Last January 21st I was called for jury duty at New York City Criminal Court. I was annoyed (as everyone was), packed up my computer and a book and headed downtown to endure what would surely be the most boring day ever. Until I got picked for a 6 week murder trial! You could say that disrupted my audition season just a bit. However, if you've recently binged Making a Murder like me and half of America, you know it's anything but boring.
First of all, NYC is far from Manitowoc and my judge with her sassy gray bangs would have never put up with half of that shit. My jury and I heard more details than we could imagine about how a young deaf man stabbed his younger deaf girlfriend to death and stuffed her body in a barrel...and all the sadness in life that lead up to that point and the subsequent horror. Though it was quite tough to digest, I found freedom (and warmth) between 1-2:15pm everyday when we broke for lunch. I figured if I'm going to be stuck in Chinatown in the middle of winter, why not take the opportunity to explore? Seriously-- New York City is your oyster if you have the eyes to see it. It can also make you pretty handy with a pair of chopsticks.
In conclusion, I give you some lunch suggestions should you find yourself serving time down at the NYC courthouse:
First things first, honey dew melon bubble tea. On the regular.
Right around the corner is Pongsri (a popular Thai restaurant) and this bowl of heaven: Coconut Red Curry Noodle Soup. Ok I'm drooling...
A few more steps down the road and you're in pho heaven if that's your thing. (It's a little tricky if you're vegetarian...but I was an equal opportunity lunch juror so I found my ways of making it tasty.) Xe Lua was a happenin' and cheap lunch spot amongst the suits.
And dim there were sum. Some of the ladies on the jury insisted I join them at the "best dim sum in town" at Ping's...so we treated ourselves. #ladieswholunch
Speaking of treating yourself...sometimes there is a parade thrown for you on your well deserved lunch break. Especially if it happens to be Chinese New Year.
Pho for days at Vietnamese restaurant Nha Trang on Baxter Street.
Walked an extra block one day (I know a lot of effort) for award-winning ramen at Bassanova, and I can confirm it deserves all of its awards. And it was the most hipstery lunch I had during my 6 week residency...the only place that didn't have that grungy "local" vibe to it. Do the two go hand in hand?
I decided to start going the budget route and made it across the usually Tai Chi -filled snowy Columbus Park where I got my fair share of warm plump veggie dumplings for $3 at Tasty Dumpling. Towards the end, this became my happy place. Quick, cheap, and indeed tasty. I know everyone recommends this place, but that was too far of a walk for my cold juror self.
One day, I was convinced to go on a grand lunch adventure over Canal Street and through the snow to Little Italy we went. The lunch at Buona Notte was cozy and the view from inside was dream.
And for dessert? Ferrara's is queen. It's famous for a reason. I would bring home souvenirs from here and other little local Chinese markets of candies and treats I'd buy and try. You don't know the neighborhood until you've eaten your way through it.
Last, and certainly not least, I have to give a shout out to my favorite bakery, Lung Moon Bakery. There, I would escape the conversation of murder by looking at cute little foreign desserts. Nothing bad could happen in a world like that, right? For a dollar, I'd buy angel food cake wrapped up in wax paper, kind of like a cupcake. And I'm fond of anything resembling a cupcake. I have such vivid memories of this cake. (It was also fun to buy bags of fortune cookies to take to your friends and jury family.) I highly suggest stopping in to this mom and pop shop the next time you're in Chinatown. These couple of streets are some in the few in the city that still feel like they have maintained their local feel and not become too commercialized. And English is not the first language!
At the end of the day when walking to the train in the snow, you're hearing all these things in this case and thinking so many thoughts, and you're so out of the loop of your normal life and so cold, you might stop into Magic Jewelry on Canal Street and drink some hot tea and get your aura read. (oh, and it was Friday the 13th.)
Besides eating lunch, my jury and I became quite close-- planning potlucks, celebrating birthdays, teaching some old dogs new tricks on how to use their cell phones. Since we were all respectful of the rules, we really honored not discussing the case until it was time to deliberate. (and that was REALLY hard, because I like to talk about all my feelings...obviously...which is why I had to eat my feeling instead. note: still in recovery.) Instead, we got to know each other. I was the youngest white female by about 40 years, and I'd have to say it's quite an interesting group to pick a cross-section of Manhattanites to sit in a room. When I caught a cold, three different ladies brought in homemade soup and remedies for me. We had a group text. We kept in touch. We even had a dinner after it all passed over. Community can come in surprising places. (if you let it)
There was no doubt in my mind about our guilty verdict for our guy, but that didn't make any of us less heartbroken. I cried when I walked passed him on the last day of the trial knowing his fate, and months later we all were asking whether he'd survive prison given all that we learned about this individual. I'm a sucker for justice...and a redemption story.
As we settle in for winter so is my deja vu and an appetite for dumplings.
ps: I know the groan and eye roll that comes when you get that jury summons in the mail. It's really f-ing annoying. But civic duties are no joke, and the system only works if we have active citizens. (read: your vote matters!) At the beginning of this journey, I thought my life was ruined because I was missing so many auditions and fell out of loop of the ole dancer's hustle. (Then it got further ruined when I started to eat my way through Chinatown as a coping mechanism. #jurydutymakingfat) But then whatever happened in that courtroom started to become way more fascinating than any audition holding room (they're the worst). I mean have you watched 4 sign language interpreters in action at once? This wasn't a CSI episode, it was real life. I accepted the challenge and tried to be as present in mind and appetite as possible. When it ended and I felt out of shape and completely hopeless as far as picking up any crumbles of hope of booking a dance job for the season, I get called for my first TV gig out of the blue (plug: check out The KNICK). They say you make plans and God laughs at them. Well, no shit. I couldn't have made all of this up if I tried.
ps #2: I wasn't in search of what's the best of the best in Chinatown. I merely was searching for a break and a breath of fresh air everyday, a warm meal, and a little distracting adventure for my one hour of freedom. These are a collection of what I found. (critical of food, but not a food critic)