The Long Island City Sundial Project (Citibank Building)
Are you aware that the Citibank building in LIC serves as part of a giant sundial? Well, it does according to the people involved with the Long Island City Sundial Project. Here is their explanation:
The 201-meter Citibank tower looms over Queen’s Long Island City as the central shadow-casting spire (“gnomon”) of a gigantic sundial just across the 59th street bridge from New York City. This website explores this sundial as its shadow sweeps across the neighborhood—how it is defined, read, and experienced over the course of an earth lap around the sun.
This sundial’s type (the gnomon is vertical instead of at a customary angle) and fixed position mean that the length of the shadow at any given time changes from day to day. The “dial” is the irregular terrain of buildings and elevated roads and tracks in a neighborhood that slants down toward the nearby East River. So reading the sundial is more adventurous and involved than reading an ordinary, small, flat and smooth sundial.
Their site is fascinating. It hadn’t even occurred to me that the tall structure would serve as the spire of a giant timepiece. It makes perfect sense to me now. The LIC Sundial Project updates their blog from time to time, sometimes marking time with the CitiGnomon and sometimes sharing other interesting notes on astronomical measurement.
I hope you will now see the Citibank building in Long Island City as not just a high-rise office building anymore!
Photo credit: Meg Cotner
