Reading Treasure

This book was recommended to me and I picked it up. It's called Chinatown New York; Portraits, Recipes, and Memories.

It's a beautifully bound collection of exactly what it advertises - portraits, recipes, and memories. Filled with colorful pictures, informative history, and personal touches, this book captures the essence of Chinatown. 

It opens with a brief history of the area, complete with photographs of older times. The photos may be black and white, but a quick look at the scene of Doyer's street from the early 1990s is eerie in its similarity to the street today. 

The book then divulges into personal histories of people (mostly successful, well-known local celebrities). It tells their personal histories and their connection with the Chinatown that was growing along side of them. 

The book also contains information on local restaurants, stores, festivals, traditions, and even tourist information. It includes recipes for traditional foods, including different variations of dumplings. And the recipe for red bean ice cream sits right next to a photo that makes you wish you had some right now. 

The author writes in the foreword, "This book is an introduction and a guide to Manhattan's Chinatown, to its historical and current pathways and traditions, as well as a cultural snapshot, a window into the people who continue to give life to the streets and shops and restaurants of the neighborhood. " 

All in all, this book is a great way to learn about Chinatown. Not only is it informative, but also looks absolutely gorgeous as a display book. 

It can be found at most bookstores or ordered online. 

Excellent Treasure

This treasure is a guilty pleasure of mine.

The exterior doesn't look like much - paper covered windows and a green and white awning - but the Excellent Dumpling House on Lafayette flashy decor is not needed. 

Its name doesn't lie - the dumplings ($4.75) are excellent - but so is the rest of the menu. It's the perfect place to satisfy that Chinese food craving on tight budget.  Most of the lunch specials are only $5.75 and include a choice of soup and rice. 

Come indulge in that sweet and sour chicken ($8.25)  you've been wanting to order. The cashew chicken (also $8.25) is delicious, covered in just the right amount of sauce. 

It even offers low calorie options such as shrimp and broccoli ($8.25) so that you don't have to feel like you are over eating!

The Excellent Dumpling House is between Canal and Walker Street. Just a hop, skip, and jump from the Canal Street stops of the J, M, Z, N, R, Q, W, and the 6. 

And it delivers. 

photo courtesy of the bridge and tunnel club. 

Old School Treasures

In a playful mood? Miss the old days? Chinatown Fair, located at 8 Mott Street, is a video arcade. It might look a little rundown on the outside, but walk in and it’s video game heaven.

One of the last few video arcades left in the city, the Chinatown Fair attracts mostly teens looking for a place to hang out with friends and work on their gaming skills.

The place is packed with a large selection of video games, including the ever popular Dance, Dance, Revolution. Bring your quarters!

For those shower singers out there, there's a great place to practice your singing. 

Winnie's Bar and Restaurant on Bayard Street offers karaoke for those in the mood to belt out tunes like Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" after knocking back a few.

Don't worry if you can't remember the words; the large screen and the helpful mix of customers are there to back you up.

It's not the prettiest spot, but it gives off a comfortable environment for singing your heart out.

A Little Mixed Treasure

Indian Pancakes. Pad Thai. General Tso’s Chicken. Calamari. Spicy Stingray. Found all on one menu?

The answer is "yes!" at Jaya, which serves food featuring Malay, Indian, Indonesian, Thai, and Chinese influences. Located just off of Canal Street at 90 Baxter St., this Mayalasian owned restaurant proves that Chinatown is not simply a Chinese culture haven.

It sits, like today’s Chinatown, at the cross roads of Asian influence.

The reasonably priced entrees, averaging around $6 to $7, bring in mixture of court workers, jury duty attendees, families, tourists, and students of all backgrounds.

The bamboo and lantern decorated indoor seating area is enough to make the restaurant feel warm and tropical even in the winter when the outdoor sidewalk seating is unavailable.

Those lucky enough to sit outside at Jaya will see an area that sustains strongholds of Japanese, Malaysian, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and Mongolian cultures, visible by the restaurant canopies and posted menus along the winding streets. Sixty percent of the area is foreign born according to the 2000 U.S. census.

Jaya’s menu sizzles with items such as the Lemon-Grass Satay ($6.95), six skewers of chicken or beef served with a spicy peanut sauce. The menu is fiery, Indian style, with dishes such as the Curry Puffs ($5), a fried pastry stuffed with onions, potatoes and spices such as its namesake. Three of these soft, flaky puffs come nestled in a small round bamboo basket.

Staples like General Tso’s Chicken ($10.50), Cashew Chicken ($9.95), and Pad Thai ($6.95) supplement exotic dishes such as Sotong Kangkung ($7.95), an appetizer of squid over water spinach, and Yuetow Mai Fun ($7.95), a large portion of rice noodles and vegetables in fish-head broth.

