The City That Never Sleeps is a ubiquitously used nickname for New York City that was popularized by Frank Sinatra in the song Theme from New York, New York:
Although New York City is the most prominently recognized city termed "The City That Never Sleeps",[2][3] and the city's subway system never closes,[4] the term has been applied to other cities. Below is a list, in alphabetical order, of cities that have also been called "the city that never sleeps":[5][4]
In many "24-hour" cities plenty of eateries are open until 3 am, several clubs are open until 6 am[3] and bars close 2 am[4] or a few hours later.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many 24-hour and late-night establishments have begun closing earlier. Coffee shops in lower Manhattan, in particular, began to close at 9:30 pm, whereas before the pandemic they had frequently closed at 12:30 am.[34]
The people who make use of these facilities, studies have found, are nevertheless affected by sunrise and sunset.[35][36] In other words: "that most humans aren’t as influenced by Earth’s light-dark cycle as we used to be" is not fully supported; there is an observed annual shift for "a stretch of three or four months" and "then, the process reversed direction".[37]