New York Minute

I heard someone say this today. I did. I mean, I had heard the expression before, perhaps in movies or newspapers from way back, but this was the first time, I think, I had ever heard a real person actually say it.
 
It kind of stuck with me all day. What exactly is a New York minute? (I looked it up later--it's an instant--because things go so quickly in New York City, a Texan in the 60's was said to have observed that what might take a minute somewhere else takes just an instant in New York). In any case, the expression made me observe "New York minutes" all day...
 
Like the lady who, out of the corner of my eye, looked as though she was carrying a giant banana. Turns out she was. It was a two-foot long blow-up banana. Don't ask. I didn't.
 
Like the, I think, less than five minutes it took me to go to the bank, deposit my check, and return to work, since there are so many banks in a block radius of my work.
 
Like my walking past the bakery worker giving out samples before I could think about passing up something highly caloric, but free.
 
Like the few steps it took for me to walk past a bus that was stuck in traffic (and get a little exercise without even going to the gym).
 
Things happen quickly here (and, despite the expression, in a lot of other places too). Keep your eyes and ears open--or you're liable to miss a lot of somethings--in a New York minute!