NYC’s Sun-sational Show Opens Tonight for Limited Run!

If your spring-summer vacation plans bring you to New York City any time between today and July 13, you can add one more tourist experience to your list of Big Apple must-sees.

And it’s totally free!

The breathtaking natural phenomenon known as “Manhattanhenge” begins tonight at 8:13 pm. This is when the setting sun aligns perfectly with the city’s east-west numbered streets, filling those narrow and otherwise shadowy high-rise valleys with a dreamlike golden glow.

And the best sunset viewing spots, according to the American Museum of Natural History, are these main east-west thoroughfares:

14th Street

23rd Street

34th Street

42nd Street

57th Street

Find a spot as far east as possible that still has views of New Jersey across the Hudson River.

The sunset can also be viewed from these locations:

Tudor City Overpass, Manhattan

Hunter's Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens

The position of the sun constantly changes slightly each day during the six-weeks of Manhattanhenge, and the two best days of the run are tomorrow, Tuesday, May 30 at 8:12 pm and Tuesday, July 11 at 8:20 pm. That is when the entire glowing orb of the sun can be seen sinking perfectly into the Hudson River at the west ends of the city’s east-west streets.

LiveScience.com’s Mindy Weisberger explains it all in this video from 2022:

Photo: Courtesy MysteryPlanet.com.ar/Flickr

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