New Yorkers know exactly what it’s like to have the UN General Assembly in town

The world’s leaders have descended upon our city and the chaos is in full swing, says Clémence Michallon

A woman sits with her dog before the UN headquarters building during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (AFP via Getty)

Ah, the United Nations General Assembly. If you live in New York, it is, along with pumpkin spice and knit garments, one of the signals that autumn is almost upon us. It’s also cause for quite a bit of personal inconvenience.

Case in point: I was walking my dog last night through the streets of Manhattan when my husband and I spotted a string of vehicles with flashing lights. Did we need to stop and let them through? More crucially, did we need to brace ourselves for a full-blown bark attack on the part of our dog Claudine, a feisty terrier with a loud dislike of moving vehicles, especially if they’re accompanied by sirens?

But the sirens never came on. The vehicles stopped at a red light and let us through, their blue lights still gyrating in the New York dusk. “Oh,” my husband said. “It’s the UN General Assembly. They’re transporting heads of state.”