Chinatown

From last week, when I felt as though I were seeing the City with new eyes again.  

NY Corners:

Chinatown is where my closest friend and I got dumplings during our independent senior year trip to the City. It's one of the three places I remember feeling that I could make New York work. It's where I went, a few years later, for dim sum. While I'm often passing through on foot or over by train, I've gone to the neighborhood since then to purchase specialty items for new recipes.

Having photographed it again, I was struck by the visible tourism/commercialism, which gave the neighborhood an international quality. I was also interested in the signs against spitting ("it's against the Law," one sign read, capital "l" included) and then recalled that spitting seems to be part of the culture—but not in the US. I appreciated the community feel in some parts of Chinatown—especially in Columbus Park, where many gathered and played games, with the older generations at checkers tables and the younger ones in a soccer field.