UN week

It's UN week in Manhattan and the east side is always a mess. It seems like everything is closed off for the international dignitaries to get to and from their hotels.

I go where they do not go; underground into the subways. Most of the notable diplomats use limos. When our President attends traffic stops. You can walk faster than traffic on the east side avenues.

One time during UN week I happened to have lunch at a popular east side restaurant. I sat next to two Russian gentlemen who split a bottle of vodka. They drank it like wine. I was impressed. They walked out of the restaurant in a straight line.

During this week every year the avenues and cross streets are filled with pedestrian foreigners with cameras and chatter. I did stop into an Apple Store and it was filled with foreigners buying, buying and buying.

Down in the subways it’s a different story, but a familiar one to New Yorkers. There are people in shorts and suits, with ear buds and ear phones, eating and sleeping, standing and sitting, talking and staring, old, young and everything in-between.

If you want to experience New York, you must ride the subway.

If you want to experience New York as a global city come anytime, but especially during UN week.