Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Here's What Coney Island Looks Like In The Empty Pre-Dawn Hours
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 15, 2017
Modified Dec 27, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Photo by Gretchen Robinette/Gothamist
View all 48
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 15, 2017
Modified Dec 27, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In 2014 we began documenting New York City neighborhoods in the few hours that most of them become temporarily abandoned—the pre-dawn hours, when things appear a little more dystopian.
Most recently, photographer Gretchen Robinette visited Coney Island just before sunrise on a warm August morning, in the hours before a big storm hit, from around 4:45 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. While most areas were eerily quiet and desolate, Robinette found a few people just starting and ending their days on the beach.
The normally crowded boardwalk area was empty, but Robinette reported back that "there were surprisingly quite a few people on the beach. Some were fishing or walking along the shore, one was asleep in the sand... others, looking as if they were starting their day, enjoying the silence or a swim."
Check out a quiet Coney Island above, and for more from this series, click here.
Tagged
coney island
dawn series
empty nyc
late night
sunrise
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 16, 2026
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .