The Hugo Boss store is the only building on the block—maybe the only building in Soho—with any power. You can see the TV playing in the window here, although everything else is closed. Lower Manhattan is mostly a few disaster tourists, the occasional northbound commuter, and display windows with beautifully coutured mannequins and security guards in orange vests sprawled in front of them to prevent looters from getting any ideas. They mostly read paperback books by the rare sunlight that creeps stingily over the too-high buildings into the floor-to-ceiling windows, barely bright enough to illuminate the pages even at high noon.

Author: samthielman

Sam Thielman is a reporter and critic based in Brooklyn, New York. His blog is samthielman.com, his twitter handle is @samthielman, and if you can't find him you should check The Strand. View all posts by samthielman