By Andrew Nusca
Nov 21, 2008 9:54 AM PST

The day has come, the time is near, and RIM’s BlackBerry Storm has arrived in a store near you. So what kind of reception are we looking at here — a mile-long frenzy like that for the Apple iPhone 3G, or the collective sigh for the T-Mobile G1?

Somewhere in the middle, it seems. I took a stroll around a couple of New York’s hot spots to see what kind of turnout the first touchscreen BlackBerry would receive at local Verizon Wireless stores. Here’s what I saw: First Stop: Upper East Side, 73rd St. and 3rd Ave.

This neighborhood is known for being home to New York’s blue-blood establishment, but that didn’t stop the nation’s second-richest ZIP code from standing politely in line for the Storm at 10:30 a.m. The line was moving at a pretty good clip, but it kept its length pretty consistent.