Havel Tours N.Y. 1st Time in 22 Years : Visit: Czechoslovak president’s breakneck pace similar to that of his country’s revolution.

Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was whirled around Manhattan today at a pace similar to that of his country’s breakneck revolution.

Havel met for breakfast at Gracie Mansion with Mayor David Dinkins and playwrights Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, Arthur Miller, novelist Kurt Vonnegut and producer Joseph Papp.

It was Havel’s first visit to the Big Apple since he attended the off-Broadway opening of his play, “Audience,” 22 years ago.

“It was the only year I had a passport,” said Havel, who went from jail to become the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia in more than 40 years.

He told Dinkins that he spent “a wonderful evening” Wednesday on a tour of Manhattan’s East Village pubs with Czechoslovak film director Milos Forman.

“There was the same atmosphere, the same young people and the same music as in Prague,” he said. “There is something international about these kinds of places.”

After breakfast it was off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Havel, followed by an entourage of reporters and Secret Service personnel, made a quick 45-minute tour.

Havel said he was eager to see paintings by Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.

Havel then made stops at the house of Cardinal John O’Connor, and the Helsinki Watch human rights group to receive two separate awards.

Havel told the audience of more than 100 at Helsinki Watch that he had been trying for a long time to go to Moscow to discuss human rights.

“Some things have changed. Now I have an invitation from (Soviet President Mikhail S.) Gorbachev,” Havel said. “I will speak with him Monday and if you want I will greet him for you.”

The former dissident playwright, who spent more than five years in jail, looked amused and surprised by the crowd of journalists who followed him from point to point.