- var_dump: documentation ( source)
<?php
$t = "2014-04-05T19:00:00";
$a = \DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d\TH:i:s', $t, new \DateTimeZone("America/New_York"));
$a->setTimezone(new \DateTimeZone("America/New_York"));
var_dump($a);
var_dump($a->format('w'));