Queens museum with cosmic history to host eclipse watch party

The New York Hall of Science will host a solar eclipse watch party on Monday, April 8, 2024. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye

By Jacob Kaye

There are few places more aptly suited for one to witness the celestial wonder of next week’s solar eclipse in New York City than at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Space is in the DNA of the 60-year-old Queens cultural institution, which was opened alongside the 1964 World’s Fair.

In front of the science museum’s front doors are two rockets pointed toward the sky. There’s also the museum’s great hall, which was designed to mimic what it feels like to be in deep space. Multiple astronauts, including Ellen Baker, the daughter of former Borough President Claire Schulman, sit on the museum’s board. There’s also the Mars rover that kids – and adults – can operate near the museum's lobby.

In honor of that history, NYSCI is hosting a solar eclipse watch party on Monday, April 8, as the first total solar eclipse in the U.S. since 2017 and the last until 2044 takes place.

The New York Hall of Science has a storied cosmic history. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye

But Minerva Tantoco, the museum’s interim president and CEO, said the watch party isn’t just a celebration of the past, it’s a celebration of the future.

“I feel like we’re entering a second space age in a way,” Tantoco said. “If you think about the 60s, people are looking up and they're really interested in things like the solar eclipse, because that's how you start to think about, ‘Hey, what's up there?’”

“It's this way to introduce a simple thing like the moon and the sun and their positions and how that impacts the shadows,” she added. “It's the Earth's science experiment.”

NYSCI’s watch party will begin at 1 and run until 5 p.m.

Attendees, who will gain access to the event by purchasing tickets at $10 each, will be given eclipse glasses needed to view the celestial event safely and be given the option to participate in a number of eclipse inspired crafts and activities. The viewing will take place outdoors on the museum’s grassy knoll.

Though New York City won’t be in the path of the total solar eclipse, it will see nearly 90 percent of the sun covered by the moon when the eclipse peaks in the five boroughs around 3:25 p.m. on Monday.