Arye Dworken is idiosyncraticidiosyncratic adj.特殊物质的， 特殊的， 异质的 enough to be a character from that defining cultural artifact of our last recession， Slacker. But somehow this economic downturn isn，t very funny. It isn，t just the looming war with Iraq (1991 had that， too). It，s the industries on life support-music， publishing， the Internet， take your pick-that cloud much of the optimismoptimism n.乐观， 乐观主义 for the young and unemployed in New York. These are the jobs that shape our sense of possibility， our sense that what we，re doing can be done here and only here. And they，re fast disappearing from the city，s landscape.
“My mother calls them MTV jobs，” says 28yearold music journalist Miranda Jane. “Jobs in the music business， publishingthese are the jobs that everyone wants. These are the jobs that thousands of people from all around the world come to New York for.” Jane should know： She moved to New York in January 2000 to take a senioreditor position at hiphop magazine Complex， only to be laid off in August 2002.
Getting back one of those MTV jobs is proving to be more difficult than Jane ever imagined. “It，s shocking，” she says. “I，ve sent out hundreds of résumés， and I，ve only gotten one interview.”She，s far from alone. “Whenever I go down to the unemployment office，”Jane says， “I notice that a lot of people seem to be in the media.”
Jane is biding her time-and paying rent on her Williamsburg studio apartment-with freelance publicitypublicity n.公开 jobs. “I，ve thrown morals and taste by the wayside，” she says with a laugh. “Right now I，m representing a hiphopporno DVD.”
The past few months in particular-which have been marked by everything from a broken laptop to a job at another hiphop magazine that seemed to be hers but then went to an employee inside the company-have caused Jane to reexaminereexamine v.复试 her career aspirations. “At this point， I feel like my focus on music or music journalism is hurting me，” she says. “The sense I get is that magazines will follow the trend of record labels. There will be fewer and fewer of them， and the staffs will become smaller and smaller.”
Nevin Martell， a 28yearold online producer and freelance journalist who was laid off from his seniorproducer position at Getmusic.com in June 2002， eerily matches Garrett，s sentiments almost note for note. “I，m fighting harder and harder for jobs，” Martell says. “The competition is so fierce. I interviewed with one Website， and they said， We can get a college grad to do this for 20，000 a year. I want to work， but I，m not willing to sign up for a job just to have a job.”
“A lot of things are happening at once： the economy， the war， all of these industries in flux，” agrees Lisa Garrett， a 29yearold who is pursuing a career in the music business. Since moving to New York in 1997， Garrett has worked for-and been laid off from-defunct Avenue A rock club Brownie，s， independent rock label Matador Records， and downtown record store Other Music. “I think change is good in the end，”Garrett says.“It challenges people， makes them more creative. But I have a feeling that when things come back， they won，t come back in the same way.”
Accepting difficult times ahead hardly makes the current moment any easier. “It，s very tough right now，” Garrett continues. “The few job interviews I，ve gone on， everyone seemed qualified or overqualified. And I，m talking about jobs that are very lowpaying.” Laid off in August 2002， Garrett says that “there are good months and bad months； January， surprisingly enough， wasn，t too bad. I got temp jobs pretty consistentlyconsistently adv.一贯地， 一向， 始终如一地.”Sharing a small twobedroom apartment with a friend in Williamsburg eases the financial burden， and hanging out with so many unemployed in the neighborhood helps salve the emotionalemotional adj.情绪的， 情感的 one. But she says the ominous signs keep on coming： “In the past few weeks， four people I know were laid off.” She clears her throat. “It，s been more than a little alarming.”
And like Garrett， Martell is resigned to a notsobright immediate future. “I have had to say to myself， It，s gonna be a really tough five or six years， ” he says with a sigh. “Right now， most people don，t have highspeed Internet access， so transmitting video content just isn，t viableviable adj.能养活的， 能生育的， 可行的. That，s definitely going to change， but it，s going to be several years from now， if not longer.” He，s equally bearishbearish adj.如熊的， 粗暴的 about the music industry. “This is an industry，” he says angrily， “that is just not conforming to what people want.”
Martell says that it helps to surround yourself with likeminded friends： “A lot of people are treading water right now. I think we，ve all realized that it，s okay to postpone happiness for a while.” He and his friends， however， are careful not to drown their sorrows in vice. “Going out for a few drinks costs like 100，” Martell says， “and forget about drugs. Half the people I know have quit smoking dope. Unemployment， bad movies， a couch， and a bong all go handinhand， unfortunately.”
Robert Samsel took his post-9/11 layoff from a fashiondesign firm in stride.“Everyone was getting laid off from the company，”Samsel says，“the parttimers， the fulltimers； there wasn，t anyone who didn，t take a hit.”Back then， it was easy for the 22yearold， who had come to New York just two months earlier from Poland with dreams of starting his own line， to chalk up the ordeal to the sort of tough breaks newcomers experience. But then something alarming happened： “I couldn，t find a design job anywhere，”he says， “so I did freelance stylist work-all for free.”
By September 2002， his patience-and his bank account-was running low.“So I took a retail job at Zara，”Samsel says， “which wasn，t the worst thing in the world， because at least I had a job. The scariest thing about Zara， though， was meeting coworkers who，d been laid off from senior design positions. I couldn，t believe it.”Last month， Samsel was laid off from Zara. “Somewhere inside， I had a feeling it would happen，” he says， “because so many things are working against retail now： a terrible economy， a harsh winter， the war， you name it. The atmosphere is unforgivingunforgiving adj.不可宽恕的， 不能原谅的.”