Lunar New Year, by Harris Graber at flickr This afternoon was the parade celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year; it's the Year of the Rat. Chinatown in Manhattan is one of the earliest concentrations of Chinese people in the United States. After the jump are more early pictures of the parade.......

"spot on" by ShhPeKo on flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a baby in cardiac arrest on West 96th St. in Manhattan, a shooting on Church and Flatbush Aves. in Brooklyn, and a found grenade on East 196th St. and Bainbridge Ave. in the Bronx. More hand-sifted material has been transported to Fresh Kills, Staten Island. The material does not contain any human remains and is not located on a site that contains landfill.......

Untitled Photo of Lunar New Year Parade, NYC, by Raymond Haddad at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer struck on 42nd St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan, a bomb threat on 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan, and a shooting on Mayfair Dr. in Brooklyn. Don't speed (108 m.p.h.), at night (2:30 a.m.), while drunk (.113 BAC), while tailgating and driving erratically, on an urban highway (Staten Island Expressway.) One young......

MUSIC: Come enjoy the Whitney after dark tonight as the museum's live showcase series invites Dan Deacon (pictured) to the stage. If you haven't seen Deacon before, get ready for some Casio keyboard electro-rock compositions and an art dance party. Friday // 7pm // Whitney Museum [945 Madison Ave] // Pay what you want EVENT: The Moth Story Shop presents “The One that Got Away: Stories from South Street Seaport” tonight. The following storytellers will......

Happy Lunar New Year: Photograph of today's Chinatown festivities by Beatrice LeeToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: a school safety officer injured on Corporal Kennedy St. in Queens, a double stabbing on Madison St. and Seneca Ave. in Queens, and a stolen DHL truck in the area of North Henry St. in Brooklyn. A family-owned hardware store at Bergen St. and Flatbush Ave. has been open since the 1940s, but they now find themselves in......

It's time for the Lunar New Year, which starts February 7th and lasts for 14 days, and this year is the Year of the Rat, 4706. Sure, there are plenty of things to do to celebrate the holiday, but to us, it means one thing -- a new year banquet. We've found a few places that are offering banquets in honor of the Year of the Rat, including variations of traditional Chinese Lunar New Year......

This weekend marks the start of many pre-Lunar New Year Festivities in the city. The New Year begins on February 7 (more information here), and there will be the firecracker ceremony and cultural festival in Chatham Square on that day, plus the Lunar New Year Parade and Festival in Chinatown on February 10. There is also a Lunar New Year Parade in Flushing on February 9. Today through Monday, the Museum of Chinese in America......

Yesterday, thousands were in Chinatown to ring in the Year 4705. The Year of the Pig is a very good year, according to the Chinese astrology, lots of prosperity and good luck. There are a bunch of great Lunar New Year photographs. AKinloch on Flickr took the photograph above of a red lion dancing. LW Lens has a nice Flickr set of yesterday's festivities, with lots of crowd shots like the one above. And......

While Chinatown's annual Chinese New Year Parade won't be until next weekend, there are still plenty of activities to celebrate the year 4705. If you're heading to Chinatown tomorrow (New Year's Day), be sure to head over to Chatham Square (the intersection of Bowery, Mott and East Broadway) for the New Year’s Day Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival. For the first time since the city banned fireworks (and firecrackers), there will be real firecrackers......

It's the Lunar New Year this weekend, the first day of 4705 being this Sunday. The Year of the Pig is a very good year - pigs are fat and round, which means a prosperous and benevolent year. Some even think it's a good year to have babies, too! Chinatown will be celebrating the Year of the Pig this weekend and for the next few weeks. There's the Flower Market at Columbus Park today......

THEATER: The esteemed Classical Theatre of Harlem is reviving Peter Weiss’s masterpiece Marat/Sade. The dizzying action takes place in an asylum in France, where the infamous Marquis de Sade is sequestered in 1808. To pass the time, he directs a play about the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat during the revolution. His asylum casting pool yields up some magnificent performances, though the production is almost squelched by the hospital administrator, a tool of Napoleon’s post-revolutionary regime.......

This Sunday will make the new lunar year, the year 4704, for many Asian cultures, and Chinatown will be hopping. And why not, as it's nice to have another new year when you can (you can start going to gym again religiously - we know you pooped out after four days!). Here are events happening in Chinatown, from Explore Chinatown:3rd Annual Lunar New Year Flower Market Friday, January 27th, Noon - 10:00 p.m. Saturday,......

CELEBRATION: There's nothing like flowers to cheer you up in the dreary month of January. The Museum of Chinese in the Americas presents Arts in Full Bloom at 3rd Annual Lunar New Year Flower Market. The Flower Market reinvents tradition by incorporating performers and artists as the colors and fragrances of auspicious plants and blossoms linger in the air and atmosphere. The flowers are widely used decoratively as symbols of prosperity, fortune and abundance. Friday......

William Dao, Museum of the Chinese in the Americas...

January 29: First Day of the Lunar New Year -- Year of the Dog There's plenty going on to celebrate the Lunar New year, but of course we're focused on the food. Explore Chinatown's site has a list of restaurants offering special feasts for the occasion, including Gothamist favorite Fuleen Seafood, and explains the different foods that are traditionally eaten as part of the celebration. January 31: Chef Tasting Series at Appellation: Marc Meyer Join......

It's Chinese (and many other kinds of) New Year, and Asians all over the world are partying like it's 4703. Gothamist urges you to do the same this Year of the Rooster - just head to Chinatown, eat a lot of food and you're pretty much covered. There will be a firecracker ceremony (to scare away the evil spirits) today at 2PM, and a parade this Sunday. On both days, you'll see lion dancers......

It's never too early to plan weekend activities, and since tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, Gothamist thinks it might be fun to check out the New York Chinese Cultural Center's 20th dance festival. There will be various dances, musical performances, and Peking Opera. There's nothing like cultural enrichment while watching people dressed up as monkeys trying to hit each other with sticks. Tickets are on sale via Ticket Web for the three weekend performances......

Time to get that monkey on your back: It's the Lunar Year 4072, the Year of the Monkey, also known as Chinese New Year, as well as Korean, Vietnamese, and Malaysian New Year. Asian (and other) peoples will be celebrating tonight and for the next two weeks, eating, wearing red, eating, paying respect to their elders, eating, and eating some more. There are plenty of superstitions and traditions that take place, but the best......