Showing Records: 1 - 10 of 15
Interview with Sylvia Seid, 2003
Item
Identifier: 2015.007.015
Abstract
Sylvia Seid is the sister in law and wife of the men who founded what is now considered a Chinatown cultural trademark - The Chinatown Ice-cream Factory. Of Peruvian and Chinese descent, Seid describes her upbringing and her childhood growing up in Peru and the States. She also discusses the evolution of the ice-cream business from the late 1970s to the early twentieth century and how it has transformed from being the once tourist destination to the now localized sweet-treat icon it is known...
Dates:
2003
Oral History Interview with Anne Ho, 2013-02-15
Item
Identifier: 2013.022.001
Abstract
Anne Ho is a longtime resident of Chinatown in New York City. Ho reflects on how her family moved to the United States and her early childhood growing up in Chinatown. She discusses the garment factory her mother worked at along with her daily routine living in Chinatown. She continues the discussion of garment factories by stating their importance of Chinatown during her childhood along with how Chinatown has changed overall. She then goes to discuss the development of Confucius Plaza and...
Dates:
2013-02-15
Oral History Interview with Bert Feinberg, 2008-12-21
Item
Identifier: 2008.040.006
Abstract
Bert Feinberg, native to Brooklyn and long-term resident of New York, describes his experiences in Chinatown and the block often referred to as the Daily Forward block, colloquially named after the Yiddish Daily Forward newspaper. There, Feinberg was employed at a family-owned catering and restaurant business called the Garden Cafeteria. During his time at the Cafeteria between 1949 and 1974, he saw significant demographic changes in the neighborhood. Feinberg initially estimates that the...
Dates:
2008-12-21
Oral History Interview with Betty Sze, 2007-10-25
Item
Identifier: 2008.040.008
Abstract
Betty Sze discusses her vague memory of spending her early childhood playing outside of the Grand Machinery Exchange building, which was located on Centre Street. Her father owned a produce wholesale supply company, while her mother worked in factories. In her interview, she describes gentrification in terms of rent-prices consistently rising, developers becoming more aggressive in planning building projects, and entire neighborhoods such as Little Italy, being taken over by Chinese...
Dates:
2007-10-25
Oral History Interview with Frank Liu, 2013-03-29
Item
Identifier: 2013.022.003
Abstract
Frank Liu, former Director of Technology at MOCA, sits down with Tomie Arai to conduct an oral history recounting his experience growing up in Chinatown during the ‘90s and early 2000s. Liu discusses his family’s history and their experience immigrating to the U.S. from Fuzhou, Fujian when he was seventeen years old, in 1998. He discusses how his uncle was able to sponsor his family to come to the U.S. and how his family moved to Chinatown initially upon their arrival. He discusses how even...
Dates:
2013-03-29
Oral History Interview with Jan Lee, 2008-06-18
Item
Identifier: 2008.040.014
Abstract
MOCA sits down with Jan Lee to discuss his familys longstanding presence in Chinatown and some of the changes that he has witnessed over the decades as the owner of 21 Mott Street. Jan shares the story of how his family first became rooted in Chinatown when his grandfather arrived there at the end of the 19th century. He explains the changes that occurred in Chinatown during the huge wave of Chinese immigration in the 1970s, especially regarding the rise of violence and gangs in the area....
Dates:
2008-06-18
Oral History Interview with Jefferson Li, October 20, 2020
Item
Identifier: 2020.020.028
Abstract
Jefferson Li’s family owns and runs the New York Chinatown butcher shop 47 Division Street Trading Inc. Like many Chinatown businesses, his family business took a huge economic hit due to the pandemic. Li took to the popular social news aggregator website Reddit to try and drum up business by publicizing their low prices to New Yorkers who wouldn’t normally be their primary demographic, becoming a pseudo celebrity in the process. As someone who has been in the Chinatown community prior to...
Dates:
October 20, 2020
Oral History Interview with Jenny Ye, 2013-03-19
Item
Identifier: 2013.022.005
Abstract
Jenny Ye is a college student at Harvard University and spent her childhood in Chinatown. In this oral history Ye focuses on her childhood and experiences attending public schools in the New York City Chinatown area. She recounts spending time with her family and her cousins and growing up in Chinatown. Ye attended PS 124 and shares her autograph book as she recounts fond memories during elementary school. She also discusses her time in middle and high school with her involvement in CCAV and...
Dates:
2013-03-19
Oral History Interview with Johnny Lee, 1993-09-02
Item
Identifier: 1994.007.018
Abstract
In this interview, using a pseudonym, "Johnny Lee" recounts his life history. He recollects being raised in Hong Kong by his mother while his father worked in America. He remembers his time at Chinatown Seward Park High School bilingual program, classmates who dropped out to join Chinese gangs, after-school work as a button-sewer in garment factories, college work as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant, and the decision to leave City College to pursue full-time work at an Off-Track Betting...
Dates:
1993-09-02
Oral History Interview with Marcella Dear, May 24, 2013
Item
Identifier: 2013.022.006
Abstract
Marcella Dear, a longtime friend of MOCA and a generous donor of over 900 objects, joins us to discuss her exciting life and her memories of Chinatown. Marcella goes into depth about many of the objects she donated, and discusses not only their significance as sentimental objects but also how these objects were used in their original setting, at the Rice Bowl restaurant on Mott Street. Marcella’s father founded the Rice Bowl, and she discusses her childhood growing up in and around the...
Dates:
May 24, 2013
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