It was a Saturday afternoon. I had just gotten off the N train at 8^th Avenue and 62^nd Street. To my left stretched one of the busiest few blocks in the neighbourhood, despite the cold. The bright awning signs and storefronts were a marked contrast to the dark winter jackets of the people walking outside. 8^th Ave, in the heart of the Chinese half of Sunset Park is packed with bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores, and very little of anything written, if anything at all, is in English. But most of all, 8^th Ave has people. Mothers with small children, young couples, old couples, groups of teenage kids – they were all out buying food or walking down the street or getting up to whatever antics they wanted, bundled up in fluffy winter jackets despite the cold. The avenue is certainly busier when it’s not freezing outside.

I stopped for a snack at a packed little bakery. The cakes were quite good and unlike traditional Western sweets, the passion fruit tea was sweet and tangy, and almost every seat was filled by people getting a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and a cake, trying to escape the cold for a little while. The clientele in here were elderly people, young children, or young couples, mainly. I felt a little out of place in my giant, lime green winter coat, my white hair, and my pale skin.

A quick look down either avenue block showed residences, each a slightly different colour but all built in the same fashion. They were markedly quieter compared to the hectic nature of 8^th Ave, and even 7^th and 9^th Ave were much less busy. Traffic was mostly on 8^th.

I walked down to Greenwood Cemetery, my favourite place to visit in Sunset Park. It was completely dead inside – pun absolutely intended. The cemetery was peaceful and a little frozen over, and I enjoyed the quiet. In the middle of the cemetery is a crematorium and a little koi pond around a very sleek, modern urn house that held crematory urns in little glass boxes. As I discovered talking to some of the staff there, it’s a rather recent addition, prompted by the influx of Chinese immigrants into the neighbourhood.

It being a Saturday, and a cold one at that, none of the tours were going on. It seemed like I was the only person in the cemetery. I distantly saw a funereal group, but decided to give them space. The only people in the graveyard were the ones who had business there.

I left Greenwood and walked down to the 45^th Street N/R station, scoping out the location of the community hall. I passed by Sunset Park on the way. It was somewhat small, compared to the vastness of Greenwood, and pretty empty as well. Apparently it’s a popular dog park, as I saw a few puppies walking to the train. Like most of the neighbourhood, it’s probably more vibrant when it’s not so cold.