I enjoyed a Chinese-Polynesian dinner & Karioke festivity at a restaurant, complete with dragon dancing to drums, gongs and cymbols.

Of the four ChinaTowns in New York City, the oldest and best known,
in lower Manhattan, has suffered greatly during September 11th and its aftermath, for its streets were barred to traffic for months,
so that many restaurants, gift shops and tourist attractions are
teetering on economic collapse. It's patriotic to want to help, and fun, too!

When in New York City, try to have at least one meal at a ChinaTown
restaurant or Dim-Dum (dumpling) tea-house. There are a great variety of Chinese restaurants; the food is affordable and delicious, and children are always welcome, even fussed over. The cinemas show
not only classic martial arts films but beautiful fine arts features
from Mainland China and Hong Kong. The supermarkets are worth a visit
and you can buy excellent Asian tablewear much cheaper there than in midtown department stores.
Happy New Year to All!!

During the WTC collapse, a great many fleeing people escaped the rain
of ashes and debris by being sheltered in Chinatown restaurants, whose
owners helped the choking victims clean up, brace themselves with hot tea, use the telephones, and receive first aid until they could be evacuated safely. Chinatown took a hit, and was sealed off for months, throwing thousands out of work and many out of their homes.

But the Asian ethics of modesty and self-sufficiency have left this
rescue story untold, and many business people not only did not come forward to apply for governmental or charitable financial recovery
aid, but refused it with embarrassment when it was offered.
Gerard

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A few years later, the Toho LaBrea became the place where I did my first 35mm change-over. Today I have quite a collection of Japanese films (on LD and R1/R2 DVD) and movie posters including some of the ones I first saw in those theaters. Still have lots of happy "Cinema Paradiso" style memories of all those places!

So yeah, Gung Hei Fat Choi! In Japanese we would say "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!"

I just got off two weeks jury duty at 100 Center Street. So naturally everyday at lunch time I wandered up to Chinatown for lunch. Needless to say, the food in Chinatown is fantastic. My favorite was the Steak Kew, crispy orange flavored Beef.

I wasn't looking for theatres but I believe the Chinese Theatre, off Lafayette Street is still in operation.

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Heh heh. That's "Ramune", Japan's answer to 7-Up. It's been sold in that bottle design for over a hundred years. You can get it in the states nowadays, at asian food stores.

As for capturing the flavor of theatergoing in Japan in those days, you might want to keep an eye out for an animated short film called "Goshe the Cellist" which may come out on Pioneer DVD here sometime. It is based on a 1927 Kenji Miyazawa short story and was directed in 1980 by anime god Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies). In it there is a hilarious scene of a pit band accompanying silent cartoons in a small theater in Iwate...