AKST to EST

The New York Stock Exchange opens at 9:30 AM Eastern, which is 5:30 AM in Anchorage, and closes at 4:00 PM Eastern, which is noon in Alaska. Federal agencies and most national companies keep Eastern business hours, so Alaskans calling a Washington office have to get through before 1:00 PM local time, when the East Coast day ends at 5:00 PM.

Alaska's own institutions feel the gap on the national calendar. On Election Night, polls on the Alaska mainland close at 8:00 PM local time, which is midnight in New York, and results usually arrive after most of the country has gone to bed. The western Aleutian Islands, on Hawaii–Aleutian time, are five hours behind the East Coast instead of four.

The Iditarod's ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage takes place on the first Saturday of March at 10:00 AM local time, which is 2:00 PM Eastern; both zones are still on standard time that day, since daylight saving starts on the second Sunday of March. Northern lights forecasts are another reason people check Anchorage time: the best viewing is often between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM in Alaska, which is 2:00 to 6:00 AM in New York.

For working across the gap, the overlap is 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Anchorage, or 1:00 to 5:00 PM in New York. If you need dates as well as times, for example counting the days to a permit deadline, use days between dates.