Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
By 11 AM, other people started arriving, and it wasn't difficult to be social. I chatted with an advertising executive who claimed that, a decade ago, you'd run into way more people at this time."In Little Italy, the factories have shut down," he said. "And the union dudes have left. Along with the Italians."But nostalgia, in the end, can't sustain a business. Where were the hotel doormen, the post office sorters, the orange-vested Con Ed guys I always saw on my road at night? Did I simply choose "off" days? Has the supply decreased from the dwindling demand? Or did I show up two decades late? I felt as if I were a stranger in a forgotten era, harboring romantic visions of a part of New York that has long begun to fade. I didn't quite know what to conclude, and really, I still don't. I lost track of time, and I departed the Spring Lounge in a hurry, thanking everyone for their generosity.Though I said I'd return in the morning soon, I worried, whenever that was, it wouldn't be soon enough.Follow Alex on Twitter.Trending on Motherboard: Uber's Phantom Cabs