For David Munk, an economic crisis is nothing new – but he still finds it unnerving.
Three years ago, he lost his job as a high-flying music executive when the music industry reorganized itself to accommodate digital media such as iTunes. For more than a year, he stayed at home unemployed, living off severance pay and savings that were quickly exhausted.
“I went from making $180,000 a year with an unlimited expense account to unemployable,” Munk said.
Drug abuse, always part of the Manhattan music scene, also contributed to his troubles.
“The music industry is primarily occupied by drug addicts and egomaniacs so my behavior was never particularly remarkable,” Munk said. “I didn’t lose my career due to my drug use, but my ego and drug use made it harder for me to bounce back.”
Now, at 43, he works as a retail clerk at Chelsea Girl Couture, his friend’s vintage clothing store in Soho, for $14 an hour, and to deal with his addiction, he has been in recovery programs over the past three years.
The right subject
New Yorkers are busy, or so they claim. For a profile on David Munk, once a high-rolling music executive, I had to plead for a half-hour time slot. He could squeeze me in but he said we had to keep it short. Yet, when interviewing him, something mysterious happened. He wouldn’t let me go. I’m learning that if you can be a good listener, a person’s busy schedule will often dissolve. People seem to have all the time in the world when speaking about themselves.
Intimate apparel
I became anxious while reporting that Munk now supplements his depressed income by selling his old designer clothes to a consignment shop in the East Village. Coincidently it is the same consignment store where I shop. Looking at him I realized we were about the same size and shared a similar sense of style. I mentally scanned what I wear, trying to remember if I had purchased it there. I risked further embarrassment at being recognized by salespeople with whom I’m acquainted -- but luckily I got out unnoticed.
—Matthew Hennessy
Munk exemplifies a growing number of skilled professionals who have gone from highly compensated careers to unemployment and anxiety over their future because of global economic shifts.
Munk can readily identify with Wall Street hot shots who have crashed. “It’s a familiar feeling to me, like not really being sure of what to do with myself,” he said.
Micah Rafferty, a friend Munk met at a recovery program, remembers Munk’s dejection after his music industry setback. “He felt bereft that he had been shut out of that world,” Rafferty said. “There was a lot of tension that he just was sort of exuding at that time.”
Since leaving the industry, he has trimmed his monthly expenses drastically, but he still struggles to cover his total monthly outlay of $2,000.
“It’s just so expensive living here,” Munk said of New York City. “You have to be rich to be middle class now. It’s just really challenging and of course everyone’s feeling it now.”
