New York Stories

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In one word, how would you describe New York City? Oh, I know! FILTHY!

In a city of over 8 million people, the good ol’ N.Y.C. is filled with a plethora of different personalities, cultures, foods, and more. But one thing that all of us “New Yaw-kas” have in common (apart from our location) is our contribution to the city’s unending supply of garbage.

According to the Department of Sanitation website, over 12,000 tons of residential and institutional refuse and recyclables are collected by them each day. And, another 13,000 tons are collected from businesses by private carting companies as well on a daily basis.

But what happens to the remaining waste? Does it disappear? If you live here, you know the answer to this question is no.

The rest of the waste is heavily sprinkled into our streets, sidewalks, hallways, stairwells, train tracks, and in every other space left on this big, filth-candied apple we live on.

We’re so used to this waste that it doesn’t ever bother a lot of us. We step over and around elevator urine, avoid sitting in dirty train seats and lift up our feet to avoid stray bottles as they dance around our train and bus floors. We turn up our noses, cover or faces with our hands, or exit the train car when a homeless person enters. And, let’s not delve into the fact that we will make every attempt to dodge even the slightest bit of contact with these unfortunate, city dwellers that we come into contact with each day.   

But who cares…right? I do! So, next time you’re about to dodge a homeless person like Neo from the Matrix, think about how that might make them feel. Or next time you’re about to throw something on the floor, stop and think about the fact that there’s a garbage can on nearly every corner and several cans in every train station of this great city. Perhaps next time you can throw that Pepsi bottle or Starbucks cup into a receptacle, rather than leaving it in the Baruch classroom or train seat you just sat in for an hour and a half.

Or maybe not, but at least you tried!

I was watching The Daily Shown (although I prefer Colbert to Stewart) on Monday and the discussion with the guest, Edward Glaeser, I think, was relevant to The Bread Givers and the overall topic of the class. For instance, Glaeser compares the life in the suburbia and in the cities, and the latter actually comes out on top in a number of categories. While in The Bread Givers, Sara finds the suburban area, where the college is located, idyllic, but describes the city as dirty, poor, crowded, etc. At the same time, the idea of the American dream comes up, the ideal of having a family in a big house (with a white picket fence) outside the city, and that, perhaps, it no longer deserves to be called a dream because the reasons to strive for this life are quickly diminishing. Of course, Glaeser argues for cities everywhere, so the discussion is not limited to New York or even America. Clearly this city-ness New York possesses is a major part of why it is so different from many other places, even if its uniqueness comes from something else.

I hope you enjoy the video and maybe you will also find the ideas we are encountering in the text resonate in this discussion.

Many thanks to Prof. Eversley, who provided a recommendation for lunch in Chinatown. A lucky few had time for a meal at Amazing 66. As you see in this photo, taken as we were heading back uptown, everyone enjoyed the food (dumplings, noodles, tofu with seafood and chicken with Chinese mushrooms).

As an ABC, born to a Fujianese father and a Taiwanese mother, I am often enmeshed between two clashing cultures. In the United States, I am taught to strive for my dreams, whatever they may be, but as a child of immigrant parents, I juggle between the traditional, more conservative values embraced by my parents, and the Western values of American society. More often than not, on my path to discovering myself, I willingly choose to follow the more traditional values instilled within me by my family. I am a cultural hybrid— a child of two worlds— but beyond that, I often find myself at a loss when trying to describe myself.

The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) presented a variety of Chinese individuals who have achieved fame and success for their accomplishments in their respective fields and careers. As I gazed upon the rectangular displays, I realized that I recognized many of these faces. In a matter of a few sentences, the brief descriptions accompanying the photos summed up the whole of their accomplishments. These are the faces of great Chinese Americans; faces that are proudly published, perhaps even flaunted, on Chinese and Taiwanese newspapers and magazines distributed overseas and here.

