New York has moved its clocks since 1975
America/New_York has moved its clocks every year since 1975. There have been 4 changes to the rules since 1970. Every date below is read from the IANA time zone database rather than typed here, so it cannot drift from what your own computer believes.
America/New_YorkUTC−5 standard
1970 to today, in eras
Every change since 1970
- 28 October 1973 Standard time moved from UTC−5 to UTC−4, a shift of 1 hour.
- 1974 Daylight saving abolished — the clocks stopped moving and UTC−4 became the year-round time.
- 27 October 1974 Standard time moved from UTC−4 to UTC−5, a shift of 1 hour.
- 1975 Daylight saving adopted — the clocks began moving again, to UTC−4 in summer.
Where this comes from, and what it cannot tell you
Every date on this page is read out of the IANA time zone database — the same file your operating system, your browser and your phone consult to decide what time it is. Nothing here is a table someone typed: the eras are found by asking the database what the offset actually was, year by year, and noting where the answer changed. That is why the page cannot disagree with your own clock, and why it will follow the database if a country changes its mind.
Two honest limits. The history starts in 1970 because that is where tzdata is dependable; earlier entries are best-effort reconstructions of local mean time and are often accurate to a town rather than a country. And the database records what the clocks did, not why — a parliament's reasoning, a referendum, a wartime decree are all outside it. Where this page says a zone stopped changing its clocks, it is describing the clocks, not the politics.
FAQ
Does New York use daylight saving time?
Yes. The clocks currently move, and the next change is 1 November 2026, when 02:00 becomes 01:00.
How many times has New York changed its clock rules?
4 times since 1970, counting both daylight-saving decisions and changes to the standard offset itself. Each one is listed above with the date it took effect.
Where does this history come from?
The IANA time zone database (tzdata), the same source your operating system, browser and phone use. Nothing on this page is a typed-in table: the eras are read back out of the database by measuring what the offset actually was, which means the page cannot disagree with your own clock.
Why does the history start in 1970?
That is where tzdata is dependable. Before the Unix epoch its entries are best-effort reconstructions of local mean time, often accurate to the town rather than the country, and publishing them as fact would overstate what the database knows.