New York isn’t just a city of neighborhoods — it’s a city of blocks. Each week, Metro tosses a dart at a map of Gotham and gives readers a snapshot of what we’ve found.
The gates of the kitchen supply store, furniture maker and marble tile manufacturer on this industrial block were shut Sunday, but a steady stream of families entered through one nondescript storefront.
Inside Divya Dham, an ornate Hindu temple in a former electronics factory, people were celebrating Tulsi Vivah, honoring the symbolic wedding of the Tulsi plant to Lord Krishna that marks the start of the traditional marriage season.
Hindus view the plant — also called holy basil — as the incarnation of the goddess Mahalakshmi. It represents love, virtue and the sorrow of women. Arvind Patel pointed out the potted Tulsi, bedecked in bangles and flowers placed at Krishna’s altar as scores of temple-goers offered prayers.
A math teacher from India who became a subway station clerk after moving here 22 years ago, Patel welcomed two guests by chanting “Ohm” with them.
“The bad ideas will be stopped when you close your eyes,” Patel, 66, said. “It’s just you and god, any god.”
