so far, the RNC is survivable.

I have to say that so far, as I go about my daily life, the RNC down the street is hardly noticable. But that may very well be because I have it easy. I live no where near Madison Square Garden, and even though my office is on 34th street, I'm not in the "Frozen Zone," nor do I have to pass through it to commute.

The office is quiet. Desks are vacant due to absence of others whose commute would involve passing through the Frozen Zone and finding a way around any of the eight closed exits at Penn Station, which is only a problem if you are lucky enough to have a train or subway that will actually stop there this week.

The impact on me so far has been more of an air assault. The helicopters are so numerous that I no longer notice the deafening chop of their blades. They run constant surveilance in gaint loops over and around the city. Occasionally, it sounds and feels as though one is landing on the roof of my office building--and I'm 30 floors from the top.

There's also the NYPD Blimp. Yes, blimp. When I saw it bobbing along in the city sky last week, I assumed it was on its way to a Yankees game...every day...for 8 hours. Turns out it's a specially equipped detection device disguised as a blimp. From what I understand, it can literally eavesdrop on any conversation it points its Bionic Listening Equipment at. As a result, people all over the city are miming and charading elaborate conversations.

When I went out at lunch today, I noticed that, as I anticpated, security has spilled out of the Frozen Zone and made it to my block. If my building caught on fire and I had to flee, I'd only get as far as the lobby. The rest of our block has been cordoned off with those big metal barrier things that double as a nifty bike rack. I don't understand why. There are numerous openings in the "barriers" that allow you to still go wherever it is you want to go, you just must first pass through a bottleneck of pissed off people. (Apparently, Duane Reade has taken the same approach with their cashier system. They say "Form a line at each register" but what they really mean is "Stand wherever you want and fight with other customers to eventually get through, possibly suffering bruising or non-life-threatening injury.)

There are also a lot of cops everywhere. Some are on foot, directing traffic or just standing around. Others are on motorcycles, bicycles, or even vespas. (Ciao.) I think I saw a few yesterday on Razor Scooters. They're on horseback, in paddywagons, converted 2-seater NYPD golf carts popular among meter readers, and my favorite: the surges. The surge is when anywhere between 10-20 police cars roar through the streets in single file, sirens blasting, before suddenly and collectively parking all 10-20 cars perpendicular to the curb in a perfect line. Then the 20-40 cops get out of their vehicles under the watchful eye of all panicked bystanders who are, at this point, either taking off running and screaming, or lying face down on the sidewalk with a fresh load in their pants while saying their final prayers. The joke is, there's no emergency. This is only a test. So go change your pants and go about your normal business. There's nothing to see here.

I'm sure security is going to get tighter and stranger as the week goes on and Mr. Bush arrives. But so far, aside from a mild amount of trepidation and the typical amount of public urination, we're getting through it.

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See for yourself. Click here, then click the camera for 8 Ave @ 34 Street or 6 Ave @34 Street (eerily void of typical traffic flow).