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A Chinese child wears his handmade decorated yarmulkes at the popular Eldridge Street Synagogue's Egg Creams and Egg Rolls Street Fair on Sunday, June 10, 2012. The popular fairs celebrates the diversity of the Lower East Side and pays tribute to the changed neighborhood, once predominantly Jewish and now Chinese. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos069766

This past weekend was one of those weekends where we shot a bunch of different things. Sometimes that happens, we choose a neighborhood and we just walk from that neighborhood to our home, shooting photos of anything and everything along the way.

A multiethnic group of children decorate yarmulkes at the popular Eldridge Street Synagogue's Egg Creams and Egg Rolls Street Fair on Sunday, June 10, 2012. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos069764

We started off on the Lower East Side. Sometimes we go farther afield and the walks are a lot longer. But it was hot, with a chance of rain, and we didn’t want to venture too far from an escape from the weather via a subway ride. One of the first things we came across was a hotbed of multiculturalism. The Eldridge Street Synagogue, now a historic museum, holds its “Egg Rolls and Egg Creams” festival every June. The festival pays tribute to the fact that the neighborhood was once predominantly Jewish and now is predominantly Chinese. What better way to celebrate it than to have Chinese kids making handmade decorated yarmulkes to wear?

Followers the Hare Krishna religion and members of the public attend the Hare Krishna Festival in Washington Square Park in New York on Saturday, June 9, 2012. The public was offered, in keeping with the Hare Krishna tradition, free food and music at the Festival of the Lord Jaqannatha (Ratha Yatra). RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos069753

As we continued our walk we came across the Hare Krishna Festival in Washington Square park. They actually have what is probably the world’s slowest parade, where they drag these massive wagons down Fifth Avenue. We missed that this year but the festival was going on. Music, food and other entertainment welcome to all.

Hundreds of members of the Hare Krishna religion gather on Fifth Ave. for their annual Chariot Festival of the Lord Jaqannatha (Ratha Yatra) on Saturday, June 12, 2010. The parade, celebrated since 1976, travels down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village with a fair where the public was offered, in keeping with the Hare Krishna tradition, free food and music. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos054415

The chariots are mighty big as can be seen in this 2010 photo. Since they are hand-pulled they are also mighty slow.

The former Nabisco bakery in New York, now the trendy Chelsea Market, is seen on Sunday, June 10, 2012. The owners of the building, Jamestown Properties, are proposing towers to be built over the existing block-long building on the Ninth and Tenth Avenue sides. The Nabisco bakery was converted into a food arcade and office building in the 1990's and is part of the revival of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos069779

As we got closer to home we passed the Chelsea Market. Formerly the Nabisco Bakery (you can practically still smell the Oreo Cookies), the site has been the subject of some controversy lately. It seems that the owners of the property are proposing two massive towers over the block-long building. Needless to say they need a zoning variance and this being New York, needless to say the neighborhood is against it.  The food arcade features everything from Jewish deli food to Thai noodles. Not so far a cry from egg rolls and egg creams allowing tourists and New Yorkers alike to enjoy a multicultural dining experience.

Richard Levine and Frances Roberts, of Levine Roberts Photography, are a husband and wife team of photographers covering politics, environmental issues, the economy, business, and social and cultural issues in the Big Apple. See more photos from their collection on Newscom.

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