Chinatown Night Market, Forsyth Plaza
I found out about this from a Middkid that was manning her parents’ tea shop’s stall, Grand Tea & Import, and I was surprised to see this passageway and nook of Chinatown transformed into such a hustle and bustle event. Growing up in this part of Chinatown, the area near the entrance and under the Manhattan Bridge were lined with vegetable stands that my grandma frequented. I don’t know when the stands began disappearing, but I remember seeing the emptiness as a norm the years after coming back from Midd. Yesterday night, the
(Image Description: Karen is in a white t-shirt with her best friend, Liz, in a black jacket, in front of a table of teas, incenses, t-shirts, and merchandise, with customers holding a bag of tea. On the right is a egg waffle cart that had options of syrup, condensed milk, sprinkles, and other toppings beyond the classic egg waffle. In the back is Division St and East Broadway, NYC.)
There were a variety of food stalls, including Chinese egg waffles, Cambodian amok, Malaysian curry, Asian spiced skewers, sugarcane juice, Vietnamese pho, next to a row of tables and little stools that reminds me of the scenes of night markets in Asia. There were also artisans and shops selling crafts, teas, and drawings. The event was sponsored by Citizens bank, which haven’t given me the best customer experience, but when you need sponsors who are willing to fund cool community events, you go for it? (I don’t know the background of this sponsorship.) I felt like I was being transported to a scene, but it was in NYC during pandemic. I definitely felt cautious with crowd and masking, and yet it was cool to see such innovation. Meeting Karen’s sister, Alice, who is one of organizers of the event from Think!Chinatown, reminded me of the power of innovation and younger folks who still live in Chinatown. The event also reminded me of wanting to visit more night markets and go on small adventures across the city with folks.
One last unexpected sighting is of folks giving out flyers about displacement and gentrification in Chinatown by real estate developers.
This was a flyer from May in front of a store on Chrystie Street, a block away from the Night Market.
As this night market seemed to be for the community, there is still this gnawing question of how many of its residents are being pushed out by wealthier folk, including wealthier Chinese Americans - skin folk are not always kin folk? Yet this reminds me of this history of Chinatown and how it was created due to ethnic/racial discrimination and exclusion of Chinese folks by White Americans. Now that Asian cuisine and goods are desirable, and wealthier folks to live there, once again, people are being pushed out. Needless to say, I thought it was quite smart for the organizers to be at the event to engage.
