newyork.localmean.com/new-york-minute
New York minute
NOO YORK MIN-it
Local meaning
An extremely short amount of time, suggesting that decisions, reactions, and daily life move unusually fast in New York.
The expression exaggerates the city’s pace: a New York minute is not a measured unit but something quicker than an ordinary minute. Speakers use it for immediate willingness, rapid change, impatience, or the feeling that city events happen before there is time to pause.
Example in context
- “I’d take that apartment in a New York minute.”
How it is used
A widely recognized American idiom built from New York’s reputation for speed and urgency.
energetic, humorous, emphatic
decisions, storytelling, media, descriptions of city pace
A widely recognized American idiom built from New York’s reputation for speed and urgency.
The phrase is figurative and can sound clichéd when used as a complete description of how every New Yorker lives.
Spelling and scope
A widely recognized American idiom built from New York’s reputation for speed and urgency.
- Search forms
New York minute meaningin a New York minute phrasehow long is a New York minute
LocalMean keeps common search spellings discoverable without claiming that every borough, community, or generation uses one written form.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a New York minute?
It has no exact length; the joke is that it feels much shorter than a normal minute.
What does I’d do it in a New York minute mean?
It means the speaker would agree or act immediately, without hesitation.
Read next
All words →Evidence and further reading
These sources support the regional association, dictionary sense, or broader spread. The entry remains open to correction from New York speakers and qualified reviewers.
- New York minuteMerriam-Webster
Dictionary definition of New York minute as an extremely brief span of time.
- Geographic Variation in Slang SemanticsarXiv
Research showing that slang meanings and associations vary by geography and community.