People
The last time anybody made a list of the top hundred character attributes of New Yorkers, common sense snuck in at number 79.
— Douglas Adams · Mostly Harmless
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker gives common sense a surprisingly low position in a supposed ranking of New Yorkers' qualities. The precise number makes a broad insult sound like measured research. Read as exaggeration, the invented-looking list lends comic authority to a skeptical judgment about the city.
Context reviewed