North-facing apartment? Sunlight by direction in NYC
updated 2026-11-11
In New York a south-facing apartment gets the most direct sun all year, a north-facing one almost none from fall to spring, and east and west split the day.#
Last updated: 2026-11-11. General information, not professional advice.#
The short answer#
Hours of direct sun on an unobstructed window facing each true compass direction at New York's latitude (40.7° N). Buildings across the street usually cut these sharply; see the shadow table below.#
| North-facing | East-facing | South-facing | West-facing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct sun, December 21# | None | About 4.5 hours, sunrise to noon | About 9 hours, all day | About 4.5 hours, noon to sunset |
| Direct sun, March and September equinoxes# | Essentially none | About 6 hours, morning | About 12 hours, all day | About 6 hours, afternoon |
| Direct sun, June 21# | About 7 hours at low angles, early morning and early evening | About 7.5 hours, morning | About 8 hours, midday, from high overhead | About 7.5 hours, afternoon into evening |
| What it feels like# | Even, soft light; no glare; dimmest in winter | Bright mornings, cooler afternoons | Brightest year round; winter sun reaches deep into rooms | Dim mornings; strong, hot late-day sun in summer |
| Heat# | Coolest | Warms early, cools by afternoon | Warm in winter; summer sun is high and easier to shade | Hottest in summer afternoons |
| Plants# | Low-light plants only | Most houseplants | Sun-loving plants, herbs | Sun-tolerant plants that can take heat |
Where is the sun over New York?#
The sun's height at midday sets how deep light reaches into a room.#
| Date | Sun height at solar noon | Solar noon (clock time) | Sunrise direction | Sunset direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 21# | 72.7° | 12:58 pm EDT | 57.5° (northeast) | 302.5° (northwest) |
| March 20 / September 22# | 49.3° | about 1:04 / 12:49 pm EDT | about 89° (due east) | about 271° (due west) |
| December 21# | 25.9° | 11:54 am EST | 120.8° (southeast) | 239.2° (southwest) |
Directions are compass bearings from true north (90° is east, 180° south). In summer the sun rises north of due east and sets north of due west, so north-facing windows get some early and late sun in June. In winter it stays low in the southern sky, so south-facing rooms get by far the most sun, and it reaches deep into them.#
Why the Manhattan grid changes the answer#
Manhattan's street grid, laid out in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, is rotated about 29° clockwise from true north. "Uptown" along an avenue points roughly north-northeast. So when a Manhattan listing says north, south, east or west, it usually means the grid, not the compass:#
| Listing says | Window actually faces | Dec 21 | Equinoxes | June 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "North" (uptown)# | 29°, north-northeast | None | About 2.7 hours, early morning | About 6 hours, sunrise to late morning |
| "East" (toward the East River)# | 119°, east-southeast | About 6.5 hours, morning to early afternoon | About 7.3 hours | About 8 hours |
| "South" (downtown)# | 209°, south-southwest | About 9 hours | About 9.3 hours, mid-morning to sunset | About 9 hours, late morning to sunset |
| "West" (toward the Hudson)# | 299°, west-northwest | About 2.5 hours, early afternoon to sunset | About 4.7 hours | About 7 hours, early afternoon to sunset |
So a Manhattan "north-facing" apartment gets morning sun from spring to early fall, and a "west-facing" one gets much less winter sun than its label suggests. The same rotation causes Manhattanhenge, when sunset lines up with the cross streets in late May and mid-July.#
Brooklyn and Queens have several grids at different angles, and some neighborhoods have none. Check the bearing on a map.#
How much does the building across the street block?#
Usually more than orientation does. For a window facing a street, the opposite building blocks direct sun whenever the sun is lower than the obstruction angle:#
obstruction angle = arctan(height of opposite building above your window ÷ street width)#
The 1811 plan mapped standard Manhattan cross streets at 60 feet wide and avenues and major cross streets at 100 feet; where buildings sit on the property line, that is roughly the distance between facades. A story is roughly 10 feet.#
| Opposite building rises above your window by | 60-ft street | 100-ft avenue |
|---|---|---|
| 10 ft (about 1 story)# | 9.5° | 5.7° |
| 20 ft (2 stories)# | 18.4° | 11.3° |
| 30 ft (3 stories)# | 26.6° | 16.7° |
| 40 ft (4 stories)# | 33.7° | 21.8° |
| 60 ft (6 stories)# | 45.0° | 31.0° |
| 100 ft (10 stories)# | 59.0° | 45.0° |
