A friend recently took a visit to New York and commented on how polite people there were, contrary to stereotype.

I’ve always found New Yorkers to be polite, and now there’s a study to back me up.

36 major cities in 35 countries were subjected to an "undercover" test. 

The most polite of the cities studied?  The Big Apple:

In its admittedly unscientific survey, the magazine’s [Reader’s Digest] politeness-police gave three types of tests to more than 2,000 unwitting participants.

The reporters walked into buildings to see if the people in front of them would hold the door open; bought small items in stores and recorded whether the salespeople said "thank you"; and dropped a folder full of papers in busy locations to see if anyone would help pick them up.

New Yorkers turned out to be the politest: 90% held the door open, 19 out of 20 store clerks said "thank you," and 63% of men and 47% of women helped with the flying papers.

In short, four out of five New Yorkers passed the courtesy test.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he’s not surprised.

Neither am I.