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Comment by kevinskii | Hacker News Reader

I recently asked a friend in Manhattan how people there cope with the lack of personal space. She told me that whenever she needs a break from social interaction she just eats in a restaurant by herself. There may be hundreds of others around but they'll generally sense that you don't want to be bothered.

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I just left New York after 12 years. One day, while I still lived there, I decided to see if there was anywhere I could be in Manhattan without seeing another human being in my field of vision. It took me several weeks of exploring possibilities, none of which were successful. Even Central Park didn't work, there was always someone wandering by, no matter how remote the spot.

I finally found the only spot where I could be for 30 minutes at a time, in total isolation. The New York Marble Cemetery on 2nd Avenue, in the East Village. It's a small patch of land, hidden down a narrow alleyway, behind a gate, open to the public just one day a month. It looks like nothing but a lawn surrounded by stone walls, because there are no headstones. It became my favorite day of the month, that one Sunday when I could go sit on a lawn in silence and solitude.

That's beautiful, thanks for sharing.

Greenwood Cemetery is another great spot. Much more calm than Prospect Park on a nice day.

That's something I like about cities. If you do that in small towns, people might be more likely to approach you.

That's a fairly Manhattanite-level concept of personal space.

I like late-night park walks. Very relaxing, very few people.

UK Midlands: Early mornings on Saturday or Sunday. My route over to a nice inner city area with coffee shops that do good eggs is through some small parks and a light industrial area. Canal towpaths for part of the route.

No people visible, but people in some of the factories and the very occasional jogger on the towpaths so not total isolation.

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