Brooklyn was one big eclipse party on Monday

Path of almost-totality "awesome!"

April 8, 2024 Mary Frost

Friends enjoyed the great weather and the party atmosphere in Brooklyn during Monday’s eclipse. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

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From Brooklyn Heights to Bay Ridge, thousands in Brooklyn put on special glasses Monday afternoon and looked up, to view a rare, almost-total solar eclipse.

While New York City was not in the eclipse’s path of totality, where 100% of the sun is blocked by the moon, 90% was good enough for residents who wanted to enjoy the event without the hassle of traveling upstate.

Councilmember Alexa Avilés, Lisa Alpert from Green-Wood, Councilmember Shahana Hanif, Councilmember Crystal Hudson and President of Green-Wood cemetery Rich Moylan. Photo courtesy of Jeff Simmons

Viewing parties with crafts, music and free eclipse glasses were held across the borough, sponsored by organizations including Brooklyn Public Library, the NYC Parks Department, NYU Tandon, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery, which partnered with Pioneer Works and the Amateur Astronomers Association.

DUMBO’S Adams Street library set up a table at the Pearl Street Triangle to hand out viewing glasses and eclipse craft kits. All 350 pairs of glasses ran out in 15 minutes — but the craft kits were still in demand, and people posed inside a giant “Eclipse 2024” sun mask, with a hole cut out for their faces.

Members of the crowd at MetroTech Commons in Downtown Brooklyn cast long shadows at the peak of the eclipse’s near-totality. Photo by Beth Eisgrau-Heller

“I love this!” Doreen Gallo, president of the Cadman Park Conservancy said as she donned the mask.

Colin, three years old, tries on eclipse glasses during Monday’s eclipse party in Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza Park. Colin is accompanied by Downtown Brooklyn resident Hao Xing and Andrew Villanueva (not shown). Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Eclipse party in Cadman Park

Hundreds gathered in Cadman Plaza Park in Downtown Brooklyn for a giant eclipse party. Families mingled with tourists and courthouse personnel who stepped outside to view the eclipse. Spirits were high.

“It’s awesome!” said Brooklyn Heights mom Erica Neiges, watching the eclipse with dad Aaron Martinez and son Olin Martinez, who attends P.S. 8, the Emily Warren Roebling School.

Staff from BPL’s Adams Street Library have fun with their eclipse demonstration materials on Monday. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“I did the pinhole thing at my desk at work in 2017. This is better. I love the community, with everyone gathered in the park,” Neiges said.

Downtown Brooklyn residents Chad Ossman and Andrea Mihalko were watching the eclipse through a homemade pinhole camera. Ossman learned how to construct the camera from his father. “My dad was a retired science teacher,” he explained.

Mihalko amazed a crowd of eclipse viewers by extending a colander into the sunlight, projecting multiple miniature eclipses onto the ground. People gathered to point and watch.

From left: Lala (grandmother), Mimi and Dan Lee. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Courthouse employees, wearing their workaday outfits, mingled with the leisurely set.

“It’s like a snow day,” one laughed.

As the magic moment of 3:25 p.m. approached, temperatures dropped and it became shady.

Three students gaze at the eclipse at MetroTech Commons in Downtown Brooklyn. From left to right: Alejandro Simon, David Ortiz, and Daniel Enriquez students at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, class of 2027. Photo by Beth Eisgrau-Heller

“This is pretty amazing,” a court worker said.

Brooklyn Heights resident Bill Closs and his daughter Melanie made the trek to upstate New York, where they watched the eclipse along the path of totality.

Downtown Brooklyn residents Chad Ossman and Andrea Mihalko watched the eclipse through a homemade pinhole camera. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

They were “plunged into darkness,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle. “Even the birds knew something was happening.”

Closs said they had a 360 degree view from a country house on a hill. “We could see brightness over the horizon because we were near the edge of the area of totality.” He added, “It got totally dark over a 3-minute span and then brightened up just as fast.”

From left: Erica Neiges with Aaron Martinez and son Olin Martinez, who attends P.S. 8. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“We were hoping to see above the corona, but it was too cloudy,” his daughter Melanie said. “We started to get a bit disappointed. We learned some lessons in letting go of expectations and being present with what is. But then, it started to get dark, and the eerie darkness had its own completely unexpected magic!”

Monday’s event was the last total solar eclipse visible from the continental U.S. until 2044. New Yorkers, however, won’t have the opportunity to experience this astral event again until 2079.