LUNAR NEW YEAR
Chinatown festival
lights up Lunar New Year
To make our communities
safer, healthier and
stronger. We’re gonna
come roaring back in the
year of the tiger,” Levine
said.
BY DEAN MOSES
The year of the tiger
began with a bang
in Chinatown on
Feb. 1.
The community celebrated
the start of the
Lunar New Year, also
known as the Spring Festival,
with a fi recracker
ceremony and cultural
festival hosted by Better
Chinatown USA and the
surrounding community.
Hundreds descended
upon Sara D. Roosevelt
Park to ring in the Lunar
New Year on Tuesday
morning. A festival
of colors, the celebration
saw dragon dancers
snake their way through
bustling crowds and fi recrackers
bursting.
This cherished festivity
spans the fi rst 15 days
of the lunar calendar
from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15
and ends with the Lantern
Festival—a tradition
that celebrates the
fi rst full moon of the
year. One of the traditions
of this holiday is
cleaning the entirety of
your home, particularly
sweeping away ill-fortune
and preparing for
good luck. Additionally,
red color adornments
are hung throughout the
streets, around storefronts,
and homes welcoming
a year of good
fortune, happiness,
and longevity.
This Lunar New Year
welcomes the Tiger—
which is a symbol of
bravery, confi dence, and
unpredictability. While
all across the globe
Asians from Korea, Singapore,
Vietnam and
other countries eagerly
welcome the start of this
honored occasion, there
was also a light shined
on the continued issue
of xenophobia.
During a time when
the AAPI community
in New York has faced
hardships, including
loss of business during
the COVID-19 pandemic
A little girl and her
mother shoot confetti
into the air.
and a slew of
anti-Asian attacks, many
hope the year of the Tiger
will be a fresh, more
positive start.
Mayor Eric Adams
echoed this sentiment
by cementing his efforts
to push for a united
New York City.
“Gung hay fat choy,”
Mayor Adams said, wearing
a traditional Chinese
jacket, “ As we continue
to move forward and
celebrate a new year,
the year of the Tiger. It
shows us the strength,
the resiliency and the
endurance as we move
through COVID, as we
move on to crime, as we
open our economy, and I
want you to know a recommitment
more than
ever to make sure that
my AAPI community is
safe in the city of New
York as we end violence
against this community.
We stand united. This is
a rich, important community
that is important
to all of us.”
Manhattan Borough
President Mark Levine
agreed.
“This is going to be
the year of our comeback.
The year where we
say ‘No’ to Asian hate.
Where we come together
to support our Asian
American, our AAPI
communities, to support
our small businesses.
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
Mayor Eric Adams address the crowd
Schneps Media February 3, 2022 1 1