Writes of Passage

1 Battery Park
New York, NY 10004

It’s on a nice location in the Battery / Financial district, on the water between South and Liberty ferries, with indoor and outdoor seatings.

As we walked in at 1:04pm on a Sunday, the girl was on the phone with a potential party customer. She makes no acknowledgment and continues her slow conversation. Two women before us left. A hand signal to say ‘I see you’ could go a long way. I turn around and take a few photos. It’s full six minutes before she said, “I’ll call you back.” Behind us there are two groups of people.

The service is ok. One of the young kid looks very nervous and is more than eager to take my plate away when I still have eggs and bread in it and my friend has half plate of pasta (they didn’t provide her with a spoon, so she uses her fork against the knife…).

Food is ok 西红柿炒鸡蛋. Their glasses are nice. They have two or more floors. A wedding is underway.

New York

… more pix on Google Maps, TA

The island was a military base, with 172 acres. It’s 800 yards (732m) from tip of Manhattan – a good distance for open water swimming ha ha ha – don’t think it’ll be reality bec too busy of traffic. The short ferry ride takes 10 minutes, ground to ground, and cost $4 round trip @ Beaux-Arts Battery Maritime Building (1909), east of South Ferry (the top floor is Cipriani’s event space)

We circled the island. There are many bicyclers (tri and quad), some are brought by the riders, some are rented on the island.

New York

… more pix on Google Maps: the Island & the museum; TA

This island is a stone throw away from Liberty Island. Actually we get there from Liberty, on the same ticket from CityExperiences.

The Island is pleasant to walk around, a cafe to take a break and a museum and library to visit.

“Prior to 1855, immigration arriving at the Port of New York were free to enter the US if their vessel was checked and cleaned for contagious diseases by the quarantine station at the entrance to New York Harbor. Between 1855 and 1890, approximately 8 million immigrants traveling through the Port of New York were formally processed at Castle Garden in Battery Park by NYS immigration officials.
After 1890, the federal government assumed responsibility for processing immigrants. All third class and steerage passengers bound fort the Port of New York were required to be inspected the Ellis Island Immigration Station, where approximately 12 million hopeful immigrants were processed between 1892 and 1945.”

The immigrants who had gone through here, estimates to be 40% of US population today.

My father in law’s grandparents were among them. However, with Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese immigrants was a fraction in numbers compared to that of Italian, German, Russian, and Irish, etc.: 300,000 Italian arrived in 1880s and an additional 600,000 in 1890s. In the decade after that, more than two million. By 1920, when immigration began to taper off, more than 4 million Italians had come to the United States, and represented more than 10 percent of the nation’s foreign-born population.

It was estimated that the facility could process 5,000 immigrants a day. The main building (rebuilt after 1897 fire) had won a gold medal at Paris Exposition in 1900.

P.S. Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, by Ava Chin (2023) is a good read.

The museum: exhibits, the hall and the library

The library

Three islands in one day, New York:

1. Liberty (14 acres)
   1. Castle Clinton
   2. Ferry terminal
   3. The View for lunch
2. Ellis (27 acres)
3. Governors (172 acres, zip 10004)
   1. Taco Vista

The following two videos are done by my phone:

…video #1

… video #2

It’s a lovely day, sunny, dry and cool. We start at Castle Clinton, lunch at The View @ Battery and a drink at Taco Vista on Governors Island. Walked 6.2 miles.

Liberty Island has the Statue of Liberty and a museum that was opened in 2019.

Ellis Island was the former immigration gateway on the east coast.

Governors Island was a former military base.

South Street

^{With Brian Brown and his blue lobster} 
150 W 25th Street
New York, NY

VillageOneArt gallery is showcasing Brian Brown’s work – Passing Note, till July 30, 2022.

Christmas, Geico commercial’s gecko , reminds me of Zhang Xiaogang, and Maaaa… All the paintings have no titles so I add my own. There aren’t any descriptions and prices either.

Lately, Anna Weyant (1995-; RISD) is on top of the world. Her works were selling $400 a piece at the beach stand now fetching $1.6m at auction. And dating Larry Gagosian (1945-), her powerful dealer doesn’t hurt either. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, she spent seven months in China Academy of Arts  中国美术学院 in Hangzhou, to perfect her brush strokes – is she half Chinese?

VillageOneArt 画廊@ 150 W 25th St. 在 7 月 30 日之前展Brian Brown 的作品.

他的作品 … 中这个 壁虎引人注目 Geico

A cloudy day turns into a pretty sunny day, a stroll in the park and Madison Avenue around 60th Street. Visit a gallery and dinner with friends.

Artisans’ Gate, celebrations, and more.

The covid-19 testing tent @ 60th Street and Lexington Ave. Two blocks west is Madison Ave, where many shops, such as Graff, Herm

138 W 25th St
New York, NY 10001

It was convenient located to the gallery at 150 W, so we stopped by for a quick dinner.

Bar food which is ok, bad service, which isn’t ok. Littles visibly on the floor inside, outside isn’t any better.

The best thing is the sunset.

16 Belleview Avenue
Port Washington, New York

The Museum was founded in 1977, at the former library location, which is in a residential area. Couldn’t image how did the town’s library function back then.

Upon enter, the strong moldy smell greets us, and no lights. After a few second, a lady came out, to turn the lights on.

Richard, one of three elderly staff/volunteers gave us a wonderful tour of the museum.

The lobby and the chamber music room with decent acoustic round.

Two bridges, Pulaski (1954) and Kosciuszko over BQE (201) in New York are named after Kazimierz/Casimir Pułaski (1747-79) and Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817), respectively.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941), the Prime Minister in 1919 and a pianist and composer. Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) was born in Wadowice.

Two paintings in the lobby, depicting Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and Katyn massacre in 1940.

The Composer/Musicians room is dominated by Fr

87 Main St
Port Washington, NY 11050

A neighborhood eatery on Main St. in town.

We’ve the fried chicken which is ok, and three lunch specials: large portion and salty.

Minimum tip suggested is 18%. Street parking.

Prime Avenue and Route 25A
Huntington village, NY

This 18-acre park was a gift from August Heckscher (1848-1941) and wife Nannie to the town, population 203,264 (2021). It has tennis courts, playground, a playhouse, a museum, 9/11 memorial and a pond filled with fish, koi, turtles and gooses.

The museum is small. I didn’t go in. The front desk ask us to register, which is a pain. The community mecum should be free and easy to get into. A special exhibit Global Asias is going on. Google review.

The 9/11 memorial and the playhouse Chapin Rainbow Stage

A long distance love affair

遥远的爱
雅阁望天惆怅 贵妹 你在哪儿？
贵妹 轻声细语 哥 俺想你

小小池塘 居民满️的
锦鲤
可能还有俺上了年纪的眼看不见的
[偷笑]

大家周末愉快