NYC-WTC_000230712

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

THE NEW VOHK TIMES, THUHSDAV, OCTOBER 12001

A Downturn Settles In Downtown , Shoppers Are Indulging, But Not Near Attack Site By LESLIE KAUFMAN able to save his delicate yucca palms, but the disparate impact on SoHo and Madi­ and TERRY PRISTIN those have not sold since, either. A month son Avenue, perhaps New York’s most By the time Jose Hernandez arrived at later, Mr. Hernandez estimates his busi­ famous byways of unapologetic con­ his job at Broome Street Flowers and ness is still off some 80 percent. sumption. Interiors in SoHo on Sept.' 11, he had In a shopping district a short subway Both districts have emporiums filled already seen the fiery slashes in the ride — and yet a universe — away, with delectables as different as spike­ World Trade Center andyknew a catas­ players seemed to be acting out of a heeled boots and antique Japanese trophe was in the making. Still, he foi- different script. A woman walked into crockery. But SoHo — with its greater , ■ lowed his routine, prepping newly bought Anne Fontaine, a boutique on Madison proximity to ground zero, greater reli­ willow and berry branches for display. Avenue and 67th Street where blouses ance on tourists and a set of stores that ' The branches were' never sold, of sell tor $168 on average, bought six, and cater not to the deeply entrenched super- i course. Within an hour, the towers had asked to have them ironed and delivered. wealthy but rather their more financially collapsed and Maiiliattan was being The terrorist attack on the World vulnerable, newly minted cousins — has ; sealed off below 14tH Street. By the time Trade Center sent economic shock been in much more pain. ' the authorities let Mr. Hernandez back waves rippling up all of New York's Even these days as the October light ( into the store three days later, the ber­ renowned shopping avenues, but display ries had shed all over the floor. He was windows did not rattle equally. Consider L Illuminates the fire escapes on the ■ converted industrial lofts, the urban- ; perfect streetscapes are empty. At ! the flea market at Wooster and \ Spring Streets, half of the stalls have closed. "It is very, very slow,” said Avital ; Alfasi, who sells fleece hats and bo- hemian velvet scarves. "It is so sad. I Normally on the weekends it would i be packed with people from New i Jersey and Long Island sitting out- ! side and drinking coffee. Now there ' is nobody. You don’t even see shop- I ping bags anymore.” ' Far uptown, the boutique opera­ tors bn Madison Avenue say the fall­ out from the terrorist attack has been far less stark. True, the kind of sang-froid dem­ onstrated by the Anne Fontaine cus­ tomer was unusual. For several days after the terrorist attack, business along the avenue dropped off signifi­ cantly, and several stores say they are still hurting. On a recent Friday afternoon, the Valentino store on 65th Street was devoid of customers, and at Mario Caldl, a nearby men’s cloth­ ing store where Italian suits are priced from $950 to $2,500, Asad Haider, a salesman, said that nothing , had sold the entire day. I Still, the storekeepers say, the to- I tai effect of the trade center disaster j has been more like a slap on the ■ cheek than a body blow, Madison ; Avenue is such an island unto itself I that, amazingly, a few store manag- ! ers even said that sales had been up I intheaftermathofSept.il.

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NYC-WTC_000230712