It’s the apoc-eclipse!
With deluge, quake & moon chomping sun, N.Y.ers say what’s next?
Even in a city that’s seen it all, a sudden cluster of unusual events including a solar eclipse, an earthquake and near-biblical downpours is feeling like a bit much.
Dagmara Czechura, 30, told the Daily News that in all the craziness, she nearly forgot a solar eclipse will throw the city into darkness on Monday afternoon.
“Yes! I actually forgot about it,” the singer from Westchester County said with a laugh while hanging out in downtown Manhattan on Sunday night. “And all the crazy rain, too! I just turned 30 yesterday, so I feel like it is all a sign for me telling me I have to grow up.”
Czechura said she plans to observe the eclipse in Harlem and hopes she can get her husband to come along.
She tried to take a wide view of recent days’ strange events.
“But really, the eclipse is a beautiful thing. It’s nature. And rain is normal,” she said. “Maybe it’s the climate?”
While New York City is expecting an afternoon dimming, western and northern parts of the state will see the sun entirely eclipsed by the moon from around 3:15 p.m. Hopefully eclipse watchers everywhere experience the cosmic event while wearing glasses designed to stop their eyes from being harmed by the intense light that accompanies eclipses.
A good portion of the state started its weekend with a bit of a rumble, thanks to a 4.8-magnitude earthquake and the 30 aftershocks that followed. The U.S. Geological Survey said 42 million people felt Friday’s temblor, which emanated from central New Jersey roughly 40 miles southwest of Manhattan.
Somewhere between the ground shaking and the sun disappearing, New Yorkers got wet. Central Park saw 2.42 inches total on Tuesday and Wednesday alone, according to the National Weather Service of New York. The service also issued a coastal flooding advisory for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island through Sunday evening, though just minor flooding occurred.
Darryl Harrison from Brooklyn said the eclipse has him wanting to learn more about the spiritual connection between the sun, the moon and the Earth during such occurrences.
“I feel like 2024 is a monumental year,” the 46-year-old told The News. “There has been so much happening lately.”
He was considering spending Monday afternoon on a beach.
“I think our geography really molds who we are,” Harrison said in lower Manhattan.
Souvenir shop employee Sabbir Ahmed plans to be working on Canal St. when the eclipse happens.
“I’m excited for it. It’s amazing,” the 34-year-old from Queens said near his place of work on Sunday.
He was aware the last total solar eclipse happened in 1978, before he was born.
“I’m excited it’s happening in my life,” Ahmed said. “I’m going to take a selfie.”
Unsurprisingly, conspiracy-pushing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene offered a dubious hot take on New York City’s unusual confluence of events.
“God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent,” the bombastic Georgia Republican posted on X on Friday. “Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.”
While no one saw an earthquake coming, spring rains are nothing new and Monday’s eclipse was no surprise.