New York is called the city that never sleeps, but one small company wants that to change.
High above the bustling streets, honking taxicabs and crowded sidewalks, on the 24th floor of the landmark Empire State Building, is MetroNaps, a month-old company offering New York’s version of the Spanish siesta: a 20-minute nap.
Stressed-out customers arrive in a quiet, darkened room filled with futuristic chairs, or “napping pods,” where they can pay $14 for their snooze.
“MetroNaps is a place where busy New Yorkers get power nap in New York City,” says co-founder Arshad Chowdhury.
White noise machines block out whispered conversation at the front desk. Sleepers stretch out in the reclining seats, which resemble plush dentists’ chairs, with blankets covering their legs and music piped into headphones.
After 20 minutes, the sleeping pod wakes up the customer with a combination of vibrations and light.
Chowdhury said nappers are encouraged to sleep just 20 minutes because a longer session tends to leave them more groggy than refreshed.
Abdul Latif, a Broadway singer and dancer who likes to rest between an audition and a performance, said it was better to pay for a nap than to sit at a coffee shop.
“It’s the closest thing to your bed,” he said. “It’s either this, or the top of a table with your head down.”
Another MetroNaps customer, writer and researcher Ben Stiller, said he needs that daily nap.
“This is what energizes me, this is what keeps me going,” he said.
