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The view from “Northern
Manhattan’s Observatory.” The Inwood Astronomy Project meets every
Saturday night at 8:30 at “the observatory,” provided clear skies. Call to
check first.
He calls himself the Prince of Darkness. And only partially in jest.
“In a very real way, I feel like I’m a steward of the darkness,” said Jason Kendall. “The Prince of Darkness!” exclaimed Kendall, growing more animated as he went on.
Kendall has chosen to steward the darkness in Inwood Hill Park, the last place in Manhattan with natural, undeveloped wilderness.
Enter the park at Payson Avenue and Beak Street at dusk. White chalk and orange flags line the pathway, but no lights. Walk until you reach Overlook Meadow, a clearing near the top of the park. There is a break in the trees, and your eyes are opened up to the heavens. Kendall calls it Northern Manhattan’s Observatory.
Kendall founded the Inwood Astronomy Project in 2009 during the International Year of Astronomy. Kendall’s first act of ushering in the darkness was getting the park’s lights turned off for the Inwood Star Fest, held April 2009.
The Inwood Astronomy Project now hosts stargazing nights most Saturdays. The project was originally planned to last for a year.
“The community aspect started to unfold as I started taking the telescope out,” said Kendall. Kendall said he hopes to make stargazing a community fixture.
Saturday night stargazing has evolved into something of a family activity, a romantic destination, and a community event, all rolled into one. Kendall said about 150 people came out to the last stargazing. Half were kids. Many people bring dates to a stargazing. Some have come back over and over again since it began.
Since the astronomy project started, Kendall has been looking into other ways to dim the park.
His latest idea? Light fixtures that direct the light downward.
Much of the park is already dark at night. Much of the lighting installed in the forested areas of the park was shut off in the 80s or 90s in an effort to keep people from using the park for illegal activities. In many of these areas, nocturnal animals like skunks and snakes have returned to the forest, said Kendall.
However, the lights that line the park pathways are not ideal for stargazing. The light flows out in all directions, including up. In addition, the stadium lighting used at Columbia’s Baker Field has a high amount of “light spill” onto the park and nearby apartments.
The lighting Kendall would like to see was used at the new Yankee Stadium and the Pentagon.
“People can disappear in the [current] lighting cause of the glare,” said Kendall. “It’s maximally unsafe.”
Indeed, sitting on a park bench gazing out towards the nature center at night, a man steps out from under a light and seems to appear out of nowhere. Kendall said the glare makes it easy for someone to hide in the light. With downward directed lighting, people can see for a distance.
“The downward direction would be extraordinarily attractive,” said Kendall. “You could see all the way across the lake,” he said, motioning towards the inlet off the Spuyten Duyvil.
The lighting Kendall suggests would use less energy. According to Kendall, the energy required to keep a normal street light in New York City lit costs about $75 a year. A new lighting system would cost much less once it was installed. But it would require an initially large investment to change the lighting system.
If it gets dark enough, it may be possible to see the Milky Way galaxy. According to Kendall, the conditions just after Hurricane Earl made it possible to see the beginning hints of the Milky Way from “the observatory.” Kendall said that people recall having seen it from New York City in the 1950s but that it disappeared with the building boom of the 50s and 60s. Now there are few places throughout the country where the Milky Way can be seen.
“What I’m doing is trying to build the culture of people who go outside,” said Kendall. “and value going outside to see the sky.”
For more information and a calendar of events, visit www.Inwoodastronomy.org. Call 917-529-2359 to find out if a stargazing event is taking place.
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