A Sunday on the Bowery

On a recent Sunday on the Bowery, the streets glistened in the sun with that sort of light that is unique to the first couple of hours after a rainfall. But the brightness of a sunny day does little to hide the feeling of stagnancy that permeates every block along the Bowery.

The wide avenue is lined with countless stores that all seem to sell the same thing. At the intersection of Houston and Bowery, Chef Restaurant Supply Company and Adams Co. Restaurant Supply face each other.

Then there are Paragon Restaurant World, Grandview Restaurant Equipment Supply and Bari Restaurant Depot. Bari Equipment sells pizza ovens, dough retarders, refrigerators and mixers, among other industrial-size items.

Keep walking south, between Prince and Rivington, and you will see the Chairs and Tables Outlet; Vegas Co. Bakery, Pizza & Restaurant Equipment; and a storefront simply named Chairs Tables Stools.

Most of the signs are faded or missing letters. Industrial metal sinks and hollow refrigerators line the sidewalks, waiting to be sold. Nearly all of the stores are closed, some simply because it is Sunday but others surely boarded up for good. The Bowery has somehow so far escaped the gentrification of the Lower East Side, but its survival feels finite.