St. Albans Under the Stars led an ad hoc community outreach yesterday at Archie Spigner Park in Jamaica, Queens. The group was accompanied by members of the Amateur Astronomers Association as they spoke to locals to prepare them for the partial solar eclipse that is expected to start over New York on April 8 at 3:16 EDT. SUTS and the AAA handed out educational materials and solar glasses that would prevent permanent eye damage that can result from looking directly at a solar eclipse.
New York State Senator Leroy Comrie of District 14 briefly attended, as he frequently does to show support to SUTS for promoting the sciences to his constituents.
SUTS will not have a presence in Archie Spigner Park on April 8 during the eclipse, but hopefully the locals will be able to enjoy it safely because of the prior outreach.