Faicco's

I had balls for lunch.  Rice balls that is.  Arancini to be precise.  

I went to Faicco's an authentic Italian specialty store where you can get pre made lasagna and other pastas - as well as HUGE meat filled sandwiches and arancini.  And this arancini is arancini to write home about.

Arancini is Sicilian fried rice ball. The name arancini means "little orange" because the rice balls are shaped like little oranges.  However, savory and extremely filling,filled with delicious fresh cheese and rice,  they taste little like an orange.  

People ask for recommendation of where to eat in the village - may I suggest getting a sandwich or arancini (or both) at Faicco's and then heading to Father Demo Square so a delightful village picnic.  Faicco's is on 260 Bleeker street.

The Korean War Memorial at Battery Park

One of the most beautifully designed memorials in all of Battery Park is the Korean War Memorial.  The Korean War Veterans Committee formed in 1987 to raise money for a memorial of the soldiers of  the Korean War - "the forgotten war."  A contest was held for the design and Mac Adams, a Welsh designer, won.  His design is genius.  It is a black granite stele which stands 15 feet hight.  Cut into the middle of the stele is the silhouette of a soldier also known as "The Universal Solider."  When looking through the stele towards the Hudson river, you can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island through the silhouette.  The most ingenious features, in my opinion, is that the stele also works as a sundial and every year on July 27 at 10 a.m. the sun shines through the soldiers' head illuminated a commemorative plaque on the ground.  That date and time are important because they mark the exact moment that in New York when hostilities ceased in Korea.  On the base of the monument is a tier with multinational flags.  Those are the flags of the U.N. countries that participated in the mission. Around the base of the memorial are carved the names of each of these 22 countries along with the number of their dead , wounded, and missing in action.  The memorial was dedicated in 1991 and was actually one of the first Korean War memorials in the United States.  It is a beautiful memorial and I highly encourage everyone to go see it while they are in Battery Park.  Every inch is beautifully designed and well thought out, honorably commemorating the soldiers of the "forgotten war."  

Battery Maritime Building

Last week my best friend was visiting from Guam and we went on MANY excursions, including taking the Governor's Island Ferry over to Governors Island for the Jazz Age lawn festival.

The Governor's Island Ferry leaves Manhattan from the Batter Maritime building which is a beautiful Beaux-Art building completed in 1906.  It's original use was for ferries traveling to Brooklyn.  The Brooklyn Ferry Service shut down in 1938, after which the building was used for various city agencies.  

The ferries to to Governor's Island first started leaving the Maritime building in 1956 when the U.S. Army used the terminal to provide serves to it's Army posts on Fort Jay and Governor's Island.  When the Army upgrades from ferries to steam powered boats, they needed a larger slips so the vacated the Maritime Building.  In 1966 the U.S. Coast Guard took over the Governor's Island and began to use the Maritime Building to provide transportation for Governor's Island 3000 residents to and from New York City.  It was used for this purpose until 1996 when the U.S. Coast Guard left Governor's Island.  

Governor's Island had to wait nearly 14 years for its new life.  In 2010 Mayor Bloomberg issues a new Governor's Island redevelopment plan.  But since 2003 the Governor's Island Ferry has been providing free transportation from the Battery Maritime Building to Governor's Island during the summer on weekends.  Today Governor's Island is an open public space with educational, not for profit, and commercial facilities.  22 acres of Governor's Island has been declared the "Governor's Island National Monument" overseen by the National Parks Service.  The remaining 150 acres belongs to "the people of New York."  

So why take the ferry from the Battery Maritime Building to Governor's Island?  Well first of all - it's a free boat ride and who doesn't love those?  Secondly, Governor's Island has all sort of fun events during the summer including City of Water Day,  the Jazz Age Lawn Party ,  and Fete Paradiso.   For a schedule of upcoming events check out http://www.govisland.com/html/visit/calendar.shtml

My friends and me on the Governor's Island Ferry on our way to the Jazz Age Lawn Party.

MOCA

First of all I apologize for my long absence with this blog.  I was in an opera - it was in Italian.  Learning the libretto took up every bit of extra brain power that I had!

But now I'm back!

And I'm gong to write about the Museum of Chinese America!

I discovered "MOCA" by accident.  I was looking for a fun Saturday activity and stumbled upon MOCA's "Dragon Boat Festival."   I took some friends and we were HOPING for some crazy drumming  The event however was geared towards children 5 and under.  My friends and I did not fit that profile, but we had already paid our $10 to get in so we decided to enjoy the museum.

It is a really interesting museum that opened in 1980 and celebrates Chinese contributions to modern American society, Chinese cultural history, and diverse experiences of Chinese in America while not glossing over the dirtier less pleasant parts of their history.  I really appreciated this.  People often ask for tours of Chinatown and I always worry that what I will tell them will not fit their happy go lucky idea of Chinatown - haggling for bargain on knock-off designer purses, chop suey, and kitchy Chinese dragon souvenirs.  The truth is the history of Chinatown, and Chinese in America, is very dark.  I remember in college reading a book about minorities in America.  "The black man was the anvil on which racism in America was formed" it said. It then went on to explain how after the Civil War, that "anvil" became the Chinese and propaganda did all it could to emasculate the Chinaman.  When I did my research on New York's Chinatown, there was this very dark history of racism in the US, gangs, and the Cultural Revolution back in China.  None of it seemed happy go lucky.  MOCA does not gloss over ANY of this.  

MOCA states its mission as: Central to its mission is its goal to make Chinese American history accessible to the general public, ranging from scholars to young children, from community members to international tourists.  Through its thought-provoking work, the Museum not only encourages the understanding and appreciation of Chinese American arts, culture and history, but also informs, educates and engages visitors about Chinese American history that is in the making.  - See more at: http://www.mocanyc.org/about/#sthash.O6GstXwG.dpuf

I believe MOCA achieves this 100%.  There were Chinese children and teenagers gawking at the exhibits.  One said - "I never knew that my ancestors had to go through all of this" as he stared in wonder at pictures of turn of the century Chinatown.  My friend who went to the museum with me and I had a really interesting conversation provoked by the "Yellow Face" exhibition.  The Yellow Face Exhibition depicted how Chinese were depicted on t.v., film, and stage and how similar it was to blackface.  We wondered why, even in today's society, yellow face seems o.k.  We are both opera singers, so we used the Mikado and Madame Butterly as examples.  No one seems to bat an eyelash at the "yellow face" used in virtually every one of these productions, and we wondered if perceptions would still be the same in 100 years.

Don't get me wrong, MOCA also celebrates the triumphs of Chinese Americans.  There was also a fabulous Chinese fashion exhibit (Front Row: Chinese American Designers) showing how Chinese designers have contributed to American fashion.  It was extremely dazzling.  There was also a delightful "Shanghai Glamour" exhibition 

Overall the museum was inexpensive, educational, and fun.  Perhaps in the future I will be able to include it in my Chinatown tours.  I think it would be marvelous experience for any student group. It is also great for families or simply two adult friends looking for an interesting way to spend an afternoon in NYC.  

Don't mind me - I have a strange fascination with Nixon's visit to China thanks to a certain opera by John Adams called "Nixon in China."  MOCA has a fabulous in depth exhibition of the visit complete with lots of video footage.  You can see Chairman Mao on the video screen underneath the poster.

The entrance to MOCA.