Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Stroll Around China-
town and Little Italy
Morning
Take the No. 6 train to
Spring Street, walk past
Lafayette, and turn down
Mulberry Street
(see p85)
for a stroll through Little
Italy. Don't miss the old-
fashioned food shops on
Grand Street, such as
cheese specialist Alleva
Dairy (188 Mulberry Street
at Grand) and Piemonte
Co. (190 Grand Street),
where two dozen shapes
and varieties of pasta
can be bought. At 206
Grand is DiPalo Dairy,
where you can watch
fresh mozzarella being
made. Take a break at a
classic Italian café, like
Caffè Roma, 385 Broome
Street, or Ferrara's, 195-
201 Grand Street.
Bloody Angle, Chinatown
Columbus Park
Chinatown's only park was
created in the late 1890s as a
result of the campaigning of
newspaper reporter Jacob Riis
and other social reformers. It
filled a stretch of the city that
at the time was New York's
worst slum, where Riis reported
a stabbing or shooting at least
once a week. Though it features
more concrete than greenery,
the park is popular today, filled
with Chinese kids at play,
mah
jong
players, and people
practicing
tai chi
and martial arts.
On the weekends, Chinese
fortune-tellers sometimes set
up shop in the park.
d
Bayard and
Mulberry sts
•
Map P4
Continue on Mulberry to
Bayard, and you'll find an
introduction to what's
ahead, the
Museum of
Chinese in the Americas
(see p85)
. Walk east one
block to Mott Street, the
center of Chinatown.
Enjoy a dim sum lunch at
Jing Fong
or the
Golden
Unicorn
(see p89)
.
Afternoon
Bloody Angle
The name for this sharp curve
on Doyers Street was coined by
a newspaper because this was
the site of so many gangland
ambushes during the 1920s.
It was a period when the Hip
Sing and On Leong
tongs
,
groups similar to criminal gangs,
were fighting for control of the
opium trade and gambling
rackets in Chinatown. The
tong
wars continued off and on until
at least the 1940s, and their
rivalries continue in the present-
day youth gangs.
d
Doyers Street
near Pell St
•
Map P4
Remaining on Mott Street,
spend some time browsing
the many shops, exotic
food stores, markets, and
galleries that line the
street. Step into Saint's
Alp Teahouse, 51 Mott
Street, to sample a current
fad imported from Taiwan:
tall glasses of flavored
teas served with ”pearls”
of tapioca in the bottom.
End the afternoon with a
visit to the golden Buddhas
of the
Eastern States
Buddhist Temple
and
have your fortune read.
87
