New York Shadow Map

COVERAGE: Manhattan, from Battery Park to 96th Street. More of the city is planned.

New York Shadow Map finds the walking route with the least sun.

Most map apps give you the fastest way. In Manhattan in July, the fastest way can mean ten blocks on the sunny side of an avenue at 84°F with 64% humidity, which feels closer to 93°F. This app computes where buildings actually cast their shadows at the hour you are walking, then routes you through them.


WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT

Real shadows, not guesses. The app carries the footprints and heights of more than 73,000 buildings across Manhattan and projects their shadows for the true sun position at the time you choose.

Built for the tallest skyline in this series. 117 buildings in range rise above 490 ft, topping out at Central Park Tower (1,550 ft), the Empire State Building (1,453 ft) and One World Trade Center (1,368 ft). That wall of towers is what makes Midtown shade, and the route uses it.

Shade you can actually walk in. "Prefer shade" balances shade against distance. "Shade only" caps how far you ever walk in unbroken sun, so the long exposed stretch disappears even when the total sun is similar.

The avenue has a shady side. Manhattan's grid runs about 29° off true north, so through most of the afternoon one side of every avenue is in shadow and the other is not. That single choice is often the whole difference, and the app makes it for you block by block.

Indoor passages count as walkable. The Grand Central and Rockefeller concourses, Penn Station passages and covered arcades are in the routing network, so a route can cut through instead of around.

Check before you leave. Play the day's shadows hour by hour to see when your street turns shady. Leaving forty minutes later sometimes changes everything.

New York observes daylight saving time. The app follows New York local time no matter what time zone your phone is set to, so the shadows on screen are the shadows outside.


IF YOU WALK A DOG

Midday asphalt reaches about 158°F while shaded pavement stays near 110°F. Paws can burn in under a minute. The app estimates surface temperature along your route and tells you whether to go now, stay on grass and shade, or wait.


WHAT YOU GET

• Walking, cycling and driving routes across Manhattan
• Shade percentage and sun distance for every route
• The longest unbroken stretch of sun, so you know the hardest part in advance
• UV index and what it feels like in sun and in shade
• Turn-by-turn voice guidance that follows your location
• The shade network and the buildings that cast it, drawn on the map
• On-device search across 42,000 places — no connection needed
• Save home and favourite places
• Screen units in °F, miles and feet
• English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic, with full right-to-left layout


HOW IT WORKS

Pick a destination — the Empire State Building, Grand Central, Bryant Park, the High Line, or anything you search for. The starting point defaults to where you are, so it is usually one tap. The route appears with its shade breakdown, and voice guidance starts as soon as your location is fixed. Drag the time slider to see the same route at any hour of the day.

Building data comes from OpenStreetMap; weather and UV from MET Norway. The base map is bundled inside the app and the shadow geometry is computed on your device from the real position of the sun, so the map keeps working when the network does not.


IMPORTANT

UV values and surface temperatures are estimates for clear-sky conditions. They are guidance for planning a walk, not medical advice. In extreme heat use your own judgement and watch children, older companions and pets.

Building heights come from open map data and are not complete everywhere. Where a height is missing the app assumes a low building, so the error leans toward reporting less shade rather than more.

Coverage is Manhattan from Battery Park to 96th Street. Outside it you can still browse the map and try a demo route.