Distress Call on Seventh Avenue

Returning home last night from spending the long weekend upstate, I emerged from Pennsylvania Station to find the U.S. flag flying upside down above the marquee at the Affinia Hotel.
It seemed so appropriate. As you may know, an upside down American flag is a signal of distress. Whether the hotel meant to do that or did it by mistake is unknown. The two employees I spoke with in the lobby didn't have a clue what I was talking about. As would many people in this country today, I suspect.