidelines. Reach us via email diary@nytimes.com or follow@NYTMetro on Twitter using the hashtag #MetDiary. Read More, and See Today’s Weather and Commute »