El Barrio
Briefly away from Mexico City, let's continue with our tour of uptown New York. Harlem has, of course, a fabled history as the most important black neighborhood in the United States, although these days Manhattan real-estate prices are so high that some blacks are being edged out by whites. But that is in the central and west sides of town. The east side of Harlem became known as El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem, in the 1960s due to a huge influx of Puerto Rican residents. These days, the area is pan-Hispanic.
I happened to take a walk there the day before an unofficial New York holiday called Puerto Rican Day. Up and down Third Avenue, as a sort of warm-up to the big day, they held a street festival celebrating Puerto Rico. The characters pictured above are a tropical equivalent of the Three Stooges.
La dieta puertorriqueña, aka a heart attack waiting to happen.
The above is an outtake from the film Babe: A Pig in the City.
Fifteen or twenty years ago there were hardly any Mexicans in New York, but now it's become más mexicana que nunca.
This is where you can get your fix of Jarritos, jabón Ariel or cacahuates japoneses. The furtive body language of the man pictured above indicates some ambiguity as to whether he is a shopper or a shoplifter.
Quote for the day
There is nothing tougher than a tough Mexican, just as there is nothing gentler than a gentle Mexican, nothing more honest than an honest Mexican, and above all nothing sadder than a sad Mexican.
-- Raymond Chandler
33.2
El 33 via Yelp
One of my favorite dives used to be located a few steps from the Plaza Garibaldi, where mariachis warble and blare for the minions in Mexico City. The hang, called El 33, was a bar where transvestite prostitutes began to arrive at two or three in the morning, to relax after finishing a night's labor. Until dawn they tended to drink, dance, laugh, cry and look for boyfriends - the real ones, not the short-timers in exchange for a few pesos. The place abruptly closed its doors a few years ago.
A little while ago a reduced version of El 33 opened in the same location. Literally reduced: Without the long hallway and enormous salon in the back, it is now one of the smallest bars in the city.
On Fridays and Saturdays there is a show, which includes an Alejandro Fernández impersonator, an XXL-sized drag queen who lip-synchs along to Lucha Villa records (while wearing a banana-yellow dress with embroidered daisies), and the woman above, who imitates the singer Alicia Villareal. She began by thanking "the most select drunks of Garibaldi" for arriving to catch her act, in particular a woman who, according to the singer, "was my boyfriend when she was a man." In the above photo, she demonstrates her maternal instinct with a particularly childish customer, mid-song.
On the road
By the week of June 9, my book about Mexico City, First Stop in the New World, should be in stores across the U.S. Hence, for the next three weeks or so I will be in el norte promoting it.
I will be appearing on various radio programs, but also making appearances to talk about the book and sign copies.
Here is the schedule of events:
Thursday, June 12 Idlewild Books, 7pm 12 West 19 Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) New York
This event is sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute and a cocktail reception will follow.
Monday, June 16 Mount Pleasant Branch Public Library, 7 pm 3160 16th St. NW Washington, DC
Tuesday, June 17 Housing Works Bookstore Café, 6:30 pm 206 Crosby Street (one block east of Broadway between Houston and Prince Streets) New York
This event will be a conversation between the great Guatemalan-American novelist Francisco Goldman and me. There will be beer.
Saturday, June 21 Mexican Cultural Institute (co-sponsored by Cervantes Center), 5pm 125 Paseo De La Plaza, Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90012
Thursday, June 26 Martinez Bookstore, 7 pm 1110 N. Main Street Santa Ana, CA 92701
If you're around any of those places, please come. And if you know anyone in those cities, please spread the word. As far as the blog is concerned, I hope to keep updating it while I'm on the road. In any case, keep watching this space.