My Own Private Rockaway

Quito Ziegler waits for the sun to set over New York, and then heads south—as far as the land will go. Only then does Quito find solitude.

Audio by Emily Kwong

More than eight million people, eight-and-a-half billion square feet. Suffice to say, New Yorkers have a love-hate relationship with space, all the more reason for us to occasionally get away from it all. But finding sanctuary in the city is not as hard as you might think. In "My Secret New York Sanctuary," a new series by Narratively and WNYC, we get up close and personal with New Yorkers who use a little ingenuity to find solitude in some rather unlikely places.

Senses seem enhanced when standing on a beach at night. The sounds of the sea are crisper, the air is saltier and the sand crunchier, perhaps because darkness steals your sight. Waves unfurl with a crash, foam hisses as distant ships move silently on the horizon. It feels like the world’s end as you stare into the blackness. “It’s invigorating to be unhurried, unwatched on nature’s timetable,” explains Quito Ziegler, a 37-year-old Brooklynite who escapes to the city’s farthest edges in search of respite fr…