From childhood, my mother has posted newspaper clippings and photos of these famous faces— scattering them throughout our home to remind my brother and I who we can become. Before reaching for floss behind the three-paned bathroom mirror, I used to see the talented Yo-Yo Ma smiling next to his prized cello or Gary Locke, the 21^st governor of Washington who is now the Secretary of Commerce, among others (Interesting side-note: It has now been replaced by the title of the highly controversial book on the superiority of Chinese parenting, The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother). That is her American dream— it is not the white picket fence that many of us have tied to this clichéd notion— it is for her children, the fruits of her tireless labor, to become accomplished, extraordinary, and perhaps, even famous and remembered. All Chinese immigrants have their very own American dream. Just ask any one of them and you will find that their responses are never quite the same.

Before going to the museum, I remembered my father’s own story of immigration to the United States. Unlike the many Fujianese immigrants studied by Kenneth Guest in his book, God in Chinatown, my father, the eldest among nine siblings, has a very different story to tell. Over thirty years ago, my father and his siblings arrived in New York City with the help of their father, who provided all of them with all the right immigration papers. In God in Chinatown, however, many Fujianese immigrants came here illegally as a means to survive, often using religious institutions based in Chinatown as their cover, with little opportunities left in their small rural hometowns. My great-grandfather was also a war veteran of World War II, which meant that immigration for his family into the United States was infinitely easier. Today, my family has established a modest Chinese takeout restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens.

So I’m curious…What are your families’ stories?

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/976o62w45zg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

I’ve been reading about Maya Lin, the Chinese American architect who designed the Museum of Chinese Americans, and I thought you’d like to hear her talk about the building (its a great story), and know more about this accomplished Chinese American artist and architect.  From Wikipedia:

Maya Lin, a Chinese American, was born in Athens, Ohio. Her parents immigrated to the United States from People’s Republic of China in 1949 and settled in Ohio in 1958, one year before Maya Lin was born.^[2] Her father, Henry Huan Lin, was a ceramist and former dean of the Ohio University College of Fine Arts.^[1] She is the niece of Lin Huiyin, who is said to be the first female architect in China.^[3] Lin studied at Yale University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1986. She has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Yale University, Harvard University, Williams College, and Smith College.^[4] She was among the youngest in Yale University when she received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987.^[5] She is married to Daniel Wolf, a New York photography dealer. They have two daughters, India and Rachel.^[1]

Lin is the youngest and has an older brother who is an English professor and poet. Growing up, she did not have many friends and stayed home a lot. She loved school and loved to study. When she was not studying, she took independent courses from Ohio University and spent her free time casting bronzes in the school foundry.^[6] Lin, having grown up surrounded by white people, has said that she “didn’t even realize” she was Chinese until later in life, and that it was not until her 30s that she had a desire to understand her cultural background.^[7] Commenting on her design of a new home for the Museum of Chinese in America near New York City’s Chinatown, Lin attached a personal significance to the project being a Chinese-related project because she wanted her two daughters to “know that part of their heritage.”^[2]

Please add this to your reading for our class on Wed., Feb. 9, when we will discuss immigration in New York

ARTICLE: Making their Way, Immigrant Women Straddle Cultural Chasms: City Limits
http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/4072/making-their-way

STATISTICS:

NYC Population
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popcur.shtml

Quick Census facts about New York City
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3651000.html

Immigration explorer
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html
New York Neighborhoods by the Numbers
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/14/nyregion/thecity/20090111_thecity_census.html

As promised, here’s the link to that Onion article that pokes fun at New Yorkers for putting up with the hassles of living here.

To start our study of immigration stories in New York, we will take our first field trip on Monday, Feb. 7. We are going to the Museum of Chinese in America, located in Chinatown at 215 Centre Street.

Everyone should go directly to the museum on Monday. Please be there by 11am when we will have the opportunity to speak to a museum educator about the exhibits.  Then we will take a self-guided tour. Those of you who need to get back to campus should be able to leave by noon. Everyone else can stay longer. We will try to take a walk in Chinatown, time permitting.

Here is a link to HopStop subway directions from the Baruch campus to the museum.

Any questions, email Prof. Haller.