Museum of Chinese in America

Husband and wife Daniel Carter and Marilyn Sontag sit down with Tomie Arai to discuss their lives living at 218 Centre Street, and all of the changes in the neighborhood that they have watched since they moved in in 1970. They begin by discussing their lives prior to their move to New York City, and how they found their apartment, which was actually designated as an artist residence, through word of mouth. Marilyn is a visual artist, and Daniel is a composer and musician. The couple discuss the changing borders of Chinatown over the years, and they describe the location of their residence as right on the border between what is left of Little Italy and Chinatown. When Marilyn and Daniel elaborate on the changes in Chinatown through the years, they stress that the main change is the expansion of Chinatown. They share anecdotes from their life in the seventies and share stories behind artifacts that they kept for sentimental reasons, such as old street signs, a piece of cast iron from their building after a remodel, and photographs, among other treasures. They discuss what it has been like to be a part of the Chinatown community peripherally, and they share many anecdotes about their life together living in the same place for 45 years.