THERE are dog days ahead - 365 of them, to be exact. The Year of the Dog begins tomorrow, as the day dawns on the lunar calendar's Year 4704. That means the place to be this weekend is Chinatown, where revelers will kick off a 15-day celebration, beginning on the first day of the new moon and ending on the last.

There's a slate of New Year's events scheduled (see page 25), including a flower market, a firecracker ceremony (the one place where fireworks will be allowed this year) and the main event: the Feb. 5 parade, where some 350,000 partygoers are expected for dancing, floats...