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Tibetan new year scores an NYC prize: Suspension of alternate side parking rules
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Arun Venugopal
Published Feb 23, 2025
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Li Lin/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Feb 23, 2025
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Tenzin Phenthok looks forward each year to Losar, the Tibetan New Year, which she and her family mark with religious observances and a feast of Tibetan delicacies.
But this year’s observance will be a bit different, extending beyond the 61,000 Tibetans who live in the five boroughs. On Feb. 28, for the first time, Losar will be observed with a suspension of alternate side parking rules – no small honor in New York City.
The designation brings Losar into an elite league of holidays observed by the city’s many ethnic and religious communities, including Three Kings Day (Jan. 6), Purim (with ASP rules suspended this year on March 14), Eid al-Adha (with the rules suspended June 6-7) and Diwali (with the rules suspended Oct. 20).
“ I think there's something really powerful here about feeling seen,” Phenthok said.
For Tibetan New Yorkers, many of whom have been displaced from their homeland, the celebration marks “ a really special time for connecting Tibetans across the world,” said Pema Doma, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.
Community members said the path to recognition involved considerable grassroots involvement, including outreach to elected representatives. Many also offered testimonials at a City Council hearing led by Queens City Councilmember Julie Won.
Phenthok, who grew up in Queens and now works in philanthropy, also testified.
“By suspending [alternate-side parking] on Losar, New York City would be sending a powerful message to all Himalayan New Yorkers that our city recognizes us,” she said in her Sept. 27 testimony.
Some community members noted that the Tibetan government in exile had urged members of the diaspora to mark Losar quietly this year, due to a deadly earthquake that struck Tibet in January.
That spirit marks a Losar event being held at LaGuardia Community College on March 2. The free event, in partnership with the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, features Losar pastries, art-making and a lesson about the significance of this holiday through storytelling and meditation
Doma said Losar is traditionally observed for 15 days in Tibet but most Tibetans “in exile” observe it for either one day or the first three days.
In her family’s case, the night before Losar typically involves the preparation of guthuk, a noodle soup made from nine ingredients. A large ball of cooked dough is dropped into each bowl of guthuk, and within each dough ball is a message written on a slip of paper.
Some messages are inscribed with positive attributes while others bear negative ones. Doma said that's a playful reminder that all people contain multitudes.
”It's one of my favorite Losar traditions, to be honest,” Doma said.
In another Losar observance, Doma and her family say a prayer together, burn juniper “and then everyone throws barley in the air at the same time.”
“It marks a celebration of auspicious new beginnings for Tibetans,” she said.
Tenzin Dorjee, a lecturer in the department of political science at Columbia University and senior researcher at Tibet Action Institute, said he typically marks Losar by taking his family to a Buddhist temple – typically Dorje Ling Buddhist Center in Dumbo, Brooklyn – where they meet friends “and the kids play while adults pray.”
He also sets up a Losar altar at home every year, with bowls of nuts and fresh fruit, bars of Cadbury chocolate, a picture of the Dalai Lama and various prepared delicacies. In one photo he shared, the altar included a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne and Dalwhinnie single-malt scotch.
“I have a very simple Losar altar, but I always offer the best distilled beverage to the Buddhas,” he said.
Won, the councilmember who championed the designation, said the timing of the parking designation was especially meaningful.
“At a time when there is so much fear and uncertainty as a result of federal immigration policies, our bill sends a message that we support, recognize, and celebrate immigrants who live in our sanctuary city — including those who have sought refuge from persecution in their home country like the Tibetan community,” Won said.
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Race And Justice Unit
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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