The Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association at one hundred thirty-three Canal Street is easily identified by two golden lions guarding its bright red doors. This building serves as the city campus for the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of…
Chinatown Alleyways and Temples
This walk guides you through the narrow, historic alleyways of Manhattan's Chinatown to explore its hidden Buddhist temples and early immigrant association halls.
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1. Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association
2. Doyers Street
Doyers Street is a two-hundred-foot-long, narrow lane in Manhattan’s Chinatown defined by three sharp, erratic bends. It takes its name from Hendrik Doyer, an eighteenth-century Dutch immigrant who established a distillery and a tavern…
3. Pell Street
Pell Street is a short, narrow block in Manhattan's Chinatown, stretching between Mott Street and the Bowery. It is characterized by its density of small storefronts, hanging signs, and a cluster of establishments that have defined the…
4. On Leong Chinese Merchants Association
The On Leong Chinese Merchants Association building at eighty-three Mott Street is marked by its distinctive pagoda-style roof, colorful columns, and balconies that contrast with its modernist structure. Completed in nineteen fifty-one,…
5. Eastern States Buddhist Temple
The Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America is recognizable by its bright red doors and the statues of dragons flanking the entrance. Founded in nineteen sixty-two by Annie and James Ying, it holds the distinction of being the oldest…
6. New York Chinese Community Center
The New York Chinese Community Center occupies a building at sixty-two Mott Street that many in the neighborhood refer to as Chinatown’s town hall. It houses the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, an organization established in…
7. Church of The Transfiguration
The Church of the Transfiguration on Mott Street is built of dark, rough-hewn Manhattan schist, a local rock that gives its walls a distinctively textured, stony appearance. Originally constructed in eighteen hundred and one as the Zion…