Multimedia Reporting: Around New York

by Patrick Chiang

Traditional Chinese medicine has been around for ages and its benefits are not just for the Chinese. Acupuncturist Bill Jiao encourages everyone to give it a try. We take a quick stroll through Ginseng King in Flushing Queens to learn about a few herbs and their healing benefits.

http://youtu.be/sDNfmZQGV2I

By Linda Li

As Brooklyn’s Chinatown in Sunset Park expands southward, the city’s Chinese population begins to settle along the shoreline. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Coney Island and Sea Gate have a total of 2,066 Chinese, a nearly 35 percent increase over the number of Chinese residents accounted for in the 2000 Census. In spite of worries about hurricanes and flooding after the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, residents are drawn to the area by affordable real estate and access to the beach.

Recent transplant, Danny Chin, a fifty-one year old chef, vigilantly flood proofs the basement is preparation of future storms.  As he continues renovating his new home, he anticipates strolling the boardwalk and lounging at the beach as temperatures begin to rise. Since he is keeping his apartment in Manhattan’s Chinatown, the new home will be a sanctuary for weekend getaways.

His close friend and neighbor, Ming Leu, embraces the arrival of his childhood friend. They intend on fishing and crabbing on their days off once warm weather approaches. After his home was flooded in the storm, he insists Coney Island is still the place he wants to call home.

Right in the heart of midtown Manhattan on a Friday afternoon, just steps away from Grand Central Terminal, a very small group of a dozen or so fans anxiously await for players of the Atlanta Braves to exit their hotel as they get ready to start their three game series against the New York Mets. These fans are baseball autograph collectors who have taken the hobby to an unusual extreme.

A simple Google search for a mom’s group will link you to several different types of support groups by location, hobby, religion, and more. MOPs (Mothers of preschoolers) and Moms Club are two of the many groups that are nationally known and with various locations. The majority of mom support groups meet by neighborhood. There are groups for working moms, stay-at-home moms, and single moms. There are even groups for dads!

This particular mom’s group began about 30 years ago at Church of the Intercessor in Malverne, N.Y. by mothers in the church. They currently meet almost every Wednesday to hear a teaching, engage in discussion, and pray together.

The mothers also set up events to go to the zoo or the Long Island Children’s Museum with their children.

“I could learn from other moms. I could also share where I was struggling and I had support. And I tell my kids, I’m a better mom because of mom’s group in particular because I wasn’t isolated,” Ciccarello said.