Eastern Time

Eastern Time is the time zone used along the eastern seaboard of North America. During winter it runs on Eastern Standard Time (EST), five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. From the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November it switches to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), four hours behind UTC.

This is why the label matters: writing "EST" in the middle of July is technically incorrect, because the clocks are on EDT. If you are unsure, the safest phrasing is simply "Eastern Time" or "New York time", which stays correct all year.

Not every place that looks eastern uses Eastern Time — for example, parts of Indiana and Florida sit on different clocks, so it is always worth confirming a specific city rather than assuming a state-wide rule.