I was awake most of the night listening to the pouring rain and wondering when the wild winds would arrive. But Irene did not swing into town with tempest and destruction – not to mid Manhattan anyway –  but instead she brought a calm misty morning and a very unique magical experience. The city was as empty as New York could be. Almost no cars, no buses, no noise. It was fantastic. When Sean & I rode up Madison Avenue around 9am we found a handful of curious people like us taking photographs of themselves in the middle of the road. Steam poured out of the manholes against which tourists posed looking uptown, looking downtown – it didn’t matter, there was no-one to run you over. Same thing on Fifth Avenue, people were out for the experience and the fun. If the City had just paid a gazillion dollars to close down the city, then we were going to make the most of it!