Manhattan: Secret Sun Worshippers' Temple

We folks at Wired are all aflutter with the news that Geoff Manaugh, author of the almost always glorious Bldgblog, will be joining us sell-outs in the mainstream media dinosaur hard-copy world as a senior editor at neighbor publication and occasional softball opponent Dwell. Why? Well, posts like this one, naturally, in which Geoff seems to be riffing on a year-old column from the New York Times that I can't get access to.

As it happens, then, Manhattan's mathematically rational street grid is actually rotated 29º off the north-south axis – and this angle has interesting astronomical side-effects. In other words, because of the off-center orientation of Manhattan's street grid, you can only see the setting sun "down the middle of any crosstown street" on two specific days of the year: May 28 and July 13.

July 13 is, of course, next week – so watch out for it.

Manhattan is a solar instrument that only works twice.

So, because of historical decisions made about the logic and purpose of urban planning – and because of the declination of the Earth's poles –
the streets of Manhattan are aligned with the setting sun only two times a year.

Which means that New York is a kind of Hugh Ferrisian Stonehenge: casting shadows on itself till the days when it can truly begin to shine.

The MSM dinos are glad to welcome Geoff to the fold. And hey, New Yorkers: enjoy the sunset. (The picture, by the way, is from July 12, 2006, via NASA and famed astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson.) Future archaeologists are going to think that was the entire point of the town.