Wall Street Gets Fancy

Here is how Wall Street works - in downtown (physically on Wall St.) are the grunts, and in midtown are the upper echelon of managers who need to flash their wealth. It's not a rule of thumb, but it's a fair statement. In addition all the Wall St. money makers live uptown and that's where they (and their wives) are dropping the cash. Hence, you will see zero luxury clothing stores on Wall St., and only two tiny stores that sell swiss watches (the barometer of male Wall St. wealth). Contrary to the popular belief, a ton of people on Wall St. don't make much money, especially the grunts. However, with recent residentail development in the Financial District, some execs. and brokers are moving close to where they work. Some apartments at 15 Broad St, across from the New York Stock Exchange, designed by Philip Starck rent for $11 thousand a month. The luxury fashion industry, having run out of retail space on Madison and in Soho is taking heed. An Hermes store is in the works on the corner of Wall St. and Exchange Place, and Canali just rented floor space across the street. This is just the beginning.