In New York, Manhattan's Fashion district is hanging by a thread In the weeks leading up to New York Fashion Week, the factories of New York's garment district are abuzz with activity as they get high-quality garments ready for the catwalk. But the small neighborhood, nestled amid skyscrapers close to Times Square, has lost 95 percent of its workforce since its heyday in the 1950s, when it employed hundreds of thousands of people. With exorbitant rate increases and production moving abroad there are concerns that the district will not survive. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES