Bodegas are instantly recognizable: hand-painted signage—often yellow with red lettering—and handwritten signs advertising Lotto or bottled water. The windows adorned with beer ads or images of sandwiches that look nothing like the real thing. The plump and friendly cat patrolling… Read More »The History of NYC Bodegas
1. Black Mutual Aid on the Lower East Side (1800s–1970s) Long before the Great Migration brought Southern Black families to Harlem, free and fugitive Black New Yorkers carved out spaces of autonomy in in and around our neighborhood. By the… Read More »Black, Puerto Rican, and Chinese Mutual Aid Movements of the Lower East Side
Ancient Origins The origins of Chinese New Year stretch back over 3,500 years to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE). While its exact beginnings are debated, historians link the festival to agrarian society’s reliance on lunar cycles for planting and… Read More »The Origins of Chinese New Year Celebrations in NYC
How NYC pigeons went from revered companions to “rats with wings,” their rich history, role in the city, and why they deserve a second look
Myth #1: There is no “Mafia” in America Well, technically, that is true. There is Italian-American organized crime, but there is only one true “Mafia” in the world, and that is in Sicily. While I’m nitpicking here, many people are… Read More »Top 5 Myths About the American Mafia