Park Avenue to "Spanish Harlem"

Today found me in two very different Manhattan neighborhoods.  I met a friend for lunch at a restaurant she recommended - Park Avenue Bistro (between 26th and 27th).  By the late afternoon I was in "El Barrio" in East Harlem.

Lunch was quite a treat.  We had escargot in a wonderful garlic butter sauce.  When we finished that we dipped our bread in the delicious sauce.  I then had a chicken sandwich on cranberry bread with olive tapenade.  We finished with a creme brulee that was piping hot and topped with fresh strawberries.  The surprise was that my friend unexpectedly treated me for a "going away" lunch.  How kind.

After we parted, I took the 6 train up to 103rd Street.  I was heading to El Museo del Barrio at 104th and 5th Ave.  I learned of this museum when I moved to New York and saw an ad featuring The Bed by Pepon Osorio.  This folk art bed captured my attention and piqued my interest.  I vowed to go check out the museum before I left NY, and today I did that.

The purpose of the museum is to represent and preserve the work of Puerto Ricans (and Nuyoricans - a term I have seen before but just learned today that it means "New York Puerto Ricans") and all Latin American in the United States.  The museum has a special exhibit called Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement.  I saw some fun art and some very interesting art that motivated me to do some research, which led me to learn several important things.

Vocho (Yellow) by Margarita Cabrera
(Vinyl, batting, thread and car parts)

Alejandro Diaz, Handmade cardboard "paintings" he sold outside Tiffany's on 5th Ave.  Some of these are quite amusing.

These next photographs by Delilah Montoya reminded me of the plight of people trying to enter the U.S. via Mexico.  I know this is an extremely controversial political issue but these pictures emphasize it's also a huge humanity issue when people are dying in the desert.  They know the risks and are in pursuit of a better life in spite of them.  I thank God I am not in their situation.

This picture shows the 50 lb drums of water put in the desert by an organization called Humane Borders.  Humane Borders publishes a map that shows blue spots where the water stations are.  The red spots represent where people have died.  The reddish area on the left is a reservation, and the reservation does not allow water stations because it feels it promotes illegal immigration, amongst other things.  The artist describes her project and this Humane Borders map at this web site.

If the photographer's goal was to get us to think when we look at her photos, it certainly worked with me.

What was left behind on the Trail of Thirst

A part of the permanent exhibit included Graphics and Politics.  It was very interesting for me to see this serigraph, to which I was exposed as a teen through Wacky Packs.  I had no idea then that Ester Hernandez was making a statement about US imperialism and consumer culture.

In this Graphics and Politics exhibit I also learned about Lolita Lebron.  She was a Puerto Rican "freedom fighter" who led a group of people in attacking the US House of Representatives in 1954, two years after Puerto Rico received "Commonwealth" status.  She was imprisoned for 25 years and then she and her group members were pardoned by Jimmy Carter.  They received a great welcome when they returned to Puerto Rico.  Lebron, born Dolores "Lolita" Lebrón Sotomayor (wonder if she's related to the latest Supreme Court justice?), is now 90 years old.

I ended my afternoon by stopping for coffee at the East Harlem Cafe. The coffee was good and I decided to get a muffin, too.  It cost me $3, probably half of what I would pay for the same in Mid-town.  I was disappointed my fair skin and blue eyes betrayed me in the cafe.  No one questioned whether to speak to me in Spanish or English. 

It is always interesting to be in a space and place where I am "the other."  I think it's good to experience that as often as possible.  Now, I want to move to Puerto Rico to work/live.  Alas, I don't have to pack for there tonight, fortunately, but I'll keep it in mind for a few years down the road.

Puerto Rico, like Spanish Harlem, is a long way from Park Avenue.