Has cocaine really lost its social stigma? Neel Shah does some sniffing around

Last June, the New York Times proclaimed that attitudes toward cocaine were evolving: "You could go into a swanky party in New York and do a line and nobody would notice." But is the city that never sleeps really that blasé about blow? To find out, we dispatched reporter Neel Shah—clad in his finest Club Monaco getup—to places swank (Graydon Carter's Waverly Inn) and pedestrian (Starbucks), armed with a baggie of confectioners' sugar and our lawyer's phone number. Here's what happened:

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Starbucks, Midtown
Scene: 3:15 p.m. A steady flow of corporate types in search of an afternoon pick-me-up.

Reaction: Baristas and patrons stare as I stand on line and snort away; shockingly, nobody says a word. I joke to a dandyish white male in his early thirties that at these prices he's better off doing blow than buying $4 grande café lattes. He laughs. I follow him to the milk station, where I offer him a plastic baggie. He says he'd love to indulge, but he's scheduled to deliver a presentation at his ad agency in 20 minutes.

SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE? Yes.

Photos by Stacey Pittman