Filipinos in US watch total solar eclipse

NEW YORK CITY - Filipinos were among the millions of people who watched the rare total solar eclipse in North America on Monday. 

For four minutes and twenty-eight seconds, New York was partially in darkness, as 90% of the sun was covered by the moon.

The Oryate family spent several hours at Gantry Plaza State Park on Long Island along the East River to witness the totality on Monday afternoon. 

"It's exciting because you only get to see it once in a while, and we even had this desperation to see it; we're just going to wait to get one of these solar sunglasses so we can see it, and we see it very nicely. Something that if we miss this before, it won't happen again, so exciting,'' Roy Oryate told GMA Integrated News. 

Filipino photographer Kim Bernardo waited for almost five hours just to capture the celestial event.

"I really love these things; I really wait for them. Whenever there's an eclipse or a supermoon, whenever there are extraordinary events, I really go to see them… it's amusing because suddenly the surroundings get colder; it's a spine-tingling feeling. I feel like it won't happen again soon or that it will take a long time.”

According to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a million tourists headed to the state to witness the total solar eclipse, which will be seen again in North America after two decades. — VBL, GMA Integrated News