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Photos: Happy Empty NYC Day 2019
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 26, 2019
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 26, 2019
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New York City will not truly be empty until a plague and/or other catastrophic event wipes us out in, say, 30 years or so. But on certain days, the streets are a little emptier, the subways less crowded, the hustle halted, the bustle hushed, the city more easily navigated... and we are alive to see it all. The day you will notice this the most is today, the day after Christmas, which we call Empty NYC Day.
Empty NYC Day only exists in areas outside of Little Women screenings and extreme tourist hot spots, like The Frozen District, so to enjoy it you must traverse through, well, not Midtown. In the emptier pockets of the city things will range from desolate to less crowded — for example, last year I was able to walk from my home to my subway stop without seeing another human, which was both unnerving and delightful!
Empty High St subway station, 8:45 a.m. on 12/26/19
Jen Carlson / Gothamist
Today, I stood alone on an empty platform for at least 5 minutes before another person turned up, and crossed a car-free Varick Street on the stretch leading up to the Holland Tunnel (an area typically congested and constantly producing a symphony of car horns). If hell is other people, NYC is heaven today. Enjoy it.
Click through for a look at New York City this morning sans people. And if you see nothing today, send us something (a photo!), and we'll add it to this gallery.
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empty nyc day
empty nyc
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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