🌱 Chinese Immigrant Dies From Injuries + DeSalvio Playground Woes

Happy Monday, neighbors! I am your host Patrick Murray here with a couple important headlines to get your week started.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and chilly with a high of 29 and a low of 16.

Here are the top stories in Lower East Side-Chinatown today:

1. A Chinese immigrant who fell victim to an atrocious attack in East Harlem while collecting cans tragically died from his injuries on Dec. 31. 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma, a former resident of Chinatown, was attacked by Jarod Powell in April 2021. The case against Powell has been deemed a homicide, and the incident has gained national attention as part of the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York and throughout the country. (Korea Times)
2. The renovated DeSalvio Playground has been extremely popular since its return in 2019, however a full reopening has yet to happen. An adjacent luxury development at 75 Kenmare St. has blocked off much of the public space, and a fraction of the playground has remained off limits and boarded with plywood. Steve Simon, the Chief of Staff for the Department of Parks, explained that the plywood blocking access to the rock climbing wall was set up to prevent kids from climbing up onto the ledge of the window of the adjacent apartment building. (Bowery Boogie.)

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Today in Lower East Side-Chinatown:

• "Big Trouble In Little China" screening at The Metrograph. (4:45 p.m.)
• Live music at the Mercury Lounge. (6 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• An artistic rendering of the beloved Katz's Delicatessen.(Facebook)
• Lower Manhattan weekly weather forecast. (Lower East Side-Chinatown Patch)
• See 5 houses on the market in the neighborhood. (Lower East Side-Chinatown Patch)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today. I'll see you around!

— Patrick Murray