After storm, NYC's Chinatown streets quiet, empty
NEW YORK (AP) — The usually crowded, raucous streets of Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood are quiet and much less busy in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
On Thursday, a lone vendor sold flashlights on Canal Street, instead of the usual throng hawking their handbags and watches of oftentimes questionable origins.
Kamrul Islam, the owner of a little souvenir shop on Canal Street, said Thursday was the first time he opened the store since the storm.
He lives in Queens and had not lost power so he didn't realize that all of downtown Manhattan was in the dark.
He said, "It's like the 18th Century in here."
He said none of the businesses in Chinatown were flooded.
