By Carol Tannenhauser
The sunlight and shadows disappeared from my terrace at around 1:50 p.m.
Oh no, I thought, It’s getting cloudy, which means we won’t be able to see the eclipse. After all the hype, I’m in full-eclipse mode.
I am not alone. A crowd covers the Arthur Ross Terrace adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History. There is silence except for the occasional bark of a dog.
At 2:40 p.m. I saw it! The sun broke through and it was a crescent created by a black sphere moving into it from the right: the moon. Slowly the incursion got larger and the crescent of sun grew slimmer. Until, at 3:25 p.m., it virtually disappeared. The crowd at the museum let out a rousing cheer. The sky didn’t darken noticeably, though the temperature may have dropped a bit.
What did you experience? Was the total eclipse of 2024 a disappointment, a bust? Or did you enjoy it, including the idea that, together, New York was looking up?
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It was interesting but not that exciting. Nice excuse to gather with friends and neighbors. But I would not spend a lot of time and money to go see it. I thought last week’s earthquake was more exciting.
Big crowd on Pier one and along riverfront. Lots of fun.. Link to photo: https://1drv.ms/i/s!AsCasUI1-6oWhpJTopeKSkt7hifHYQ?e=0f7I1V
Hey, I’m all the way at the back to the left. LOL It was a great NYC “happening”.
It was fine! Got into the museum but the terrace was too crowded already for additional people, so went into the adjacent park and enjoyed the eclipse with everyone. Kudos to the museum for handing out free glasses to everyone.
Lovely crowd on the Great Lawn. It was one of those magical NY moments where life seemed to stand still for a few minutes. Everyone applauded at 3:25, the air was chilly, and even the Central Park lamps went on it had darkened that much. So glad to have witnessed it.
On the Common Deck of my building we looked just like the crowd on the bench in your photo. All looking up — & sharing the best glasses. It was fun — & for a few minutes the sun felt warm.
“ Was the total eclipse of 2024 a disappointment, a bust?” NYC wasn’t in the path of totality – so sadly it wasn’t a total eclipse for New Yorkers just a partial eclipse. But even a partial eclipse is exciting. If you have the chance to see a full eclipse sometime please do it! A total eclipse experience is totally different from a partial eclipse! If you thought the partial eclipse was cool – a total eclipse is infinitely more amazing!
As a former UWSer now living in Vermont, I was lucky enough to be in the path of totality and I have to second this. What happens the moments before and during totality is something that just can’t be described and shouldn’t be missed if the opportunity presents itself to experience a total solar eclipse firsthand. They are separate experiences.
Out on Pier i, (70th St) lots of people. Cool to watch the lamps along Riverside Park’s paths wink on as the sky got darker. A nice community moment that was beyond our control and had no politics connected with it. Enjoyed that just as much as the actual vision of the moon moving over the sun. Also amusing that two big cruise ships were in port in the West 50s, with lots of people standing on all the decks.
I had low expectations given the month-long hype, but it turned out to be amazing (astronomically)… and one of those cool moments where New Yorkers were united in their enthusiasm. You could easily walk up to anyone and share thoughts.
I loved the eclipse! I coming back to NY from Virginia and the eclipse started just as we were landing. As I walked through the airport I saw people at the airport windows looking at the eclipse through eclipse glasses. They handed the glasses to my husband and me and said, “Take a look and pass them on.” We looked through the glasses and the moon’s shadow was covering about 3/4 of the sun. It was beautiful, startling, and amazing. We passed the glasses on to others. In the cab ride home we saw hordes of people filling the streets looking up at the sky through those glasses. It was a great experience that I will remember all my life.
Nice crowd on the roof of my building. I had extra glasses (had to buy a ten-pack from B&H to get any) so I passed them out to neighbors. Someone played “Total Eclipse of the Heart” around 3:20 pm. As someone else said, pleasant to have normal, friendly vibes in a crowd these days.
Enjoyed immensely…a little gummie the right music the right glasses and technology for once not an intrusion allowed sharing with loved ones far away. Took many photos and a video of the after effects as there were waves on the Hudson !!
It was very cool! Awesome to see so many people out on the streets. Especially love that photo of the 5 sitting on the bench in riverside wearing eclipse glasses.
I was in Central Park. It was lovely to see people interacting over this event of nature. Nothing like what they may have experienced where the occlusion was total. I thought the amount of light was not diminished that much, though the temperature did drop.
The main thing for me was affirming the human spirit.
NYC eclipse was not in totality. 2 Stars. Will not recommend.
Are we so blasé that this incredible act of the universe was not appreciated? Oh wait, this is NYC, and if it’s not a rat with his take-out food, we are unimpressed. LOL I was down on the 70th st. pier with a boat load of people. What a blast. Speaking of “blasts”, did you notice that when we got to the maximum 90ish% coverage, how cold it got? They weren’t kidding when they say “the warmth of the Sun.” Oh well, I had a great time.
I was on the pier too and really enjoyed the communal vibe. And yes! It really got cold!!
