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How Much Does New York <em>Really</em> Sleep?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 24, 2010
Modified Aug 24, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 24, 2010
Modified Aug 24, 2010
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LIFE magazine photo caption: "Millionaire Bernard F. Gimbel, needing only four or five hours sleep, reading his competitor's advertising." New York City, October 1949.
When we interviewed Pat Kiernan last year, he told us that years ago he settled on a 3:17 a.m. wake-up time, but as he added Pat's Papers on to his schedule, he was rising closer to 2:30 a.m. This mind-boggling fact that came up as the NY1 anchor was enjoying beer with us and our readers recently following a poutine dinner. While Kiernan may have an odd schedule, that doesn't mean he's the only New Yorker not getting a full 8 hours of sleep.
According to the NY Post, New Yorkers don't need no stinkin' sleep—at least those who are striving to succeed. Take James Franco, for example—that sleepy-eyed look isn't just one of his many genetic gifts, he's actually only getting a few hours of shut eye a night! New York magazine recently called him "a hero to nonsleeping power players."
One expert told the paper, “In sleep medicine, [people like Franco] are called ‘short sleepers,’” getting around 4 hours of sleep, which fuels them up enough to keep going the other 20 hours of the day. The National Institute of Health says that "sleep need hasn’t changed, but what we believe is that people are doing other things besides sleeping, and they’re tending to do these other things more and more.” But was there ever any doubt that this city doesn't sleep? Maybe #1 on that list of things that keeps New Yorkers awake can really be found in the mirror.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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