140

140. NEW YORK ON FOOT. Midtown East. UN protests and heavy auto traffic are common in East Midtown. Recently published figures: 731,000 automobiles enter Manhattan below 60th street daily; it takes 40 minutes to drive the (two mile) width of Manhattan at rush hour; the average auto travels at 8.2 MPH in Manhattan (only 2.5 times average human walking speed); and it costs three to five thousand dollars per annum to rent parking in Midtown. A native Manhattanite I know calls it the Midwestern Diet: people move here, ditch the ride, and the walking loses them ten pounds in the first month.