We were in Riverside Park by the Hudson in the 80s. Many thanks to my husband for getting eclipse glasses at the last minute because there was no other way to see the moon obscuring so much of the sun. But 90% is very far from totality.
That said, it was a beautiful day, the flowering trees were at their peak, and lots of people were out and everyone was in a great mood.
Sounds lovely! 90% actually is substantial, so far from the 108-120-mile swath of totality. We had rented a car and gone to Rochester, the only place in the entire path that turned out thickly, completely overcast ! The clouds became blackish briefly and the air temp dropped maybe 10F. People cheered anyway, but I’m VERY disappointed.; prob won’t make it to the next one in the U.S. You didn’t do badly.
Disappointment; didn’t even get dark.
Total disapoinment. It was a NON-event! It didn’t even get dark! But then, I was not expecting much of a show, given the path shown on various maps.
I had not bothered to get glasses, but the hype over the weekend got to me, and I went to University Hardwares on Broadway between 113th and 114th where Bob, the wonderful owner, had tons of them to sell. When I arrived at 10:30, the line was outside the store. A few hours later, it had turned the corner on 113th, and was about a 1/3 of the way to Amsterdam. It was a very moving experience.
Took the day off work and went to Yankees Stadium with a couple friends (originally, there was a day game scheduled for eclipse time, which I thought would have been quite cool, but they reschedule for 6pm at the last minute)… still, the stadium opened at 3 and we went to the upper deck, and were rewarded with some stunning views with our glasses, and an eclipse/ space themed soundtrack on the stadium PA. It was festive but not too crowded. We hung around and the Yankees won 7-0 and we got on the Jumbotron! One of my friends is here from Turkey, she got a bucket list American stadium hot dog, and it was a great day.
Terrific event shared with friends at the sound end of the Riverside Park promenade (84th St). True, not that dark and a few clouds, but the mostly crisp images of the blazing sun with a black disk forcing it to become a smaller and smaller crescent (points facing right, that is, west) and then the sun reappearing as a thick bowl at the bottom of the moon (points facing upward) were beautiful and exciting. Loved it!
MINIMAL EXPERIENCE: DID IT EVEN DARKEN A BIT?
As the eclipse began I was walking west along W. 72nd St., on the north (sunny) side but did not have the correct viewing glasses. About every 30 or so feet I stopped . Folks were eager to hand me their glasses so I could see what was happening. We were all smiling and so happy to be sharing the moment (and glasses.) It was a veritable cross section of people–baby sitters, hard hats, tough looking guys–all, when noticing me, handing me a share of their glasses. A moving neighborhood togetherness!
Napped through it! 😜😴
Way overhyped by people who were giddy that there were many other giddy people in the same place for a meh event.
I didn’t notice any difference outside through my windows during the eclipse time. I was expecting night-time darkness, but all I saw was light. As far as I am concerned, there was no eclipse. A lot of publicity but nothing noticeable on West 91 Street near CPW.
Very pleased the world did not end.
Nice bonding experience and community builder. Seeing the moon covering the sun (mostly) through the glasses was neat – I would have liked to have experienced the totality eclipse experience. I’m definitely motivated to try to do that at some point! Sounds like a great excuse for a trip!
In 2 years the path of totality goes through Spain, Portugal and Iceland!
The surprise for, sitting in Central Park on 85th Street, was that the shadows of trees and people disappeared for a few moments.
I was scheduled to be at Mount Sinai Hospital on Monday. I thought I had plenty of time to see the eclipse. I kept waiting and waiting in the waiting room. They called me in after the eclipse started :-(. I was finally released at almost the halfway point. I went as fast as I could into Central Park, fumbled with my safety glasses and did see some of the eclispe. I tried to take a picture but as I was lining up my protective glasses over my camera lens I got hit by a baseball (not everyone was watching the sun). I was okay but the ball knocked the camera out of my hands.
It was great from my terrace. the annoying clouds moving weren’t really a hindrance….it was great, and to enjoy with friends.
My expectations were low, based on past partial eclipse experience. So, I joined 50 or so people outside my apartment building in a suburb of Phila and borrowed glasses. The eclipse was certainly amazingly beautiful even at the 20% I glimpsed. But then I left for my daily walk & still cry now at the beauty of the subsequent ‘dawn of creation’ walk experience. How to describe the gentle magnetism of that walk in the almost chilled, breezy, dusky afternoon ? It truly felt like I was at the dawn of the first day of creation..And brings the tears back.
It’s the 2nd solar eclipse I’ve experienced here in Manhattan. I’m disappointed again there was heavy cloud cover. Also, unless you are in the Totality Zone the event is going to be a dud
You folks didn’t do too badly. 89- 90% actually is substantial, so far from the 108-120-mile swath of totality. We had rented a car, brought some astronomy gear, and gone to Rochester — the only place in the entire path that turned out thickly, completely overcast! The clouds became blackish briefly and the air temp dropped maybe 10F. People cheered anyway, but I’m VERY disappointed.; prob won’t “last” until the next one in the U.S.