Few chroniclers of street style have been as lucky as Ricky Powell. The photographer, public-access television host, and ubiquitous downtown New York presence got his start shooting on the Beastie Boys' License to Ill tour in 1987. With the band's entrée, he spent the intervening years documenting hip-hop's rise from the days of gold chains to the days of gold bars (so to speak). Tonight, Powell opens Apt. A, a retrospective of previously unseen work that he'd stockpiled in his apartment. It's compelling viewing, not to mention further evidence that New York ain't what it used to be.
Through Dec. 7 at Sugarhead Quarters, 174 Rivington St., NYC, (212) 228-3248, sugarheadquarters.com