Last year your intrepid blogger, armed with a Panasonic Lumix, risked life and limb to capture the setting sun as it bisected New York City’s 42nd Street. The moment, I later learned, is known as “Manhattanhenge.” “As you may know” blogs Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Hayden Planetarium website, “Manhattanhenge takes place on two consecutive days, twice a year, when the setting Sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating radiant sunsets that burst across our brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every street. A rare and beautiful sight.”

Manhattanhenge is scheduled for July 11th/12th this year but as I watched the trajectory of the setting sun from our Upper East Side condo balcony I could see a solar event shaping up that might not be chronologically precise but the effects were stunning nonetheless. I hopped in the elevator, positioned myself on the street in defiance of taxis and SUVs, and caught this photo, which I post today in honor of the 4th July.

Richard Curtis