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Archive Recovery To Begin At Museum Of Chinese in America Days After Devastating Fire
By
Sophia Chang
Published Jan 27, 2020
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MOCA handout
By
Sophia Chang
Published Jan 27, 2020
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Recovery efforts may begin Monday for what remains of the archives of the Museum of Chinese in America, including some priceless historical records, that are feared damaged by a five-alarm fire last week.
A fire last Friday destroyed the roof and upper floors of the historic building at 70 Mulberry Street. Nine firefighters and one civilian suffered injuries that were described as non-life-threatening. NYPD said the cause of the fire was not "criminal" and the FDNY marshal's investigation was ongoing.
The MOCA archives were in three rooms on the second floor, where the biggest fear was damage from water and soot. It contained 85,000 pieces of historical materials ranging from ticket stubs from turn-of-the-century Chinatown theaters to family photo albums to menus documenting the historical changes in Chinatown's restaurants. About 40,000 pieces of the archives were digitized.
"The building is severely compromised," MOCA president Nancy Yao Maasbach told Gothamist in a phone interview.
Museum staff has not been allowed inside, but city workers might begin taking out some of the thousands of boxes of artifacts and documents, she said. The MOCA archives recovery will be overseen by the Department of Records and Department of Cultural Affairs.
"The hard work really starts when we get the materials," Maasbach said. With water damage and fears of mold destroying the artifacts, "a lot of things are time sensitive...and we're closing in on the window to preserve them. Fortunately it's cold out and there's no humidity so that's good but I'm nervous about it."
The city-owned building, formerly P.S. 23, is also home to the H.T. Chen & Dancers company, a senior center run by the Chinese-American Planning Council, the Chinatown Manpower job center, and the United East Athletics Association.
Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said Monday that the affected organizations will be assisted by city resources, including elderly clients of the CPC center who will be sent to four other senior centers.
"The City has offered to store recovered artifacts in city-owned space as needed once recovery is completed. In addition, the Department of Records and Department of Cultural Affairs are coordinating with cultural institutions and archivists to provide assistance," de Blasio's office said in a release Monday.
Maasbach said the cost of recovery of the archival material will be "very expensive."
"We're talking about thousands of boxes of things that might have soot, might have water damage. The type of sponge you use on each piece and everything (else) is costly," she said.
Offers of help and funding have poured in, she added, and now the museum will have to decide what direction to take.
"Amazing volunteers, conservators, museums and the arts and culture world have come out to offer help," Maasbach said. The recovery effort may rely on some donated labor because "we do want to save money—we're a nonprofit and we don't have that much to go around."
The museum launched a GoFundMe drive that has raised more than $62,00 from more than 800 donors in three days to pay for recovery and rebuilding the archives.
The Chinese playwright David Henry Hwang was among those who tweeted about the urgent need to help the museum.
"The most heartening part about that is people (whose names) I recognize from 13-14 years ago, they were like former volunteers and they gave $10. And to be honest, that $10 gift and that individual is very precious," Maasbach said. "It's about the fact that they were encouraged and inspired to just get online and do that and give what they could."
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museum of chinese in america
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Chinatown
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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