Manhattanhenge
New YorkCity: A bird's-eye view from Union Square (1853).
I have long suspected that the street grid of Manhattan was laid out by immigrant druids, and this week we'll get to see the fruits of their labor.
On Sunday, May 28, and on July 13 the sun will line up with the street grid and shine straight down every cross-town street for the last 15 minutes of sunlight. The New York Times says:
If the Manhattan street grid ran north-south and east-west, the alignment days would be the spring and fall equinoxes, the two days when the sun rises due east and sets due west. But the Manhattan grid is angled 30 degrees east from geographic north, shifting the days.
While this may seem like a slight error, I have to wonder, what are they really hiding?
(via Gothamist)
Manhattanhenge: Enough
Enough already with the sunset, what about the SUNRISE? After all, Stonehenge is aligned with the midsummer sunrise. NYC streets are aligned with the rising sun on November 28 and January 13, also sacred dates -- Thanksgiving and the beginning of the NFL playoffs.
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