11 Photos
New Year's Day dawn brought a different kind of light show, and scores of visitors to the Montauk Point Lighthouse. KATHERINE C.H.E.
For some, watching the first sunrise of the new year at the Montauk Point Lighthouse is tradition; for others, it was a first time experience. KATHERINE C.H.E.
One group of visitors watched the sunrise from the shore below the Montauk Point Lighthouse on New Year's Day. KATHERINE C.H.E.
Yvonne Zheng ( center, in white hat) drove out from Flushing with friends to greet the first sunrise of the New Year at the Montauk Point Lighthouse. KATHERINE C.H.E.
A hush fell over the crowd as the golden sun breached the horizon on New Year's Day at the Montauk Point Lighthouse. KATHERINE C.H.E.
Arriving with the event's mascot, organizers promoted the Korean American Sports Festival, slated for this summer in Nassau County. KATHERINE C.H.E.
The first sunrise of 2023 at the Montauk Point Lighthouse. KATHERINE C.H.E.
This observer snagged a coveted spot at the fence for the first sunrise of the new year at the Montauk Point Lighthouse. KITTY MERRILL
A festive sentinel greeted visitors to the Montauk Point Lighthouse on New Year's Day. KATHERINE C.H.E.
Jenny Guo and Jurison Yan held up signs for 2023 to greet the sun at the Montauk Point Lighthouse on New Year's Day morning. KATHERINE C.H.E.
Sean McLean and his sons Euan and Lachlan, with Bodhi came from Southampton to the Montauk Point Lighthouse to see the sun rise over the Atlantic on the first day of 2023. KATHERINE C.H.E.
The weather apps all set “first light” for the first day of the new year at 6:43 a.m. But by 6:15 a.m., the dawn glow over the Atlantic warmed the eastern horizon on New Year’s morning, and by 6:30 a.m., the crowd of visitors had already filled the upper parking lot at the lighthouse at Montauk Point State Park.
Clad in parkas or wrapped in blankets, some were there for the view, while others were there for the luck.
Korean tradition calls for traveling to the easternmost point near your home to watch the first sunrise of the year and wish for good fortune. Jenny Guo and Jurison Yan drove out from Flushing.
“The first sunrise means prosperity,” she explained. “The sun shining on New York … We need it.” The pair posed for photos, their hands making signs for 2023 — Guo held up two and three fingers, while Yan held up two fingers, curling his other hand into the shape of a zero.
Yvonne Zheng, a student at John Jay College, came out with a group of friends. Wrapped in a blanket, she reported they drove for two hours through the night, then fell asleep in their car. The cheerful group laughed, noting they almost slept through the sunrise.
University of Michigan student Tim and his companion, Rachel, from Singapore are visiting New York for their winter break. The pair, who didn’t provide their last names, drove out to Montauk to see the first sunrise of 2023, but just learned of the tradition standing on the bluffs. They planned to head back to the city for brunch.
Southampton resident Sean McLean bought his sons, Euan and Lachlan, and their dog, Bodhi, to witness the dawn awakening. Clad in bright flannel Christmas pajamas, the boys said they love to watch sunrises and “see all the people.”
As the golden orange strip of light on the horizon deepened, scores of visitors crowded the fence at the edge of the bluff beneath the lighthouse. Some seemed to make their wish, snap a photo, then leave, while others filmed the slow, steady, inexorable spectacle, their cellphones perched atop selfie sticks.
A hush fell over the crowd when the star broke the horizon at 7:10 a.m. The silence of the crowd was evocative. “Moving,” said one visitor.
Viewing the first sunrise of a new year — for luck, for prosperity, to make a wish — is a tradition for several cultures.
In Japan, people used to believe that Toshigami, a god bringing good luck, appeared with the first sunrise of the year. It is, after all, known as “the Land of the Rising Sun.” The word Japan literally means “where the sun rises.” Shinto worshipers held the country was created by the sun goddess Amaterasu .
In the arctic circles, the Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, Chukchi and Inupiat all welcome the first sunrise with ancient ceremonies. The Inuit extinguish, then relight soapstone lamps fueled by seal fat to herald the sun’s arrival after four months of polar darkness. It symbolizes new life.
According to the website livescience.com, the first sunrise on the planet occurs along the international dateline, which marks the beginning of one day and the end of another on Earth. It runs through the middle of the Pacific ocean, mostly along the 180th-longitude line. The Kiribati islands, which straddle the equator, have the earliest time zone on the planet. “Kiribati’s easternmost uninhabited island, Millennium Island, also known as Caroline Island, is often the first place on Earth to welcome the sun,” according to livescience.
At the lighthouse, Hannah Hong, an organizer of this summer’s Korean American Sports Festival, arrived with the event’s mascot — a young woman in a tiger suit.
“We got here at 4 o’clock,” the Manhattan resident said.
For Hong, the sunrise, which promised to draw Korean and Asian visitors to the East End’s historic light, provided an opportunity to promote her event. Viewing the sunrise, she said, “It’s good luck. People wish for more money. Everybody wants something.”
“Every year, the number of people who come from near and far to watch the first sunrise from Montauk Point continues to grow,” Jennifer Casper Fowkes, Montauk Chamber of Commerce executive director, enthused. “We here at the Montauk Chamber and Visitors Center wish everyone an amazing 2023 and hope everyone will continue to enjoy all that Montauk has to offer throughout the year.”
