A news story in the June 5, 1932 edition of The New York Times – after the Great Depression had begun to throw America into economic turmoil, upending the social fabric of the country, began: “Darwin’s theory that man can adapt himself to almost any new environment is being illustrated, in this day of economic change, by thousands of New Yorkers who have discovered new ways to live and new ways to earn a living since their formerly placid lives were thrown into chaos by unemployment … occupations and duties which once were scorned have suddenly attained unprecedented popularity.”
The story went on to say that the reported number of shoe shines in the city went from virtually none to almost 7,000 in three years and that they were no longer boys under 17 but men up to the age of 70. The other methods to make money were selling apples, rubber balls, cheap neckties and pencils, hawking newspapers and even showing up for jury duty.
A walk around midtown Manhattan offers evidence that history repeats itself. Street vendors and hawkers abound with cheap ties, contraband DVDs, videotapes, second-hand books and costume jewelry.
And what of Greenwich, where a recent Reuters’ story said, “As many hedge funds suffer big losses and anxious investors yank out their money, the town synonymous with the riches of their recent glory is now hurting.”
The reporter then went on to list the litany of economic woes afflicting town, from a slump in real estate to the loss of hedge funds, which predominated the local economy in recent years, so much so that Vanity Fair did a piece on their influence on the community. And typically, the story, which fits into the “toney Greenwich” genre, compared Greenwich Avenue with Rodeo Drive.
There are those of us, however, who long for the days when you could buy a cheeseburger and Coke at the lunch counter at Woolworth’s or a piece of chicken at Garden Poultry (long gone) and sit on the lawn at St. Mary’s and watch the world go by. Some people suggest this economic turmoil will bring us back to simpler times. If it does, the process will be painful and it’s only just begun. Let’s see if Darwin’s theory still applies.
