Brooklyn Public Library Plans Lunar New Year Celebrations

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, NY — The Year of the Rat won't begin without fanfare at Brooklyn Public Library. Branches across the borough plan Lunar New Year celebrations to be capped off with an event at the main Prospect Heights library.

The new year begins Jan. 25 but the events are scheduled both before and after that day. Library spokesperson Katie Groenke said organizers wanted to give more chances to attend.

"Just to keep the celebration going so it’s not the one day,” she said.

It's an auspicious year on the Chinese zodiac for New York's unofficial mascot Pizza Rat. Few can deny that viral rodent embodies the Chinese zodiacal characteristics of thrift and diligence said to apply to people born under the rat sign.

A celebration of the zodiacal cycle by Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company on Saturday will kick off the library events. That event is scheduled for 2 p.m. at McKinley Park Library.

New Utrecht Library will host the next event Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. There won't be dance, but there will be movement — chief instructor Sifu Tzyann Hsu of Qi Tao will teach Tai Chi, a martial art used to reduce stress and hone the body and mind.

But if crafts are more your speed then the third event held at Bay Ridge Library on Feb. 8 will be can't miss. Starting at 2 p.m., staff from the Museum of Chinese in America will teach crafters and the curious alike how to fold and cut a moveable paper fish — the new year's symbol of abundance — through traditional methods.

The final event on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. will return to the zodiac and dance by Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. The company will perform at Central Library on Grand Army Plaza.

More information can be found at Brooklyn Public Library's website.