MORE GONZO OLYMPICS IN NEW YORK

Some weeks ago around 30 or 40 people gathered on the corner of 47th Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan in brightly coloured spandex exercise suits. It was the second instalment of the Midtown Games, a series of olympics-style flashmobs organised by Zefrey Throwell, an artist based in Brooklyn. The games, according to the Throwell, are "liberating reclamation[s] of our public space". They also seem like a fine way for over-educated and under-employed New Yorkers to have fun.

At 1pm exactly, when the traffic-light clicked red, bicyclists stealthily blocked off one of New York’s busiest avenues and runners hustled to take their places along the crosswalk. An air horn blew and they were off, sprinting where taxis usually compete for speed. The first three to reach 48th Street ascended soapboxes to receive gold, silver and bronze medals; confetti filled the air and a busker trio sounded the victory song. By the time the traffic-light turned green, the bicycles had wheeled away, the runners disappeared with the soapboxes, and traffic resumed its monotonous push uptown. Within a minute, the confetti and confused tourists were already scattered. (See video below.)

The band played on. When the police arrived on the scene, they hassled the three musicians for a few futile minutes, clearly unsure of how to punish participants in a rather benign public disturbance. (No fines were issued and no one was carted away, according to Throwell.)

Seeing these shenanigans, the first word on the lips of most passers-by is "Why?" It's also the last, muttered as they walk on to the next block. "Why not?" is a perfectly sensible answer, of course. But personally I would have preferred it had the runners been wearing business suits and carrying briefcases. A line of sprinting executives would have perhaps posed larger existential questions about midtown day-jobs. It could have shaken things up. It might've made a funny prank seem a little more like a rebellion.