As the protesters moved north, fringe groups hung back, setting fires, breaking windows and grabbing goods from a string of luxury boutiques.

By Ali Watkins, Erik M. Norman & Nate Schweber @ NYTimes.com, June 1 with numerous photos

[....] By morning, the devastation in Manhattan was unlike anything New York had seen since the blackout of 1977. Block after block of boutiques in the Flatiron district had their windows shattered and’ their goods looted.

All down Broadway and through the side streets of SoHo, the destruction was widespread and indiscriminate, from chain drugstores to the Chanel boutique, from the Adidas outlet to Dolce & Gabbana [....]

The police said that more than 400 people were arrested in New York overnight on Sunday, mostly for looting and burglary. [....]

After midnight, a second protest march from Brooklyn crossed the Manhattan Bridge after having clashed with the police outside the Barclays Center. Once they reached Manhattan, the protesters immediately began smashing windows of stores on the Lower East Side.

Not long after this group arrived in Manhattan, gunshots rang out along Crosby Street in SoHo, and people scrambled for cover. Two men dove into an idling car, which sped off. An ambulance soon arrived and picked up a man, who the police said had been shot. It is unclear whether the incident was connected to the looting or protests [....]

“We’re robbing everybody!” one young man yelled on Houston and Broadway at 2:24 a.m [....]

It was not only luxury franchises that were targeted: On Lafayette Street, Jason Ackerman, 45, stood in front of his small business, Soho Ink, a tattoo and clothing shop. He said shoplifters stole $1,000 cash, all his clothing merchandise and smashed his display cases.

“I feel anger, disgust; I feel shame for my city that we’ve resorted to destroying,” he said. “New Yorkers, we’re supposed to come together.”

Mr. Ackerman said he considered himself a supporter of the protests, and was troubled that the looting had tried to commandeer its mission.

The destruction waned by 3 a.m., but it brought a new wave of panic: Looters, many of whom had crossed over the bridge from Brooklyn, realized they had no means of transport home. The city’s subways have been shut down overnight because of the coronavirus pandemic [....]

At 5:18 a.m., Joseph Holder, 65, a maintenance worker who sweeps the streets, surveyed the damage and was horrified. “I’m fearful for my life,” said Mr. Holder, who is black. “Yes, black lives matter, but what example are you setting for the next generation?” “Let me do what I have to do,” he said, preparing to go work. “Because I don’t want to be on these streets too long.”