I want it to remain in my mind the worn arcade that time forgot, the sort of gritty Chinatown establishment where shady characters from a William Gibson novel might hang out on a cold winter night. Honestly, I don’t want to know too much about Chinatown Fair. The NY Times did a story on Chinatown Fair a couple of years ago, but found the owner unwilling to talk. It’s been in business since at least the 1950’s, when it was located across the street at 7-9 Mott Street and featured rides, a lunch counter with ice cream sodas and yes, dancing chickens (picture from Manhattan’s Chinatown): It’s hard to find any history on Chinatown Fair. Pictures were later sent of Lily the chicken in her new home to Mr. Then he turned to me and said: “Take the chicken!” I hugged him I was so grateful. I begged and begged, “I have to take her today.” He said he needed a moment to pray for the decision he should make–we were both still. Samuel to give up the game once and for all. Later, the chicken was placed in a tic-tac-toe machine of similar design, in which jolts caused the chicken to correctly select boxes on a tic-tac-toe board.Ĭhinatown Fair went through dozens of chickens over the decades until 1998, when a sympathetic poultry lover convinced owner Mr. Rather, it was hopping to avoid the electric jolts that were sent into the grate it stood on. Since the 1950’s, you could watch a chicken dance at Chinatown Fair for a few coins. That used to read “World Famous Dancing & Tic-Tac-Toe Playing Chicken.” See the “World Famous Dancing & Tic-Tac-Toe” line? What the heck is this doing in an old arcade? The answer is on the sign. …And check out the strange picture collage of…farm animals. Isn’t this the very nature of arcades?įor a truly unique bit of Chinatown Fare history, however, go to the manager’s booth, a treehouse-like mishmash of plywood and metal that somehow manages to stay up… I love the NO LOITERING sign hand painted on the half brick, half cement wall. Here you’ll find more modern fare like Dance Dance Revolution and others. Like a storybook magic store that’s larger inside than appears possible from the street, the arcade seems to stretch farther back than it should – and then takes a left hand turn to go even deeper into the bowels of Chinatown. What really amazes me though is the size of the place. …and you can find a fair number of classics represented in the front. The place was packed with a mix of young teens, 20-something hipsters, and Chinese locals pumping quarters for a few minutes of video gaming.įor the most part, the games are a quarter or two… I only learned of Chinatown Fair Arcade recently, when a friend showed me it after a delicious Peking duck dinner one Saturday night. Same goes for the vertical Video Game Land sign, though I wish to God this would get fixed – nothing would be cooler than turning onto Mott Street and finding a rainbow of flashing lights advertising one of the last old school arcades in the city. The letters on the store’s sign are missing not for aesthetic value but because they fell down with age or were stolen, and haven’t been replaced because the owner doesn’t feel it’s worth the trouble. Not a Hollywood set, or a nostalgia-fueled attempt at creating a Tron-like arcade. …and you’ll find yourself in something out of a movie, a brick-walled tunnel of a space lined on both sides with dozens of quarter-fed video games: the last arcade in Chinatown. Head through the fingerprint streaked glass doors… It’s at #8 Mott, though you’ll know you’re there simply because it’s the only storefront around with its rollgate up, a strange purplish light spilling out onto the street. …and turn right onto the dimly lit, deserted Mott Street. It’s in Chinatown, and it’s best to visit late on a Friday or Saturday night.įrom Canal Street, head south on Bowery past Chatham Square… Note: Chinatown Fair closed for good about two weeks after I posted this article.
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