Columbus Park

Columbus Park sits on what was once Mulberry Bend, the most notorious corner of the Five Points slum — Jacob Riis photographed it, campaigned against it, and in 1897 the Bend was torn down and replaced with this park. That history is invisible now, which is the point. What you see instead is the daily life of Chinatown running at full volume.

Mornings start with tai chi on the plaza. By mid-morning the tables under the pavilion fill with xiangqi and card players, and on weekends musicians gather with erhu and dizi while others sing Cantonese opera. There's nothing staged here and nothing for sale; it's a neighborhood using its park completely, and visitors are welcome to sit on the edge of it with a milk tea from Bayard Street.