Compare these with the sun heights above. The December noon sun is 25.9° high, so on a 60-foot street a building that rises more than about 29 feet (three stories) above your window blocks your midwinter noon sun; on a 100-foot avenue the cutoff is about 49 feet. At the equinoxes the cutoffs are about 70 and 116 feet. This assumes the sun is straight across the street from your window; when it is off to one side, the obstruction is somewhat lower.#
That is why floor height often matters more than direction. A floor above the buildings opposite, or a window onto an avenue, a park or low buildings, escapes most of this. High floors trade shelter for view and light, a trade-off discussed under prospect-refuge theory. Street trees matter too: deciduous trees shade low floors in summer and let more light through in winter; DwellScore's map of street trees by neighborhood shows where canopy is dense.#
What about heat and cooling?#
- West is hardest to keep cool: low summer sun hits the glass in the hottest part of the day, and overhangs do little against a low sun.#
- South gets high summer sun that an awning or exterior shade can block, and low winter sun that helps warm the rooms.#
- East warms early and is cooler by afternoon.#
- North gains the least heat and can feel cold in winter, especially with older windows.#
A corner unit, or a floor-through with windows at both ends, gets more light and cross-ventilation than any single exposure.#
Which direction is best for sunlight?#
For the most direct sun, south; in Manhattan, grid "south" and grid "east." For morning light, east. For soft, even light, north. For summer evening light, west. It depends on when you are home: someone out all day may get more from a west-facing apartment's evenings than a south-facing one's midday sun.#
How to check a listing#
- Check the floor plan's compass arrow against a map; plans sometimes mark grid north as north.#
- Look out every window. A "south-facing" bedroom onto a narrow courtyard may see no sky.#
- Visit when light is worst: a winter afternoon, or mid-afternoon on a cloudy day.#
- Use a sun-path tool, such as NOAA's solar calculator or SunCalc, for any date.#
- Ask what could be built across the street. A low building with unused zoning capacity may not stay low; the city's ZoLa map shows what each lot allows.#
What does the research say about daylight and health?#
Studies of orientation itself are scarce; the research concerns daylight in general. In a WHO housing survey of 6,017 adults in eight European cities, people who reported inadequate natural light at home were 1.4 times as likely to report depression, a link that changed only slightly after adjustment (Brown & Jacobs, 2011). In a small crossover study of 20 residents, a week with more daylight through the windows was associated with earlier sleep onset and steadier circadian timing (Nagare et al., 2021; the study was funded by the maker of the glass tested). Neither proves that a sunnier apartment will change your health. The full evidence is in natural light and circadian health, and each factor is graded in the evidence matrix.#
For the rest of the buying process, see buying an apartment in NYC.#
Sources#
Method. Solar positions were computed for 40.7128° N, 74.0060° W on March 20, June 21, September 22 and December 21, 2026, by running NOAA's solar calculator code (gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/main.js) locally rather than through its web page. The values match a first-principles check:#
- Solar noon altitude = 90° − latitude + declination, with declination +23.44° (June), 0° (equinox), −23.44° (December): 72.7°, 49.3° and 25.9°.#
- Sunrise azimuth A from cos A = (sin δ − sin φ · sin h₀) ÷ (cos φ · cos h₀), with φ = latitude, δ = declination and h₀ = −0.833° for refraction and the sun's radius; sunset azimuth = 360° − A. This gives 57.5°, 89.3° and 120.8°.#
- Hours of sun on each facade: minutes when the sun is above the horizon and within 90° of the direction the window faces, ignoring obstructions and clouds.#
References.#
- Brown, M.J., & Jacobs, D.E. (2011). Residential light and risk for depression and falls: Results from the LARES study of eight European cities. Public Health Reports, 126(Suppl 1), 131-140. doi:10.1177/00333549111260S117#
- Nagare, R., et al. (2021). Access to daylight at home improves circadian alignment, sleep, and mental health in healthy adults: A crossover study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 9980. doi:10.3390/ijerph18199980#
- NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Solar Calculator: gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc#
- Manhattan grid rotation (about 29°; some sources give 28.9°) and Manhattanhenge dates: Hayden Planetarium announcements as summarized in published coverage of Manhattanhenge.#
- Street widths in the 1811 plan: Museum of the City of New York, The Greatest Grid: thegreatestgrid.mcny.org#