'Extraterrestrial Energy.' The Eclipse-Watching Party in Battery Park City.

A viewer of the eclipse, and the thin crescent of sun that could still be seen. Photos: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

A round of applause for the heavens rang out from Rockefeller Park Monday afternoon as the moon eclipsed all but a thin, colorful crescent of the sun, much to the delight of the eye-protected thousands peering skyward.

Photos by Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

The “Solar Eclipse Viewing Party,” hosted by the Battery Park City Authority, offered free dark glasses, an art project, and plenty of lawn for relaxing, and viewing the rare event. As for the glasses, by 2:30 p.m, when BPCA staff began handing them out, a line of eager eclipse watchers hoping to score one stretched far down the east edge of the park.

One of the first in line was Gina Caceras. After ensconcing herself on the lawn, she rarely took her eyes from the sky. “I see yellow, I see orange, and red. Different colors,” said Caceres, who works nearby in Tribeca. “ It’s beautiful.”

“I planned to have no appointments today,” said Andrew Elliston, a Lower Manhattan pediatrician and Battery Park City resident who had arrived early, set up his specially equipped phone on a tripod, and waited.

“He was planning for this like his life depended on it for the past six months,” said his wife, Heidi Meeker, who sat beside him on the grass. “But I’m glad so that I could enjoy it, too.”

“The shadows got sharper. The colors got weird,” Elliston noted. “It was really great to see and plan for because this was basically a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“I feel a kind of extraterrestrial energy,” said Sandra Power, a Battery Park City Parks horticulturist. “I just love everyone coming together in this light. It’s absolutely spectacular.”

“And,” she added, “I think these glasses look super cool.”