Lower East Side synagogue blaze suspect apprehended, Manhattanhenge returns, and more

Welcome to Curbed Cuts, a tri-weekly digest connecting the dots between shelter, structure, parks, transportation, and more.

Lower East Side synagogue blaze suspect arrested

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on felony arson charges related to Sunday’s fire that gutted Lower East Side landmark Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the New York Post reports. The teen is one of three kids that witnesses spotted fleeing from the site, later corroborated by police through security footage.

Cops spoke with the two other teens captured in the footage, who identified the 14-year-old as the sole person who started the fire. Because the teen is a minor, his identity is being withheld but The Lo Down has intel that the teen lives in the neighborhood.

Manhattanhenge is coming

That annual occurrence when the setting sun lines up with the Manhattan street grid just right is coming. The American Museum of Natural History just announced its 2017 dates (h/t Gothamist) and here they are: Monday, May 29 at 8:13 P.M.; Tuesday, May 30 at 8:12 P.M.; Wednesday, July 12 at 8:20 P.M.; and Thursday, July 13 at 8:21 P.M.

While the museum recommends arriving 30 minutes before the event to claim a spot, it’s worth noting that professional and amateur photographers alike stake their primo viewing spots way earlier than that. The best places to view the phenomenon are at wide streets like 14th Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street, 59th Street, and 79th Street. The Tudor City Bridge at 42nd Street is a particularly good spot to post up at but be warned: it gets real crowded.

Meatpacking District’s cobblestone streets get refined

The old cobblestone streets of the Meatpacking District are getting an upgrade. The Department of Design and Construction is spearheading a project to replace water mains and install catch basins to improve drainage under some of the neighborhood’s oldest streets, Crain’s notes.

As a part of that work, the area’s cobblestone streets will be restored. The DDC will reuse as many of the existing cobblestones as possible, and have replicas made for patches that can’t be reused. The work will take place in a patch including West 14th Street, West 13th Street, and Little West 12th Street down Washington Street until it intersects with Bethune Street.