New Yorkers post incredible pics of 'Manhattanhenge' phenomenon as sun aligns with the city's east-west streets and beams light down the grid

New Yorkers flocked onto the city's streets on Wednesday to witness the incredible phenomenon dubbed 'Manhattanhenge'.

Incredible images show the sunset lining up with the area’s street grid, lighting up the nearby skyscrapers and roads.

Thousands of people took to the streets to take photos and videos of the incredible scene, bringing traffic in the Big Apple to a standstill.

The phenomenon only occurs for a couple of days a year with the next scheduled to take place on July 12 at 8.20pm local time followed by July 13 at 8.21pm.

According to the New York Times, the sun moves slightly along the horizon throughout the year as the Earth tilts along its axis.

Because of this, there are certain days a year that the sun lines up with streets running east and west in Manhattan.

Many people posted images of the phenomenon to Twitter with some having more luck at seeing Manhattanhenge than others.

One witness said that the crowds were "worse than the penn station cattle drive."

In some locations, people had waited hours in order to get the best view of the sun.

The phenomenon was given its name by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson who compared it to the summer solstice at Stonehenge.

It has since become so popular, that a website has been set up to help New Yorkers find the best locations to see it.

The astrophysicist advised those wishing to get the best shots to “position yourself as far east in Manhattan as possible.”

New Yorkers missed out on the last ‘Manhattanhenge’ as it was too cloudy to see the sunset.

New York isn’t the only city to have the phenomenon, there are also ‘Chicagohenge’ and ‘Torontohenge’.