My brother and I were running late for our reservation at Marta, a newly opened Danny Meyer pizza joint in the Martha Washington hotel. Both yellow cabs and Uber near Rockefeller Center were unavailable and the streets were clogged with tourists pressing their noses up against the shiny holiday displays on 5th Avenue.

A pedicab pulled up right in front of us at the curb.

"Where you need to go? I take you there quick. No way you're getting a taxi tonight, mang."

We zig-zagged past throngs of people oblivious to traffic lights and almost hit a few cabs that careened in our lane.

Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes to the chaotic stress while my brother relished every single stressful minute.