NEW YORK -- New Yorkers are the politest people in the world.

Is that a joke?

No way. Residents of the city that's gained a reputation for being rough 'n ready seem to actually have better manners than people in places like London, Toronto and Moscow.

That's according to a poll conducted by Reader's Digest, which sent reporters "undercover'' to 36 cities to measure courtesy. Points were awarded for responses, and the results were compared.

Each reporter did three things: walked into buildings behind people to see if they would hold the door open for them; bought small items in stores and recorded whether the sales assistants said "thank you,'' and dropped a folder full of papers in busy locations to see if anyone would help pick them up.

More than 2,000 people were put to the test.

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

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

So guess which city ranks last in the politeness poll?

Mumbai, India.

The rudest cities in general were in Asia, where eight out of nine cities tested finished in the bottom 11. In Europe, Moscow and Bucharest ranked as the least polite.

Reader's Digest, which reaches 80 million readers in 21 languages, will publish the results in its July issue.

There's just one hitch with the poll: It's not scientific.

So there's still a chance that a visitor to New York can conduct his or her own poll: to find some rude New Yorkers.