{"id":224180,"date":"2026-05-08T02:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/224180\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T02:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:02:09","slug":"the-new-yorkers-thriving-during-the-citys-off-peak-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/224180\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Yorkers thriving during the city’s off-peak times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The column first appeared in Looped In NYC, a newsletter to help New Yorkers make sense of the city. Sign up<\/a> to get the email which also features event listings, NYC news to know and a reader photos.<\/p>\n

All respect to the sheeple out there grinding away from 9 to 5 before tucking in for their doctor-recommended eight hours, but this is New York City: a place where you can also thrive while working or playing at weird hours!<\/p>\n

As a 12-year veteran of the early morning news shift, I\u2019ve long been an appreciator of off-peak city life. The pre-dawn R train full of napping ironworkers. The midday Central Park suntanning session. The near-empty 2 p.m. Trader Joe\u2019s.<\/p>\n

I could count on two hands the number of times I passed the same couple doing it al fresco outside a certain restaurant during my 4:30 a.m. walks to the train.<\/p>\n

Whether your favorite off-peak activities are done alone or with a partner, fully clothed or less so, we asked \u201cLooped In\u201d readers: How do you take advantage of the city at odd hours?<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t exactly a surprise to learn that off-peak chores are a hit.<\/p>\n

Reader Sam Shapiro takes advantage of a \u201cFree Dry Thursdays\u201d promotion to get his laundry done midweek.<\/p>\n

And Sandy Naidich likes to get her grocery shopping done at 2 a.m., when the crowds are gone and you can count on the shelves being fully stocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other [day] I was in Whole Foods and they were out of mint,\u201d she lamented. \u201cLate at night, you never run into that problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there are the off-peak exercisers.<\/p>\n

Mihalis Alisandratos said he gets his cycling in between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the roads have fewer cars and the park loops have fewer pedestrians. Will Kang plays midday pickleball.<\/p>\n

And Nate Maretzki, a Columbia University undergrad, said he schedules all his classes around midday trapeze sessions at the New York Circus Academy in Bed-Stuy.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooped In\u201d tagged along last week<\/a> for a class, where we also met a Long Island retiree, a stagehand for \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show\u201d on Broadway and some people \u201cwith jobs\u201d getting their swings in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe midday crowd, we get people skipping work, faking doctor\u2019s appointments. I\u2019d say the midday crowd is more dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Hart, New York Circus Academy instructor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe midday crowd, we get people skipping work, faking doctor\u2019s appointments,\u201d said instructor Sam Hart. \u201cI\u2019d say the midday crowd is more dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping weird hours doesn\u2019t have to dampen your social life. Glenn Krasner, a doorman who works from 4 p.m. to midnight, Friday through Tuesday, said he and his fianc\u00e9e (single off-peakers, there\u2019s hope!) take advantage of their odd schedules for easier date nights.<\/p>\n

\u201cValentine\u2019s Day, for instance, fell on a Saturday this year,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we celebrated the Wednesday before \u2014 we went to dinner and a Brooklyn Nets game.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for others, having some prime alone time in a city of 8.5 million people is its own treat. Graham Schranz, a self-described introvert, said he hits the road late at night \u2014 and even when the streets are empty, he keeps it slow just to take in the sights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf driving in New York by day is a constant overlapping cluster of frustrations, then driving by night feels like you own the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

P.S. Comment on our video with how you like to take advantage of NYC off-peak.<\/p>\n