Continued from previous message.

    NYC Events welcomes THREE new members this month, all from 
Connecticut! They are established clubs, but were only recently 
remembered to me. Astronomical Society of New Haven has starviewings 
in several places around New Haven, one occurring on August 20th. 
    Boothe Memorial Astronomical Society meets at the observatory in 
Boothe Memorial Park, Stratford, on August 6th and 20th. 
    Mattituck Astronomical Society, Waterbury, usually meets in 
Naugatuck Valley Community College. It's listed only in 'Places and 
sponsors' because there happens to be no meeting in August. 
    Maybe you folk in the Great Beyond took my suggestions to heart 
from last month? Astronomical Society of Long Island, after so many 
months under the stigmatic 'XX' entry, got its dates lined up for 
August in time for this NYC Events. Bravo!! 

Special events 
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    The main special event i AUgust is the Stellafane convention on 
the 13th to 15th. Technicly, Stellafane is only on Saturday the 14th, 
bu over the decades an informal session runs on Friday afternoon and 
some more informal activities continue thru Sunday morning. 
    Please note that Stellafane is NOT a 'star party' in the usual 
sense, but a rally for telescope makers. Oh, sure, the skies can be 
good and clear and dark. You can certainly observe on Friday and 
Saturday nights. 
    All in all, it is aimed at the instrument builder in you. While in 
Vermont for Stellafane, please take in some interesting sightseeing in 
the area. Pick up a sightseeing guide at your hotel. 
    It happens that Stellafane this year is near the peak night of the 
Perseid meteor shower. The actual maximum is predicted for 17h on 
August 12th, so the best early morning viewing is on the 12th or 13th. 
The shower is active for about a week, so the day is not all that 
critical; view when it's most convenient for you.
    Astronomy centers may hold public meteor watches; at issue time, 
only a couple were announced. Please ask at the contacts for any late 
announcements. One factor in the last several years is the increasing 
reluctance of parks and other open space managers to allow visitors. 
The meteors come in the predawn hours, when for sure there is no 
safety service on hand. This situation, resulting from World Trade 
Center, makes it tougher to casually arrange skywatching events. 

Skywatching 
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    July has been overall a miserable month in the City for 
stargazing. Mostly cloudy, hazy, and lots of rain. SO much rain fell 
in mid month that parts of the Delaware valley in new Jersey and 
Pennsylvania were badly damaged by flooding. 
    Despite the adverse weather, NYSkiers did watch the naked0eye 
sunspot #652 on the brief occasions when the clouds parted. This group 
was associated with major solar proton eruptions, but there was no 
hope of seeing aurorae in the NYSkies turf due to the clouds and 
increasingly large Moon. 
    I include in NYC Events sessions announced in advance, so you can 
plan for them. There are many informal gatherings of stargazers around 
the City. The principal one is at the north flank of Great Lawn in 
Manhattan's Central Park. Yes, you're welcome to them, but they are 
specially for those who can stroll over to see what's going on. Hence, 
if you live in the Upper West or East Sides do swing by the Lawn when 
dusk looks clear. Ask about these sessions in the NYSkies message 
area, so you can be notified of the next one in doubtful weather. 

New York 
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    The City continues to expand its economy, tho slowly and with some 
setbacks. Jobs increased by a couple myriad, yet the percent of 
employment also notched up. Interest rates for loans remained very 
low, but income levels stalled with puny cost-of-living adjustments. 
    Summer brought Governors Island into the mainstream of cityfolk's 
destinations. When I went on July 10th, the ferry was crowded with 
visitors. On the island there were some full one thousand people on 
the esplanade, taking in the fabulous harbor views and the free 
walking tours. I put a report about our visit in NYSkies on or about 
the 12th. 
    A new, and super cool, park is in the works on Manhattan. Small, 
with only 25,000 square meters, it's 2-1/2 kilometers long! The park 
will arise from the long abandoned and decayed cargo railline once 
working the piers and factories in the 10s thru the 30s. To separate 
rail and road traffic the line was built on an el in midblock between 
10th and 11th Avenues. 
    After two decades of trying to configure it for rapid transit, 
with no success, the City threw it out for public proposals to develop 
it. Now, the initial field of about 55 plans is winnowed to a final 
four. They are on display at the Center for Architecture in Greenwich 
Village. See the listing for August 2nd (it's closed on Sundays). 
    Some of us went to Ground Zero to see the laying of the 
cornerstone for Freedom Tower on July 4th. It was hard to see the 
procedings from the public areas around the campus; only the victim's 
survivors and politicians were allowed in the interior for the 
ceremonies. The car-sized slab of granite is a bit far away to inspect 
from the street, but it'll be visible close up in the new tower.

 Continued in next message.

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