“One of our most popular items is the Roti Chanai ($2.50), the Indian Pancake,” said David Wong, a manager at Jaya.

Wong also said that a lot of the Chinese and Thai noodle dishes are especially popular among customers.





Jaya is easily accessible by the Canal St J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W and 6 stops.

Photo Michele Langlois

Obama Brings Hope to Treasure Sellers

Many tourists find themselves on the streets of Chinatown, wandering up and down Canal Street looking for something to bring home from their big city adventure. How will the outcome of the presidential election affect the treasures they bring home?

Tarun Karmaker owns the NYC Mini Mall on Canal Street, which sells New York souvenirs, watches and purses. Due to the economy, he has noticed that people have not been buying as many of his products.

However, he and his employees feel that Obama will bring the change needed to improve sales.

“I am suffering,” Karmaker said. “People are not buying. They have no money.”

Karmaker could not pin point a single item that his customers were buying less of. Instead, he expressed concern that they were buying less of everything.

“I had another store down the street,” said Karmaker. “But I had to sell it because of the economy.”

The Mini Mall is not Karmaker’s only business; he also sells real estate - a prospect that has been negatively affected by the economy as well.

Obama winning the Presidential election on November 4th would help to improve his businesses, expressedKarmaker.

“Obama will be good for the economy,” he said. “He’ll stop the war.”

Karmaker thinks having the war end will help the economy and make it possible for people to have more money to spend.

“Once everything is okay financially, people will make more money and be happy,” he said.

“ I prefer Obama,” said Mamob Rathman who works with Karmaker at the NYC Mini Mart. “Obama will get it done.”

9/11

It used to be possible from the streets of Chinatown to look up and see the silver wrapped treasures that were the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Now, there is simply a hole in the skyline.

Any American who can remember the World Trade Center attacks of September 11th, 2001 can remember the exact place, moment, and way they heard the news. Even those who were not New Yorkers felt the horror, the struggle and the absolute shock the entire country felt when they learned of the wound that had been inflicted on their country.

When I stand, fingers clutching the metal fence, and peer down into the still healing sore that is the World Trade Center site, I am suddenly thirteen. I am not going to lie; when our middle school principle told the students at a general assembly, I thought it was a joke. Planes don’t fly into buildings.

I thought of the buildings I’d try so hard to find in sky line when my Grandpa would drive me to the airport. I thought of the strong silver towers that were so beautiful. No, there was no way something could knock them down.

Later, as I sat in the classroom, far away in Houston, TX, I could see the buildings crumble, crash, and burn. They teetered, shook and tumbled with fire and black smoke. People were jumping from windows. And thousands were wandering the streets, walking the bridges, covered in soot. This was no joke.

My new home is not far from the hole that once harbored the giants; my walk home each day is right past it. When passing by, I think of it as a web that encompassed my city. Like my parents unable to return from their business convention, I would have been unable to return home. My street would have been covered in debris.

I can only imagine what Downtown Manhattan must have felt after such a catastrophe. Streets were shut off, memorabilia for those lost lined the streets. It must have been awful.

As much as the site is now a tourist attraction (every single one of my out of town friends insist on seeing it), it was a tourist deterrent in 2001. Our class trip to Washington D.C. almost got canceled from fear of hi-jacking that year. It most certainly would have been canceled if scheduled for New York.

This had a huge impact on Chinatown, an area that thrives on tourist revenue. Not only were the tourists not visiting, but the office workers were no longer passing by. Streets were blocked off; people were losing jobs. It was a mess.

But the Chinatown I pass through now is up and thriving. Just as I don’t have to see the gap in the skyline if I don’t look off to the side, Chinatown can look past this event and carry on.

However, just as I remember being thirteen and horrified at the fiery destruction, residents and workers can still remember the way September 11th crippled their daily lives.

Today, tours of the World Trade Center are available from the WTC Tribute Center.

Author Pete Hamill Discusses Treasure Hunting

"You can't know anything, unless you walk," said Pete Hamill, 73, author of "Downtown: My Manhattan." "You think of one thing and it leads you to another."

The seasoned New Yorker and writer came to share his treasures of
experiencing the city with my NYU class. He shared a few tips on how
he finds the treasures for his stories.

A novelist and journalist, Hamill discussed his secret to writing about downtown Manhattan- experiencing the city yourself.

"You take with you what you know," said Hamill. "That's your basic template."

Having lived in New York City for most of his life, Hamill is able to bring to life the history behind many places people just walk past.

He sees writing as a type of music, turning the sentences in his pieces into musical pieces. He transforms his words into rhythm.

"Every piece has music if it's good," Hamill explains.

He suggests exploring by yourself, surrounding yourself with the story. And that some of that story, that music, is yourself.