Manhattan at 5:00 am

It's true that New York never sleeps, but the closest I've come to seeing the city in some form of near-slumber is at 5:00 am on a Wednesday morning. From the previous post, you know I was airport bound last Wednesday at this ridiculously early morning hour. As the towncar slipped (or rather, careened) through the still dark city streets, I enjoyed the feeling of having the city almost to myself for once (in between slammed brakes and wild lane changes).

It's not that I'd never been out in the city at this time of morning... A couple of times, I'd been sliding home from the previous night's festivities, but mostly, I would have been dragging my you-know-what out of bed before even the birds begin stirring so that I can catch one of those awful early morning flights. But last week, something made me actually pay attention.

Last Wednesday at 5:00 am, there were a few people out on the streets -- some of them were definitely straggling home after a Tuesday night of who knows what. But I did also see an uber-committed runner or two, already pounding the sidewalks, iPod's clipped to dry-fit shirts. We passed a group of three men having a conversation on the sidewalk and I wondered what they could possibly be gathered to discuss at that hour.

Manhattan was so peaceful and quiet, a welcome respite from the teeming activity that normally characterizes the city, even during the wee hours. It only took about 10 minutes to get out of the city with the biggest cross-town obstacles simply being a red light or two.

Hard to believe that in less than two hours, the streets would be jumping and thumping, the drone of traffic punctuated with honking horns, sirens and cussing drivers.