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The sun is going away, New York. Enjoy it while you can.
By
Catalina Gonella
and
Apolline Lamy
Published Aug 4, 2026
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Photo composite courtesy of Louis C. Hochman / LCHPhoto.com
By
Catalina Gonella
and
Apolline Lamy
Published Aug 4, 2026
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Hello darkness, my old friend…
New Yorkers have just a week of post-8 p.m. summer sunsets left — and they have feelings about it.
The days have been getting shorter and shorter since late June. On Tuesday, the sun will set at 8:07 p.m., then 8:06 p.m. on Wednesday. By Monday, Aug. 10, the sun will set at 8 p.m.
And finally, next Tuesday, it’ll set at 7:59 p.m.
The long summer days and late sunsets were especially welcome after this year's particularly brutal winter. Now that they’re beginning to slip away, some New Yorkers, like East Harlem resident Sabrina Ticer-Wurr, are sad to see them go — though she said they won’t be early enough to stop her summer rhythm anytime soon.
“One of the things that I really like about summer are the long days with lots of sunlight, so the fact that there will be less sunlight does make me a bit sad,” she said. “I think when the days are longer, I'm more inclined to stay outside and do fun things, like in the park with my friends.”
For now, Ticer-Wurr said, she’ll probably still be enjoying the outdoors in the later part of the day — “but certainly once daylight savings comes, I think I might go out less after work.”
The days will get shorter gradually, and then all at once, when daylight saving time ends on Sunday, Nov. 1 and New Yorkers are forced to set their clocks back one hour.
Lifelong New Yorker Melina Zadeh said she hopes that changes.
“ I'm a born and raised New Yorker, so I can say we don't like it when the sun sets earlier, 'cause it feels like the days are cut in half,” she said. “So as much time in the sun that we can get, we will take it, so we're very upset.
“I am hoping that daylight savings can get, I don't know, banned in New York, and the sun can always set around 8:30, 9 [p.m.] so we have more time to be outside and do things, 'cause we're all stuck behind our laptops all day.”
A federal bill to make daylight saving time permanent — that is, keep the later sunsets — passed a House vote in Congress in July, and is awaiting consideration by the U.S. Senate.
But not all New Yorkers mind the earlier sunsets. Taerin Kim said he simply doesn’t pay them any mind.
“I fail to really notice too much of it regardless, but just due to me working … I’m inside a lot,” he said. “ I'll just drink some orange juice, and it'll feel the same, hopefully.”
Tagged
Existing in New York City
new york city
summer
weather
Catalina Gonella
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Apolline Lamy
Apolline Lamy is a reporting intern on the Day-of Desk. She is studying for her master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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