URBAN DECAY. New York is still the top financial center of the world, according to a new survey from Global Financial Centres Index, compiled by Z/Yen Group and the China Development Institute. But the value of the bragging rights may be less than they were. The pandemic has depleted cities’ importance and their fungibility. Rankings between financial centers ride on the assumption that companies, people and investment will flow towards the winners. But one of the big lessons of Covid-19 is that people can live in one place and work in another. People may be less willing, or able, to ship out from one country to another. And cities overall have lost their luster. Nine of the top 10 global cities including London, the silver medalist, had a decline in their overall scores according to Z/Yen. One exception to the trend was the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first identified. It gained some points, but perhaps unsurprisingly sits at the bottom of the ranking. (By Jennifer Saba)