New York Habitat Blog

France has a long history of accepting immigrants from all corners of the earth. Today, the country is full of thriving immigrant communities playing a large role in public life, particularly in the urban areas. France’s immigrant history, however, has not always been something to be proud of. Like in the United States, France’s immigrant populations have historically been segregated, treated as second-class citizens and been subject to racism. To its credit, France has been eager to examen its own colonial past, as painful and embarrassing as it may be. Running through the summer at the Porte Dorée Immigrant Museum is an exhibit focusing on the 1931 colonial exhibition in Paris. Paris is a city steeped in history; cultural, political and architectural. New York Habitat has summer apartment rentals that will put visitors at the doorstep of Parisian history.

Paris 2-bedroom accommodation (PA-3097)

In 1931, France held the International Colonial Exposition in Paris’ Bois de Vincennes. The event was meant to highlight the power of France’s colonial empire as well as to glorify its civilizing mission. In reality, the exposition was more like voyeuristic ethnography, aiming to feed public curiosity, thus garnering public support for French colonies. The event featured large scale recreations of African villages and Cambodian temples. Native peoples were shipped in from French colonies around the globe and put on display in a zoo-like setting. The natives were dressed in traditional clothing and performed tasks and created aboriginal art work to the amazement of the viewing public. While it may seem shocking today, the exposition should be viewed in the context of its time–the American south was still fiercely segregated, large-scale Asian and African immigration had yet to arrive in Western Europe, and France was eager to promote its power following a devastating World War.

This summer’s exhibition at the Porte Dorée Immigration Museum sets out to explore the dichotomy of the 1931 colonial exposition–an event that played a role in France’s acceptance of millions of refugees and immigrants in the coming years. The exhibition, titled “1931. Foreigners during the time of the colonial exposition,” focuses on the 3 million immigrants already living in France at the time of the controversial expo, France was a country extremely accepting of immigrants yet putting its colonial subjects on display nonetheless. This summer’s exhibit offers a much more contemporary view of France than many of the capital’s other museums and offers an interesting perspective on some of the causes and effects of France’s complex history of immigration.

Paris accommodation 3-bedroom apartment (PA-3106)

The Porte Dorée Immigration Museum is rather easy to reach from anywhere in Paris. New York Habitat suggests that first time visitors stay in one of our Seine-side accommodations. Here are three of our neighborhood favorites worth taking a look at:

- 1-bedroom apartment rental in Luxembourg, St Michel-St Germain-Notre Dame (PA-2517).
- 2-bedroom rental accommodation in Luxembourg, St Michel-St Germain-Notre Dame (PA-3097).
- 3-bedroom duplex apartment rental in Luxembourg, St Michel-St Germain-Notre Dame
(PA-3106).

New York Apartment Midtown Kitchen (NY-7245)

So you’re all moved into your New York Habitat accommodation, you’ve eaten at all the city restaurants on your list, the kitchen in your rental apartment is as clean as when you arrived, and you’re getting hungry. It’s time to cook–after all, one of the biggest reason most renters choose a New York Habitat accommodation rather than a hotel is for the convenience and pleasure of home cooking. Now that you’ve decided to eat in, its time to go shopping. Whole Foods is increasingly expensive, the fruit at the neighborhood bodega looks as if it might be plastic, and you’re someone looking to take pleasure out of your New York food-shopping experience. The food-shopping solution for millions of New Yorkers is to visit one of the city’s dozens of farmer’s markets. You heard right; Farmer’s markets in the heart of the Big Apple.

Farmer’s markets, or Greenmarkets as they’re now being called in New York, embrace the old-school pleasure of food shopping. Greenmarkets are meant to be perused–avocado’s squeezed for ripeness, apples held up to illuminate bruises and cheeses sniffed for sufficient stinkiness. Greenmarkets are the best place in New York to find unprocessed food, straight from the farm to the Upper East Side. Contrary to popular belief, farmer’s markets are also good places to find a good deal (while places like Whole Foods have fixed prices city wide, independent farmers augment their prices more often in a direct response to supply and demand). NYC Greenmarkets are social gathering places, in a city where everyone is in a rush, shoppers and sellers at Greenmarkets discuss the values of mold on goat cheese or the best season to buy asparagus. Greenmarkets also promote the socially-conscious concept of buying and eating local foods. There are some 46 government-supported Greenmarkets in New York City open during the summer months, with some staying open all year long. Visitors can do virtually all of their shopping at a Greenmarket, in fact many of New York’s top chefs do just that. 

New York accommodation Brooklyn kitchen (ny-12420)

The beauty of a New York Habitat accommodation is the freedom to cook your own meals–perhaps meals with ingredients harvested in the last 24 hours. Here are a few New York Habitat apartment rentals with ample kitchen space in close proximity to a neighborhood Greenmarket.

-The kitchen in this 1-bedroom apartment rental in Midtown West-Chelsea (NY-7245) features exposed brick and stainless steel appliances. The apartment is only a few blocks from the year-round Union Square Greenmarket, open 4 days a week.

- This studio in hipster Williamsburg, Brooklyn (NY-12420) is steps from the Williamsburg Greenmarket, open on Thursdays in the summer. The kitchen has ample cabinet space and sports a retro, green kitchen counter.

-This 1-bedroom rental apartment in Tribeca (NY-207) is decorated with an interior designer’s touch. The flat is near all 5 of the Financial District’s neighborhood Greenmarkets. 

For information on Greenmarket locations and hours of operation check out www.cenyc.org. 

We’ve already filled you in on New York Habitat accommodations for the French Open, and as any good tennis fan knows, the Grand Slam event’s next stop is in New York for the US Open. Held each year in Flushing, Queens, the US Open attracts thousands of tennis fans from around the world. This year’s tournament will be held from August 25th to September 7th, an exiting time for sports fans in New York–baseball season is nearing a close, and football is just around the corner. Hotel’s near the stadium raise their prices through the roof during the tournament, all the more reason to look into a New York Habitat rental accommodation.

Arthur Ashe Stadium Flushing, New York

As of now, tickets for the US Open are still available. Those not lucky enough to score tickets can sneak a peak at the next great tennis champion during the qualifying tournament, taking place a week before the proper tournament and offering free admission. The hard-court playing surface of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is fast, making it difficult to return a nasty serve. Roger Federer has won 4 straight US Open titles, it will be interesting to see if he can defend his title this year, while the women’s side is wide open–there has been a different winner each of the last seven years. The Queens location of the tournament puts in in the geographic center of New York City and is easy to access from anywhere in the city. Here are a few suggested rentals still available for tournament time:

-This cute 1-bedroom apartment rental in Jackson Heights, Queens (NY-11830) is a short distance from the site of the US Open. The apartment features hardwood floors and can accommodate up to four tennis fans.

New York apartment midtown-west (NY-12496)

-This studio in Midtown West-Chelsea (NY-11538) is steps from the 7 train, with direct service to the park at Flushing Meadows. The apartment has a wall of exposed brick and retro wallpaper in the kitchen.

-This 2-bedroom rental accommodation in Midtown West-Chelsea (NY-12496) is also on the 7 line, but offers a lot more space. Considered by New York Habitat agents to be a model apartment, the flat sports modern design touches and has an open feel–not to mention an onsite gym and rooftop terrace.

Comment below about your US Open Tennis expirences or other New York Sports moments