NYC officials step up efforts to create new, modern garment district

New York

LIKE generations of garment workers before him, Max Hernandez came to New York City to get his start behind a sewing machine.

But he could not find any work. After more than a year of looking, Mr Hernandez, 25, finally spotted a Craigslist ad for a US$12 an hour sewing job with UZI, a tiny company in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, that makes dresses for Anthropologie, among others. "New York City is the centre of the fashion world, but hardly any of it is made here," said Mr Hernandez, who beat out a dozen other applicants for the job.