Moving Sidewalk

Steuben Parade, September 2007

This year’s Steuben Day Parade is at noon Saturday on Fifth Avenue, from 67th to 86th St.

Papers for Chinese laborer Goon Bow; photo from Brooklyn Historical Society

Finally, I made it to the Brooklyn Historical Society’s exhibit Living and Learning: Chinese Immigration, Restriction & Community in Brooklyn, 1850 to Present, which, happily, has been extended to October 18.

Through a series of panels with photos and a couple of census books, the exhibit discusses the reception that Chinese immigrants found in New York in the late 19th century and how they began to make Brooklyn a home. The caricatures are appalling, but they’re not only directed at the Chinese; apparently, there was something of an Irish resistance to Chinese immigration, and defenders of the Chinese did not hesitate to stereotype the Irish in comparison. And Chinese laundries not only offered economic competition but carried a more insidious threat: if men did laundry—women’s work—the sacred concept of manliness was in danger.

Overall I found it a very interesting introduction to the history of Chinese immigration to New York, with a rare focus on street-level Brooklyn and the churches and businesses that were part of Chinese life at the time.

The exhibit also takes a brief look at Sunset Park today, and on the historical society’s website you can download the oral histories of some Chinese-American residents of Sunset Park.

If you’re counting the days until the grand opening of the Museum of Chinese in America on Sept. 22, definitely pay a visit to the BHS.

What I found most notable about Paraíso Travel, now showing at the Quad Cinema on 13th Street in Manhattan, is that it is not the story of a desperate immigrant trying to escape debilitating poverty. Marlon is simply addled with desire for the young and highly manipulative Reina, who lures him from his middle-class home in Medellín to accompany her to the United States. In fact, Reina’s needs are beyond anything Marlon can imagine, but that’s not what the story is about. Marlon gets lost upon arrival and wants only to find her again.

The film, directed by Simon Brand, is a colorful portrait of some of the Colombian community in Jackson Heights and, in general, of the ways people find to get by. The supporting cast has a lot of personality, and there’s plenty of music and sex. I only wish Marlon himself were more interesting; while I sympathized with his predicament, I never really grew to like him.

More on Chinese Americans: Alison Leigh Cowan in the Times writes about the strategies of hopeful Chinese immigrants after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred most unskilled laborers from China. Immigrants would use study aids to pretend that they were the children of Chinese who were legal residents—or just to make sure they could prove who they actually were. Desperation to get into the United States is nothing new.

You can look at the notebook pages through the Times link above; it even includes a map of the family’s ancestral village. For more on this topic, one commenter recommends the book Paper Families by Estelle T. Lau.

The Times reports that the Museum of Chinese in America has moved to a much larger space at 211-215 Centre St in Manhattan. Its new home, designed by Maya Lin, is in a former industrial machine repair shop.

Exhibits are still moving into the building, which is open Thursdays only through the summer. (They also offer walking tours of Chinatown on Saturdays.) The grand opening is set for Sept. 22. Until then, you can read a lot more about it in the Times. It sounds terrific!

Dave Cook in the Times names five “especially tempting” international food fairs this summer. Read the story for sumptuous details.

• Indonesian Food Bazaar, 10 am to 4 pm Sunday, May 31, behind Masjid al-Hikmah, 48-01 31st Ave (48th St), Astoria, Queens
• Philippine Independence Day Festival, 10 am to 6 pm Sunday, June 7, Madison Avenue between 24th and 26th Sts
• Swedish Midsummer Festival, 5 to 8 pm Friday, June 19, Robert F. Wagner Jr. park, near Battery Place
• Rakhaing Thingyan Burmese New Year Water Festival, 11 am to 4 pm Sunday, July 12, JHS 56 schoolyard, Madison and Montgomery Streets, Lower East Side
• Myanmar Baptist Church Fun Fair, noon to 6 pm the second or third Saturday in August, 143-55 84th Drive (near 143rd St), Briarwood, Queens

Dan Ziskie has taken some nice photos in Chinatown. The New York Times has put up a slideshow, Neighborhood Faces.

Many events all over the city: art,  performance, tours, discussions, celebrations! Wish I could do it all! It runs April 17–23, and the schedule is available at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.