New York City apparently sleeps after all, ranking only 32nd – tied with Marseilles, France; Palermo, Sicily and Montreal, Quebec – on the world’s liveliest 24-hour cities list, says a study by social networking site Badoo.com.
In analysis of over 120 million online chats between 122 million people across 180 countries, instant-messaging activity peaked at the late hour of 1:00 am in the top-ranking city of Cairo – much later than in New York.
Cairo, Montevideo, Beirut, Buenos Aires, and six cities in Spain – Malaga, Zaragoza, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid – make up the top ten in terms of sleeplessness.
Adding possible insult to injury, Badoo reports that New Yorkers seem to retire for the night just as most Europeans start their socializing: London ranked 17th, Paris 18th, Rome 27th, Lisbon 15th, and Brussels 11th.
"This will confirm the fears of those who say that New York has grown sterile and sleepy," said Lloyd Price, Badoo’s director of marketing. "Some will call it a humiliation."
"Our studies suggest that New Yorkers are climbing into bed around the same time that their Cairo counterparts are preparing to go out," he continued. "It may be an indication of people not spending as much money late. Not as many people seem to be going out, staying out late, partying, drinking."
As for the high level of nighttime chat activity in Spain, Price offers, "[It’s] on a high right now, after having won the World Cup. And their economy is doing much better than that of Greece, for example."
He also pointed out that their definition of a ‘day’ is much longer: "We see a job as an eight-hour working day, but in Spain it’s longer, as many people go rest for a few hours," he explained.