Citizen Tribeca | TCQ&A: Author Carmen Rita Wong
Photo by Deneka Peniston
Where to start with Tribecan Carmen Rita Wong? Her recent memoir, “Why Didn’t You Tell Me? » has been reviewed by The temperature as “lively conversational prose that will make readers feel like they are listening to a master storyteller on a long road trip”. She was co-creator and television host of “On the Money” on CNBC and was a national advice columnist for Glamour, Latina, Men’s Health and Good Housekeeping. She sits on the board of The Moth and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
This is not his first book; she is the author of a series of novels and two bestselling advice books. And she’s the founder and CEO of Malecon Productions, where she develops female-focused media and entertainment.
She was kind enough to share a copy of the book – and it’s captivating. (Scroll down for an excerpt from the prologue.) And now, in her own words since she is the mistress of it, the TCQ&A.
1. How long have you lived in the area? Where do you come from?
My daughter and I have been in the area for over 10 years after 10 years in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. I’m originally an uptown girl, Claremont/W 125th St. My grandfather’s cleaning/tailor shop was on the corner of 125th and Broadway. It’s now a Starbucks (of course). My parents separated when I was young, so my world was between the Dominican family in uptown and my dad’s side in Chinatown. When my mother remarried, I spent a few years in New Hampshire. Quite the change!
2. Married? In partnership ?
Only.
3. Children? Pets?
I am a single parent to my daughter who is 15 and a junior at Calhoun. We have two puppies, a 13 year old rescue dog, Gloria, and a 2 year old mini poodle, “Q”, short for both the James Bond character and Q-Bert the video game, a favorite of my late brother when we were kids.
4. Where do you live?
We are on Barclay in the old New York Telephone building. I think we were the 9th or 10th family to move in 6 years ago. It’s a beautifully detailed piece of New York history. [Note the wonderful portraits, shot in the historic lobby by Deneka Peniston]
Photo by Deneka Peniston
5. What do you do for a living?
I’m researching and writing my next novel as well as a book/screenplay adaptation. Glad to focus on my creative side after a 20+ year career in broadcast and media (had a TV show, hosted radio, was a magazine editor and advice columnist, etc.) and served on the NYU faculty as a professor of behavioral economics.
11. The most delicious cocktail
Spicy margarita/jalapeño on the rocks always. (Although I’m maybe one or two a month: Age.)
18. Where I Become Beautiful
Darling Edris at Maverick House in the West Village (@Edrisjustedris). She’s a NYC hair and nightlife icon and the only person I trusted to get my pixie cut years ago. A master of textured hair.
19. What is the region’s best kept secret?
That it’s a triangle of everything you need as a parent – especially as a single parent – (and child) in the city. Basics like groceries and Target, fun at Oculus and Brookfield, parks and boat rides, movie theaters, then a short walk to Chinatown and Soho, restaurants of all kinds and now galleries.
24. Rainy Day Activity
We love to pop across the street to the Regal Cinema and catch a matinee. Or, if it’s not raining too much, we love the Alamo on Liberty. My daughter and I are both obsessed with movies, so we’re especially grateful to have these options on the doorstep. A gift!
32. My favorite place
My new favorite place is The tin building. It’s so escapist. The butcher/fish counters are definitely worth picking up what to cook for dinner and I could get lost in the international spices, salsas, snacks.
35. A doctor I would recommend
At the risk of making her busier, our dear Dr. Peggy (Margaret) Chapman of One Medical on Hudson saved the life of a pediatrician, especially since my daughter has been living with (and managing) long COVID for over two year. She is a treasure.
36. My Most Memorable Celebrity Location
Having been on TV for years I’ve known and know my share of celebrities (some amazing some not so much) but in terms of our neighborhood and luck I took my daughter years ago see the “Annie” reboot at Regal Battery Park and while we waited in our seats, Broadway premiere “Annie,” Sarah Jessica Parker, and her children sat behind us. I smiled big with that one.
41. A business I wish I had here
A small, curated bookstore (though we love our local Barnes & Noble; kudos to Kevin the manager!) with fundraising events for authors and non-profits like the new and absolutely magical Yu & Me Books in Chinatown. Owner and manager, Lucy, is a neighborhood treasure who is becoming a huge influence in the book world.
42. A company I miss
Roots on the rooms [now Chambers]. It’s a lovely, friendly and delightful haven that I regularly took to visit family, friends and my agent (who absolutely loved it). Many good memories. Unfortunately with an immunocompromised child I can’t eat inside but can’t wait to go back!
48. Best reason to go to AboCa
The Whitney and the Shed. Art and performance, two of my favorites. I am a supporter of both and have friends who are curators/directors of each.
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And here is an excerpt from “Why didn’t you tell me?”. (Copyright © 2022 by Carmen Rita Wong. Published by Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.)
My youngest sister recently gave me a photo she found in our father’s closet. If I had seen it at any time during my first three decades on this earth, it would have opened my life – and that of our family – into the open.
It must have been taken in 1971 because the swaddled baby my mother is holding in the photo is me and I am a newborn. The scene takes place on the narrow terrace of a Manhattan apartment. My mother, Lupe, stands in profile in what looks like the late afternoon sun. On the left in the photo is the man I knew later in life as my stepfather, Marty, holding another baby, the son of the tall woman in the middle of the photo. This woman’s arms are open to friends on either side of her, her Afro atop the photo’s staging. I had been told all my life that my stepfather – the man in the picture – didn’t know my mother when I was born. So why was he in this photo? Why were we, my mother and I, with his friends? And why was that photo just resurfacing now?
Seeing this photo two years ago was like finding one of the biggest clues in a long unsolved case. At the time I saw it, I only knew some of the truths it revealed.
