Today Wen and I went for dinner on the LES. When we were done I made her go over to 27 Eldridge. It’s home to an unremarkable Chinese restaurant called Sheng Wan. We weren’t there for the food, rather because I’m reading Richard Price’s Lush Life right now and it revolves around a shooting that happens at that address.
It’s a fantastic book (and a lucid observation of how the LES is changing); I highly recommend it. It’s also interesting as Price has changed the names and nature of many things in the neigbourhood, yet still captures a feel for the place. For instance, 27 Eldridge is in a Chinese area, but in the book it’s Hispanic. Similarly, there is talk of ’88 Forsyth House’-which sounds sneakily like the Tenement Museum.
And not to switch topics, but check out the unfortunate name of Sheng Wan’s neighbour:
