Articles about looting are starting to show up. Always sad to see those. Not even essential items - apparently
Brookstone was looted yesterday in Brooklyn.
http://gothamist.com/2012/10/30/looting_reported_at_south_street_se.php#photo-2
Point of information - the Brookstone store that was looted was in South Street Seaport, lower Manhattan. Eyes and ears prevent looting. Neighbors, doormen, workers going to and fro. South Street Seaport is largely a movie prop set with very, very few residents (they converted a few buildings north of the store in question, but the population is pretty thin). There's really nothing except tourist attractions and tourist restaurant/bar fare for several blocks in any direction.
Not saying it couldn't happen in other neighborhoods, but you're talking about a souless stretch with very few people around under normal conditions and very few people invested in the blocks around there. I seriously doubt that kind of bull#### would happen in 95% of New York neighborhoods, simply because there would be residents present and people around who actually care.