NYCs last Manhattanhenge event of the year happens this weekend where to get the best sunset views
Get out your phones and head down to street level, because this year’s final Manhattanhenge — the coincidental phenomenon where the sun aligns perfectly with Manhattan’s rectangular street grid — is taking place this weekend, Sat.July 11 through Sun.
July 12.And while the point of the naturally occuring event is that you don’t have to work very hard to find the best viewing locations, not all east-west blocks are created equal.
Some clouds may interrupt tonight’s show, according to Accuweather, but there’s no rain in the forecast around sunset (8:28pm) on either day.Here’s everything you know are a few tips on the best viewing locations and happenings around town this weekend.
First up, on Saturday, American Museum of Natural History is hosting a free block party from 3-10 p.m.on W.
79th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus — there will be World Cup viewing options indoors, and chess matches, double dutch-jump rope and board games in the street.The prime viewing time is expected to be around 8:20 p.m.— the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra will play as the sun sets.
The museum will also host a lecture at 7 p.m.about Manhattanhenge; you can get tickets for that event here.Manhattanhenge only happens twice a year — in 2026, the first occurrence was May 28-29.
The term was coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, referencing England’s Stonehenge monument.Tyson went outside and did a measurement of the grid of Manhattan and calculated the chosen azimuth — which is a point along the horizon — and altitude where the sun would line up directly with the horizon.If you take your finger and point it down the middle of 42nd Street, a line would extend all the way out 93 million miles to the exact position that the sun is in. While we learn that the Sun always rises in the east and sets in the west, this actually only happens twice per year on the equinoxes: the first day of spring and of autumn.
On every other day, the Sun rises and set...