

Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Start:
Oct 1, 2026
End:
Oct 31, 2026
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
View Public Programming
Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Start:
Oct 1, 2026
End:
Oct 31, 2026
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
View Public Programming
Sunday Morning animates illustrations of quotidian moments and iconic New York City landmarks, all hand-drawn by artist Dustin Grella on a chalkboard salvaged from an 1800s schoolhouse. Compressing over twenty years of footage into a three-minute loop, Grella distills his personal memory of New York into a meditation on stillness within a city defined by constant motion.
The work draws attention to small, easily overlooked moments: a pedestrian signal blinking from walking to stopping, a hand collecting mail, a barista handing over coffee. These recurring infrastructural details and routine interactions mark the rhythms by which the city's inhabitants move through time. They are interwoven with scenes of Moondance Diner, a street sign for the 42nd Street–9th Avenue intersection, a picnic in Central Park, and an East Village stoop drawn from Grella's memories of the 1990s, when he first arrived in New York dreaming of making it as an artist.
Thirty-five years later, those same drawings animate Times Square itself, transforming personal memory into a public reflection on time, change, and the city's enduring texture.
Sunday Morning animates illustrations of quotidian moments and iconic New York City landmarks, all hand-drawn by artist Dustin Grella on a chalkboard salvaged from an 1800s schoolhouse. Compressing over twenty years of footage into a three-minute loop, Grella distills his personal memory of New York into a meditation on stillness within a city defined by constant motion.
The work draws attention to small, easily overlooked moments: a pedestrian signal blinking from walking to stopping, a hand collecting mail, a barista handing over coffee. These recurring infrastructural details and routine interactions mark the rhythms by which the city's inhabitants move through time. They are interwoven with scenes of Moondance Diner, a street sign for the 42nd Street–9th Avenue intersection, a picnic in Central Park, and an East Village stoop drawn from Grella's memories of the 1990s, when he first arrived in New York dreaming of making it as an artist.
Thirty-five years later, those same drawings animate Times Square itself, transforming personal memory into a public reflection on time, change, and the city's enduring texture.
Support for Midnight Moment is provided in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and the Times Square Advertising Coalition.
Midnight Moment is made possible by the Times Square Advertising Coalition, ABC SuperSign, American Eagle, Big Outdoor, Branded Cities, Clear Channel, Coca-Cola, Diversified, Express, Heritage Outdoor Media, KEVANI, Levi's, LG, Line Friends, McDonald's, Microsoft, Midtown Financial, Morgan Stanley, New Tradition, Outfront, Paramount, Prudential, RXR, Sensory Interactive, Sephora, Sherwood Equities, Show + Tell, Silvercast, Swatch, TSX, and T-Mobile.



Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am

Dustin Grella is an animator whose work attempts to glean glimpses of colorful insight into the seemingly mundane. His films have screened at Cannes, Sundance, MoMA, and have been published in The New York Times Op-docs. His film “Prayers for Peace” screened at almost two hundred festivals worldwide and won over forty awards internationally. He has written and mailed himself a letter every day for the past twenty years and has over 7,000 sealed letters neatly filed and categorized. He is currently in production for the “Animation Hotline,” a series of micro-animations where he uses crowd-sourced voicemail messages for content.
Learn More About
Dustin Grella
Dustin Grella is an animator whose work attempts to glean glimpses of colorful insight into the seemingly mundane. His films have screened at Cannes, Sundance, MoMA, and have been published in The New York Times Op-docs. His film “Prayers for Peace” screened at almost two hundred festivals worldwide and won over forty awards internationally. He has written and mailed himself a letter every day for the past twenty years and has over 7,000 sealed letters neatly filed and categorized. He is currently in production for the “Animation Hotline,” a series of micro-animations where he uses crowd-sourced voicemail messages for content.
Learn More About
Dustin Grella
Dustin Grella is an animator whose work attempts to glean glimpses of colorful insight into the seemingly mundane. His films have screened at Cannes, Sundance, MoMA, and have been published in The New York Times Op-docs. His film “Prayers for Peace” screened at almost two hundred festivals worldwide and won over forty awards internationally. He has written and mailed himself a letter every day for the past twenty years and has over 7,000 sealed letters neatly filed and categorized. He is currently in production for the “Animation Hotline,” a series of micro-animations where he uses crowd-sourced voicemail messages for content.
Learn More About
Dustin Grella