The final Manhattanhenge of the year is set to occur this weekend, July 11 through July 12, offering a unique visual phenomenon where the setting sun aligns perfectly with Manhattan's east-west street grid. The optimal viewing time is anticipated around 8:20 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
While the event naturally provides scenic opportunities, certain east-west streets offer particularly striking perspectives. Prime viewing locations include 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street, and 57th Street. Spectators are advised to find spots as far east as possible on these thoroughfares, ensuring a clear view of New Jersey across the Hudson River.
Beyond the street grid, the Tudor City Overpass and Hunter’s Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens, are also recommended viewing sites.
For those seeking a more organized experience, the American Museum of Natural History is hosting a free block party on Saturday. Located on W. 79th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, the event runs from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will feature World Cup viewing indoors, along with street-level activities such as chess matches and jump rope.
The museum will also host a lecture at 7 p.m. on Saturday discussing Manhattanhenge. The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra is scheduled to perform as the sun sets.
Manhattanhenge, a term coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, occurs twice a year. The phenomenon is named in reference to England's Stonehenge monument. Tyson's calculations revealed that Manhattan's street grid is rotated approximately 30 degrees east of geographic north, causing the sun to align with the grid on specific dates in late May and mid-July, rather than on the spring and autumn equinoxes when the sun rises and sets due east and west.
Jackie Fahorty of the American Museum of Natural History's Astrophysics Department has further refined the understanding of these alignments by calculating the precise altitude and azimuth of the sun relative to the Manhattan grid. Calculations often focus on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, a location that allows for a "full Manhattanhenge" alignment, where the bottom edge of the sun appears to touch the grid just before disappearing below the horizon.
There are two types of alignments observed: a "full sun" and a "half sun" alignment. In late May, May 28 typically features the half sun alignment, followed by May 29 for the full sun. The mid-July event reverses this, with July 11 offering the full sun alignment and July 12 the half sun alignment.
Despite the beauty of the sunset alignments, Tyson has noted that many New Yorkers rarely look up, suggesting a missed connection with the cosmos and the natural world. "To the extent that we do not look up, we are losing something fundamental to what it is to be alive on planet Earth and to have the mental capability to contemplate the cosmos itself," Tyson stated.