--- description: New Yorkers hoping to get a glimpse of what it looks like when the sun lines up with Manhattan’s street grid will get their chance title: How to Watch 'Manhattanhenge' in New York Over Memorial Day Weekend image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta02420e36432a4a3/6988957b428a9e44c0cd2d5e/manhattanhenge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [astronomy](/tag/astronomy/) ## astronomy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Manhattanhenge' Is Coming Back to New York for Memorial Day Weekend  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 29, 2016 3:37 PM CUT  People crowd onto 42nd Street as they take photos of the "Manhattanhenge" phenomenon in New York City on July 11, 2014. People crowd onto 42nd Street as they take photos of the "Manhattanhenge" phenomenon in New York City on July 11, 2014.Carlo Allegri—Reuters  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 29, 2016 3:37 PM CUT New Yorkers hoping to get a glimpse of what it looks like [when the sun lines up perfectly with Manhattan’s street grid](http://time.com/2976496/manhattanhenge/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") will get their chance starting Sunday night. Dubbed “[Manhattanhenge](http://www.amnh.org/our-research/hayden-planetarium/resources/manhattanhenge/ "undefined")” by famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the rare event happens only twice a year and simultaneously illuminates both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough’s grid, according to Tyson. This year, the two-day event takes place Sunday and Monday night at 8:12 p.m. E.T. The best place to be is as far east in Manhattan as possible, Tyson says, noting that spectators should arrive 30 minutes before the set time. Other good cross streets for viewing include 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th. “What will future civilizations think of Manhattan Island when they dig it up and find a carefully laid out network of streets and avenues?” Tyson, head of the [Hayden Planetarium](http://www.amnh.org/our-research/hayden-planetarium/about-us "undefined") in New York City, explains in a [post](http://www.amnh.org/our-research/hayden-planetarium/resources/manhattanhenge/ "undefined") featured on the American Museum of Natural History’s website. “These two days happen to correspond with Memorial Day and Baseball’s All Star break,” he writes. “Future anthropologists might conclude that, via the Sun, the people who called themselves Americans worshiped War and Baseball.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4351502/manhattanhenge-memorial-day-weekend-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4351502/manhattanhenge-memorial-day-weekend-2016/"},"headline":"'Manhattanhenge' Is Coming Back to New York for Memorial Day Weekend","datePublished":"2016-05-29T15:37:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:42:06.734Z","description":"It starts Sunday night","url":"https://time.com/4351502/manhattanhenge-memorial-day-weekend-2016/","keywords":["astronomy","Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta02420e36432a4a3/6988957b428a9e44c0cd2d5e/manhattanhenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta02420e36432a4a3/6988957b428a9e44c0cd2d5e/manhattanhenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People take photos of the \"Manhattanhenge\" phenomenon in New York","caption":"People crowd onto 42nd Street as they take photos of the \"Manhattanhenge\" phenomenon in the Manhattan borough of New York July 11, 2014. 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