New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original
Wednesday March 1, 2023 – Saturday May 27, 2023
by Canal Street Research Association

Installation view, New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original, 2023. Photo by PJ
Rountree. Courtesy of Storefront for Art and Architecture.
make money and good luck!, 2023. Photo: Canal Street Research Association
New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original
Canal Street Research Association
Speculative research on the shifting landscapes of Canal Street, featuring works by Ming Fay
Exhibition Opening:
Wednesday, March 1st from 6-8pm [RSVP]
Gallery Hours:
Wednesdays – Saturdays, 12-6 pm
#NewLandPlaza @canal_street_research @mingfaystudio @storefrontnyc
“Whoever you are, wherever you are, we are going to shut you down.”
— Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg during the “Counterfeit Triangle” raid press conference
February, 2008
About the Artists
Canal Street Research Association at New Land Plaza. Photo: PJ Rountree
Canal Street Research Association was founded in 2020 in an empty storefront on Canal Street, New York’s counterfeit epicenter. Delving into the cultural and material ecologies of the street and its long history as a site that probes the limits of ownership and authorship, the association repurposes underused real estate as spaces for gathering ephemeral histories, mapping local lore, and tracing the flows and fissures of capital. They have occupied storefronts, empty office buildings, and storage units—and are currently located in a basement under Canal Street.
The fictional office entity is operated by Shanzhai Lyric (Ming Lin and Alex Tatarsky), a poetic research and roving archival unit that take inspiration from 山寨 (shanzhai or counterfeit) goods to examine how bootlegs use mimicry, hybridity, and permutation to both revel in and reveal the artifice of global hierarchies.
Ming Fay, Monumental Fruit (sketch) from Public Art in Chinatown (Asian American Arts Centre, 1988)
Ming Fay is a New York City-based sculptor celebrated for his large-scale, life-like sculptural renditions of plants, fruits, trees, and other organic forms.Fay has exhibited internationally and has been commissioned by numerous cities to create large-scale public sculptures.
Born in Shanghai in 1943, Ming Fay grew up in Hong Kong, moving to the United States in 1961 to attend the Columbus College of Art and Design. He received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
On the Ground
New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original is presented as part of On the Ground, a yearlong research project and exhibition series about New York City’s ground floor. Through a close look at the urban typology of the storefront, this expansive endeavor presents newly commissioned artistic explorations and dialogues about the heterogeneous threshold between public and private space throughout 2023. The project will unfold through three exhibitions, a radio show, an open call, a public program, and a thematic reader.
Credits
New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original by Canal Street Research Association. Organized by the Storefront Team. Graphic design by Estudio Herrera.
Storefront for Art and Architecture Team:
José Esparza Chong Cuy, Executive Director and Chief Curator
Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa, Curator of Programs and Public Affairs
Jessica Kwok, Assistant Curator
Eduardo Meneses, Environments and Production Manager
Andrea Molina Cuadro, Gallery and Exhibitions Fellow
Maya Whites, Gallery and Community Engagement Fellow
Support
Storefront’s On the Ground program is made possible through the support of the Graham Foundation, the Ruth Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the Storefront Circle and Storefront’s Board of Directors, members, and individual donors.