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Surviving China’s Cultural Revolution
When China’s Chairman Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution half a century ago, his avowed goal was to preserve the communist ideology. Mao then believed that the ruling Chinese Communist Party...
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Sarees by Word of Mouth
At the corner of Broadway and 74th Street, a Bangladeshi woman is opening the storefront gate to an unassuming shop filled with ornate sarees, shalwar kamise, and decorative jewelry. Within an hour of...
View ArticleCollateral Damage
Shahina Parveen is the mother of Shahawar Matin Siraj, who was convicted in 2007 of allegedly conspiring to plant bombs in a Manhattan subway. Shahina maintains her son, Matin, is in prison for a crime...
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The Ice Cream That Never Melts
She grew up in Chinatown and worked in her family’s ice cream shop since she was 12. Through all these years, the shop survived, withstanding the many changes that have altered the landscape of...
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From Prison Chaplain to Imprisoned Chaplain
As a chaplain at Guantanamo ministering to Muslim detainees, Pastor James Yee’s job was to counsel and listen to the detainees. Many of the prisoners told him about acts of torture committed against...
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Dragon Ladies
“We’re never going to elect a Chinese person here,” a woman in Queens threw a campaign flyer at Grace Meng, who was then helping her father, Jimmy Meng, in his bid for a New York State Assembly seat in...
View ArticleArena, Performer
Where are you from? Honduras. How long have you lived in Jackson Heights? Just three months. Before this, I was in Indiana. How do you like Jackson Heights compared to Indiana? Oh, this place is very...
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Charan Jit Singh, Business Card Distributor
He stands on the corner of 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, as salient as a landmark, eyeing the intersection like a sentry on watch. He cuts an imposing figure with his flowing beard, turban, and...
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Hettienne Park’s Stage Dive
Hettienne Park is walking down West 52nd in a black trench coat and boots, pacing a confident, long stride and smoking a cigarette. She has just enough time for early dinner at Danji (overpriced Korean...
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Serena Qiu & Kota Kobayashi, in Transit
On my way home on the N train, as I reviewed photographs I’d taken earlier that afternoon of the Feast of Saint Anthony parade in Little Italy, I noticed a man and woman a few feet away sitting in...
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New DREAMs: Lis, 24
Part 1 of an Open City series profiling undocumented New Yorkers. Today, June 25: an anxious morning for Supreme Court watchers and anyone interested in immigration. The decision was announced, key...
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The Vegan Marshmallow
In an 8,000-square-foot factory in Long Island City, right off of bustling Queens Boulevard, Sara Sohn makes marshmallows. Vegan marshmallows, to be exact. “It’s a good conversation starter,” says...
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Doo-Ri Chung: Even Couture is a Man’s World
Doo-Ri Chung began her ascent long before the fashion documentary Seamless. In that film, which tracks a group of young designers competing for a prestigious prize, we meet her on a reverse commute to...
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Nerdcore Rapper Adam WarRock to Chick-fil-A: Your Slaw Sucked Anyway
Eugene Ahn, better known by his emcee alter ego Adam WarRock, makes what he calls “indie nerdcore pop cultural emo hip hop.” His story is as unlikely as it is inspiring: Two years ago, while juggling a...
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Dai Sil Kim-Gibson: In Mourning, a Filmmaker Turns to Writing
About a decade ago, I became familiar with the work of filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, who’s best known for documentaries on the 1992 L.A. Riots and Japan’s system of sexual slavery during WWII. On...
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Mohammad Zuhoor-ul-Haqq, Spiritual Street Vendor
“M.D. Zuhoor-ul-Haqq is my name,” says the man in the shalwar kameez, his spine as straight as the Arabic letter alif. “M.D.? Are you a doctor?” “No, miss. M.D. is short for Mohammad,” he clarifies,...
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After Two Decades, Lucky Cheng’s Leaves East Village For New Midtown Digs
Lucky Cheng’s, the renowned drag cabaret club and East Village fixture, is moving to Times Square next month. Citing difficulty getting tourists to travel downtown, owner Hayne Suthon is relocating the...
View ArticleBebi Rejendra, Student
It is often said that biggest export from Guyana—the only English-speaking country in South America—is its people. There are roughly 250,000 Guyanese in the New York area (almost one-third of the...
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Photographs: Paper Doll Immigrants
Artist John Clang has always found ways to challenge a viewer’s own version of New York City with unusual visual juxtapositions. “Beijing New York,” his recent immigration-themed project that appeared...
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New DREAMs: Jeff, 20
Part 4 of an Open City series profiling undocumented New Yorkers. (Click to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.) In a few weeks, Jeff Louie will stake his future on an immigration form. Twenty years old,...
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