Went out my door last night and there were about 100 kids camped out on the sidewalk on Lafayette Street in the rain.  I've seen this scene before.  It happens here in front of Recon, the hipster fashion store owned by my old amigo Lenny McGurr, aka Futura 2000, one of the most illustrious of graffiti artists, and his friend Stash.

When I went out the door this morning there were about 200 kids lined up outside the store, those closest to the door being packed like sardines.  About half were Japanese.  This same scene happens occasionally down the street at Supreme when a new collection arrives.  The cause of the excitement was the release of a new limited edition sneaker by Nike, the "Kiss of Death" that costs $200 and has what looks like red alligator-hide swooshes on the sides.

Last night I related the story of the kids camping in the rain on the sidewalk to buy sneakers to some friends over an amazing dinner at Lupa, cooked personally by Mario Batali.  While we sipped extraordinary wines from the Bastianich vineyard, I explained this regular urban camping out phenomenon, which results in much litter and general annoyance to the neighbors.  Of course I can't call the cops because Futura is a friend, but I wonder out loud if this is, technically, loitering or some other misdemeanor.

Loitering was defined, in a law struck down by the Supreme Court in 1999, as "to remain in any one place with no apparent purpose." Of course, although these kids appeared to be loitering, in that they were standing about idly in the rain, they in fact had serious purpose.  One of my dinner companions told of a friend who bought a pair of limited edition Nikes in Berlin, then sold them on eBay for $6,000.

I have heard that many of the kids who line up at Recon and Supreme do in fact resell these trendy items at a tremendous profit margin.  It just goes to show you, kids might look like they're loafing or getting in trouble, but actually they're getting ahead.  There are several pairs listed on eBay right now, hovering around $500 with many hours left.  I'm a little more respectful of these skateboard kids now that I know most of them may not be desperate fashion victims after all, but wily entrepreneurs selling to desperate fashion victims overseas.

Here's a photo of me and Futura back at the height of our softball careers when he captained "The Escadrille" and I captained "The No Sox."