At least compared with a few other fairly big cities I've lived in this is a distinctively New York and even Manhattan phenomenon. I drive rarely here but my as

At least compared with a few other fairly big cities I've lived in this is a distinctively New York and even Manhattan phenomenon. I drive rarely here but my assumption is that drivers would often never get to turn the corner if they gave crossing pedestrians the polite space they do elsewhere, because of a combination of (foot) traffic density and pedestrians ignoring their light. That last part, I think, is because New York pedestrian lights have a relatively long "red flashing" phase, which combined with New Yorkers being New Yorkers has the counterintuitive effect that everyone treats red flashing, and even the few seconds after, as "go ahead and start crossing."