On June 1, just days before I was to fly to Wichita to begin my trip, I took an early morning walk across lower Manhattan, taking in the silent and empty landscapes. In SoHo, which was almost completely empty, I came across a gaggle of police arresting a couple of kids on Wooster Street, which was littered with broken glass. I had just missed an early morning riot that trashed the storefronts of Chanel and other luxury goods places. In the video, above, the police officer was ordering me to move, though it took me a while to realize it. I was too caught up in the scenery to pay any attention to him. The moment felt so charged — luxury bags and cops with guns; Black Lives Matter followed by looters; the consumer virus v. the coronavirus.
The luxury riot of 2020