Flushing this week hosted the big-time festivities for Chinese Lunar New Year, but “Brooklyn’s Chinatown” saw some action, too. On Eighth Avenue last Monday to have a bowl of new-year’s noodles (long noodles=long life), I happened upon a miniature dragon paradeLion Dancers parade, put on by a group of young people associated with the Freemasons. These snakey, multi-legged creatures are a staple of the Lunar New Year’s parades–dragons have a long symbolic history in China, and are considered auspicious.Dragon’s are indeed auspicious, but as Frank pointed out below, these are lion dancers. As always, thanks to readers for keeping SP Chron on the straight and factual.
2010 is the year of the Tiger. If you’re a Tiger (born in 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 or 2010) you are kind, given to deep thinking, sympathetic and, apparently, a bit hot-tempered. For those among us not born under the sign of the “dynamic and powerful” big cat, which is usually associated with big changes and social disorder, “2010 is likely to be a turbulent year—on both a global and a personal level,” (this according to Yahoo!, mind you, which also offers tips for navigating this years’ ups and downs).
I hadn’t gone to Eighth Ave expecting to take photos so the images are rather b-grade, but I thought it worth a post regardless. Do you have New Year’s images from around town? Pass them along to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com. For a look at some truly stunning images of China ringing in the New Year, check out the Boston Globe.
For something closer to home, here’s a short video:
Good morning. It’s Thursday. The weekend looms. Let’s start with the prettiest in news:
*Lush trees, boggy wetlands and birds…in New York City? That’s precisely what Joel Meyerowitz portrays in large-scale photographs of 50 city parks on show at the Museum of the City of New York. Commissioned by the parks department, the exhibit is the largest documentary of the city’s 29,000 acres of parkland since they were photographed as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA project of the 1930s. Sunset Park made the cut, City Limits Online reports, offering a little bit of urban to the pastoral scenes of the lesser known green in our nation’s great metropolis. Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks, at the Museum of the City of New York, Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., adults $10, through March 21.
*Governor David Paterson led the way in welcomingCouncilwoman Sara M. González at the new Sunset Park High School into her second term on the council, YourNabe reported. The comment section (ever enlightening) offers a range of reactions to the news.
*Last weekend, nearly every paper ran stories on the tragic fire that killed five in Bensonhurst, including the mother of two young children.The New York Times offered some history, and the story about how the blaze affected families of the dead in Guatemala. The Post reported while the alleged arsonist said “demons” drove him to torch a baby carriage that drove the blaze, it may have had more to do with revenge. A Daily News story portrayed 2-year-old Josias’ confusion at his mothers death. Their home destroyed, the family has taken up residence in Sunset Park.
*A string of holdups in local warehouses, including at least one in the 72nd precinct, continued this week. From YourNabe.com: On January 11, two black males armed with handguns entered a warehouse on Centre Street between Smith and Court Streets and robbed a 43-year-old man inside. Police said that cops have connected the thieves to four similar robberies in the nearby 78th Precinct in Park Slope and the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park.
*In other crime news, a police arrested a man believed to be a thief with a thing for mailboxes. Officials alleged 49-year-old John Sturiale was one of two men who in December stole metal and plastic post office containers worth upward of $2500 (who knew?) from the post office on 58th Street, YourNabe.com reported. First email, then missing containers. Times are tough for USPS.
