My red-eye flight from SeaTac departed shortly after 7:00 PM and arrived at Newark International Airport around 1:00 AM local time. My hotel check-in was at 4:00 PM that afternoon, so I didn’t have access to a bed for at least 14 more hours. No sleep in the city.
New York City is sublime. It meets and succeeds all expectations. The city becomes even more exquisite at night. Given the afternoon hotel check-in, I was going to take this opportunity to revert back to my college days where I could seamlessly relapse to a more natural, nocturnal biological clock.
I walked an almost barren Times Square. It felt apocalyptic. I peered through the glass of the central Forever 21 store and inside, dozens of teenage employees were tirelessly folding the clothes tourists has dismantled off the store displays the day before. I took a couple pit-spots at a Victorian-themed bar and later a 24 hour diner.
Eight subway rides and six espresso shots later, my head finally hit the pillow at 11:30 PM that night. I truly experienced the city that doesn’t sleep.
I used the storytelling app, Exposure, to showcase some photographs I took throughout my all-nighter in NYC. It can be found here.
