New York, August 14, 2006 – Manhattan’s Chinatown was even more chaotic than usual as a swirl of journalists pursued pop singer Boy George on his first day of working as a street sweeper. Arriving at Sanitation District 3 depot in lower Manhattan at 7 A.M., George was assigned a shovel, a broom and a trash bin, and eyeing the media, said “Quite a turnout”. He then got into a van and was driven to the Manhattan Bridge with a caravan of cars and trucks carrying at least 50 reporters, TV crews and photographers, plus six paparazzi on bicycles, following through the winding Chinatown streets.

A Reuters photographer making a left turn from Allen Street onto East Broadway smashed his car into the rear of a paparazzo’s vehicle. (It was not clear who was at fault. Maybe it’s George’s fault?)

The media circus watched George work for a bit – he’s a very meticulous sweeper – and then, suddenly, he was piled again into the Sanitation van and headed off for the Brooklyn Bridge. This time, only a few quick-thinking journalists had time to jump into their cars and follow; the other 45 or so aimlessly wandered around lower Manhattan, calling contacts, trying to find out where George had gone, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World-style.

Sanitation officials, who were cordial, professional and surprisingly media-savvy, soon decided that the situation was dangerous, and took George back to the District 3 depot, where he spent the day sweeping the yard safely behind a chain-link fence.

George’s community service sentence for filing a false police report runs for five days. He’ll work from 7 A.M. to 3 P.M., with two 15-minute breaks and a 45-minute lunch.