Meet: Siyan Wong

The Lower East Side is full of impressive, talented, giving, and immensely interesting people of different backgrounds, persuasions, and styles. More For LES is delighted to showcase neighbors from 10002 who contribute to making the community richer, more welcoming, and complete. Today we meet Siyan Wong.

Siyan Wong is a former workers’ rights lawyer turned full-time artist. She has exhibited at the Equity Gallery of the New York Artist Equity Association (NYAE), New York Arts Center, The National Arts Club, and various universities, libraries and institutions. More For LES spoke with her, and this is what she had to say:

Do you live, work, or both live and work in the neighborhood?

I live and work here.

How long have you lived and/or worked in the neighborhood?

19 years.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a first generation Chinese immigrant, a lawyer, a painter and multimedia artist, and a mother of two children.

Although I started exhibiting my work 7 years ago, I transitioned to art full-time in 2025 after quitting a vigorous litigation career as a workers’ rights lawyer. Now, I teach part-time and create art with social justice as an inspiration full-time.

My love for art is not without precedent. I learned the fundamentals in visual art while studying at LaGuardia High School, but — having set my eyes on financial stability — I transferred to Stuyvesant High School, from where I graduated. I went on to college and law school, but art remained my passion and mode of expression.

My first exhibited art project was “Five Cents A Can.” It was inspired by Choi Yee, the elderly Chinese woman canner who lived in the nearby low income housing development. When I met her, she was in her mid 80s. Every Saturday morning, she was at the back of East River Co-op on Cherry Street picking out cans and bottles out of recycling bags laid out to be collected by the Department of Sanitation.

She was meticulously neat about untying and tying back each bag. That also meant she was slow. One time, as I was finishing my morning run, I saw the Sanitation workers collecting the bags and Choi Yee was standing there saddened by all the cans and bottles that were still in the bags. In thinking about Choi Yee, I realized she had no protection as a worker because she had no employer as a canner.

In November 2019, I launched a campaign to “Make It 10 Cents“ with my first solo exhibition, “Five Cents A Can: Making Visible the Invisible.” Then the pandemic hit. But through the years, I have found likeminded neighbors and people around the City, and even in Upstate New York.

If you work in the neighborhood, what do you do professionally?

I am currently a full-time artist working primarily out of my home studio.

What do you love to do in your free time?

I love to read and go see and experience art whenever I have the time. I also aspire to be more disciplined in practicing my Taichi and Qigong so I can be healthier.

Going back to running is also an annual aspiration... but that resolution sort of ends around January 31.

What’s something you've experienced here that makes the neighborhood feel special to you?

This neighborhood feels special because so many of my neighbors want to make this place a safe place to live. I have met so many creative, driven, and kind people here that it’s difficult for me to leave to find a more affordable neighborhood.

The groceries in the neighborhood are expensive and the cost of living here is rising fast. But, the quiet, the accessibility to culture, food, interesting people, and the return of East River Park are all keeping me here.

Perhaps an even more diverse neighborhood would bring a greater variety of cuisines. I would love to be able to walk to a Korean, Indian, and Japanese restaurant.

What’s something you’d like to see change or improve in the neighborhood?

More diverse food options, like Korean, Indian, and Japanese food.

Favorite local spots — where do you go, and why do you love them?

Essex Market has a lot of food options and what a great space to meet friends either as a starting point or a way to end the day. I wish it would open for dinner or the upstairs space be available for other events.

Manousheh is such a gem for good food and drinks at a great price, and the workers are all so friendly. Wu’s Kitchen, too, is a nice family friendly Chinese restaurant. Kopitiam is a wonderful Malaysian restaurant. The seasonal summer drinks are great.

I always love Sticky Rice and Dudley’s on Broome Street.

Are there any buildings, parks, or street corners that you think of when the Lower East Side comes to mind?

Paul Taylor Dance Studio above Fine Fare at the corner of Jackson and Grand Streets is always the corner I think about because it’s so amazing that such an artistic company is right here in our neighborhood.

East River Park, too, is an amazing backyard complete with tennis courts, sports fields, trees, running paths, playgrounds, and lots of benches to sit and daydream while watching the river flows.

Anything else you’d like to share with your neighbors?

I would love for my neighbors to support artists by thinking about spaces available for artists studios so artists like me can thrive here as creatives.

How can they get involved in the causes you are passionate about?

On May 26th, from 8-12 noon, there will be a pop-up redemption center at Columbus Park in Chinatown where the Bigger Better Bottle Bill (BBBB) will be simulated, where all bottles and cans will be redeemed at 10 cents except for dairy and juice containers.

This effort is being championed by various organizations, including Sure We Can, NYC Connect, Welcome To Chinatown, Immigrant Social Services, and the Canal Street Research Collective.