April 9, 2024
For a few minutes on April 8, St. John’s University stopped as skywatchers gathered on the Great Lawn of the Queens, NY, campus to glimpse a celestial spectacle not seen in the New York City area in nearly a century.
Behind the safety of University-provided protective glasses, students, faculty, administrators, and staff took a few minutes to view the total solar eclipse that began in mid-afternoon and continued through about 4 p.m. As the moon passed between the sun and Earth, DJ-provided music blared such eclipse favorites as Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (1983) and “The Final Countdown” from the band Europe (1986).
The last total eclipse in the area occurred in 1925. A partial solar eclipse impacted New York City in 2017. Monday’s eclipse resulted in nearly 90 percent coverage of the sun by the moon.
“I actually have class in about a half-hour, but I wanted to come out to experience this,” said senior Giselle Abril, an International Management major at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, as she adjusted eclipse glasses provided by the Office of Campus Activities. “That’s the cool part about St. John’s: There are gatherings like this all the time.”
“I love astronomy, and something like this doesn’t happen often,” added Anastasia Lamberinos, a first-year College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences student. “You also don’t see this many people gathering together except for maybe the Christmas tree lighting.”
Students and others began to gather in numbers across the Great Lawn at about 2 p.m. Near the peak time, 90 minutes later, hundreds of spectators could be seen looking skyward. Spectators who were without glasses easily found a pair to borrow momentarily.
“It is not often that everyone on the campus is in a shared space like this. We are all so busy with our lives,” said Miriam Prever, a Ph.D. student in Multi-Sector Communication at The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies. “At this moment, we are not looking at our phones. Instead, we are looking up at the same thing together.”
At the time of the eclipse, Jewish Students Association (JSA) members were celebrating their annual Jewish Pride Festival, so eclipse watchers could take advantage of party inflatables provided by the University. Julia Abayev, Treasurer and next’s year JSA President, said the group did not mind sharing the spotlight.
“We usually have 200 to 300 people come out to show our pride in being Jewish,” Julia said. “This year, we obviously have a larger crowd.”
Students enjoyed the lovely spring weather and a chance to share a rare astronomical event with each other. Experts say the next total solar eclipse in New York City won’t happen until 2079.
“I certainly didn’t expect all these people here,” said Sofia Benenati, a senior at Tobin. “We are having so much fun just meeting up with friends.”
Some students even saw a heavenly message in the celestial display.
“We just celebrated Easter,” said Jiana Estevez, who is pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing Analytics at Tobin. “An earthquake just happened. As I get more into my faith, it does make you think about the spiritual reasons behind things.”