Jason Chen

For three years, the comedian Bowen Yang found community at Bubble_T, New York’s roving hub for queer Asian nightlife. Then the pandemic hit.

For the singer-songwriter, the preshow ritual is a sacred moment to imagine her act in a given space.

The restaurateur Mercedes Bernal and her food-obsessed friends started eating and cooking together outdoors in 2020. At her family’s hacienda in Morelos, the gatherings go on.

Throughout their careers, neither have followed a single path.

For the Chinatown architectural firm Food New York, the fast-paced tile game offers a chance to find more seats at more tables for the city’s creative scene.

Six people, from Lorraine O’Grady to Wallace Stevens, who found a new creative calling – or received long-overdue recognition — later in life.