The Architectural Embodiment Of Democracy . . . And A Great Place To Gab On Your Cell Phone!

The Rose Main Reading Room at something called the “Stephen A. Schwarzman Building” . . .

Four Wongs (And One Yee Li) Make A Night

Back in October, BATC friend Mary organized a duck tour of Manhattan’s Chinatown that included some of her favorite low-budget spots for roasted duck and Peking duck. She called it a duck tour — we’re calling it a Duck Walk. We visited five (!) places in about six hours: Big Wing Wong, Hoy Wong, Big Wong, Hsin Wong and Yee Li.

Big Wing Wong Restaurant, 3:40 p.m.:

Hoy Wong Restaurant, 4:33 p.m.:

Big Wong Restaurant, 5:11 p.m.:

Hsin Wong Restaurant, 6:10 p.m.:

I’ll take this as an argument for eating out more often:

We needed a break after Hsin Wong, so we took a short walk and visited Mei Dick:

Yee Li Restaurant, 8:14 p.m.:

Mary asked us to rate the places. Here were my notes:

• 1. Yee Li — though [this came at the end of the night and] we were stuffed, I think this may have been the best, plus [we liked the] floppy fish [which writhed on the ground near the tanks in front of the restaurant after getting dropped by one of the chefs]
• 2. Hoy Wong — [A local] favorite, right? I kind of agree . . . though the server may have extra beered us to inflate the check
• 3. Big Wing Wong — hard to remember, but I recall comparing this halfway through and thinking it was solid
• 4. Hsin Wong — then again, Hsin Wong (friendly server, right?) was pretty good, too — maybe switch with Big Wing Wong (or is that wong to say?) [Ed note: Ugh!]
• 5. Big Wong — if memory serves, this was saltier and not as fatty

I later learned from something called “Yelp” that Yee Li is apparently owned by the same people as Hsin Wong, which could account for some of our difficulty differentiating the different ducks.

Bonus points go to Yee Li for their useful “Mr. Wipes”:

No clue how you’d pronounce “Lrmgobao” toilet tissue:

Also at Yee Li, this fortune that I’m still trying to figure out:

So many places insist they don’t use MSG — then you see something like this on the street outside:

I believe this is known as the universal symbol for “happy ending”:

September 8-14, 2009

I always liked the view from the rooftop parking garage at The Shoppes At Northern Boulevard, otherwise known as the place where there’s a Chuck E. Cheese on Northern Boulevard:

The Employees Must Wash Hands sign at the Forest Hills Trader Joe’s is funny, and a departure from the usual generic version:

St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan has been in the news a lot lately. The 60s facade of its 36 Seventh Avenue building is charming, for a hospital:

The whimsical birdhouse-type contraptions at McCarthy Square in the Village don’t look as if they’re Parks Department-approved, and that’s a good thing:

Another iteration of a Barneys ad on the side of the building next to the Tiles For America display in the West Village:

The Ace of Cakes guy was at the Beard House:

The Tribute in Light from a corner of Long Island City:

Maxwell’s in Hoboken:

On the way back from Hoboken, I noticed an ancient paint “ghost” under about 250 paint layers on the 7 train tracks in the 5th Avenue-Bryant Park subway station. It’s not there anymore (or it is, just under a new layer of paint):