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As Chinatown “Remains On Life Support,” How Will The Next Councilmember Tackle Its Post-Pandemic Recovery?

David Cruz

Published Mar 5, 2021

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The corner of Bayard and Elizabeth streets in Chinatown.

David Cruz

Published Mar 5, 2021

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On a recent Wednesday morning, Chinatown appeared a bit more desolate than it did during pre-pandemic times — "For Rent" signs hung on shuttered storefronts and outdoor dining annexes were nearly empty, all in sharp contrast to the strings of festive Lunar New Year lanterns hanging over the once-lively streets.

“It is likely to take a multi-year, multi-phase [recovery plan] to get back to 2019 level, much like the 1918 pandemic, which took a decade,” Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership (which works to elevate the neighborhood's business community) told Gothamist/WNYC.

The neighborhood remains in the throes of economic despair, with even notable restaurants closing — such as Jing Fong on Elizabeth Street, the neighborhood’s largest dim sum eatery that recently announced is permanent closure of its indoor dining hall. Looming over the economic pain is the recent spike of attacks against Asian Americans, mirroring the spate of attacks that came before the onset of the pandemic.

Chinatown falls within the 1st Council District, where current Councilmember Margaret Chin is in her final year in office. Charting a course for the neighborhood's comeback—which coincides with the city's broader economic recovery—now partially rests on seven candidates vying for the seat, each offering their own approach on how to revive Chinatown and increase pedestrian traffic.

One candidate, Christopher Marte, is thinking about ways to staunch the bleeding. That means increasing foot traffic by eliminating any impediments, including current construction projects. In an interview with Gothamist/WNYC, Marte—who nearly defeated Chin in the 2017 race—said halting the construction of a city-run jail in the middle of the community would remove disruptions to existing businesses while making it easy to get around.

"If this jail moves forward, Chinatown will literally be a construction site for the next six years,” Marte said, adding that the current reconstruction of 70 Mulberry Street—a cultural center destroyed by a fire last year before the pandemic—is a preview of the kind of disruption large-scale projects can cause to the neighborhood.

“That construction site has closed a lot of businesses on that street because they closed off the street to traffic,” Marte said. “And a lot of the small businesses like the local flower shop, and a few smaller restaurants have already explained how that one small site has done so much damage to their business, even in this pandemic.”

Long-term, Marte plans to submit a community-based rezoning proposal to the New York City Council that would preserve the stock of existing residential properties and small businesses. The rezoning plan—which had been in the works well before the pandemic—looks to tamp down on real estate speculation and prevent property taxes from increasing. The proposal does require a majority vote by the Council. If approved, it would kickstart the months-long public review process.

But the “devil’s in the details” for such a proposal, according to Gigi Li, another candidate who sees a special zoning district as restrictive to existing property owners. Li and Marte are arguably the lead front-runners in the race, given the size of their campaign war chest and endorsements.

Store closures on Hester Street in Chinatown.

David Cruz

“Any changes to their facade have to go through lots of rounds of approval, and it drives the cost up when they're struggling to maintain their building as it is, and now they're even in more dire times because of COVID,” Li said. “The commercial rent has really been the stabilizing force for a lot of these small property owners.”

In Li’s vision, the continued reconstruction of the cultural center on 70 Mulberry Street—which Mayor Bill de Blasio committed $80 million to rebuild—is vital to Chinatown’s recovery. That investment would go even further, Li said, if a dedicated performance arts space is built there. Li, who characterizes Chinatown to currently be “on life support,” also maintains that a robust tourism campaign for Chinatown can help bolster business.

That’s not to say there is no current campaign to prop up existing businesses. Groups such as Send Love to Chinatown and Welcome to Chinatown have already launched marketing campaigns on behalf of less social media-savvy merchants. Susan Lee, another candidate trying to get on the ballot, said the campaign has already proven to work and simply needs an infusion of Council funding to expand, which she’s willing to commit.

In luring more foot traffic for Chinatown, Denny Salas, another candidate, is proposing so-called “super blocks” that began in Barcelona, Spain. In that city, vehicular traffic was diverted to major roadways to open its streets up to pedestrians. It’s similar to the city’s existing Open Streets program, though on a larger scale.

Outdoor dining in Chinatown, 2020.

Scott Lynch/Gothamist

"For the business aspect, what they have seen is nothing but increased foot traffic,” Salas said of the super block plan. “They've seen increased foot traffic where all of a sudden these businesses have been boomed not just within the super blocks, even in surrounding areas, because they have more foot traffic.”

The idea of expanding the Open Streets program is favored by Jenny Low, another candidate vying for the seat. A similar proposal was considered by the city Department of Transportation for Mott Street between Bayard and Worth Streets but never took off.

But while these measures might help attract greater foot traffic, it doesn’t resolve the issue of keeping commercial tenants and building owners from losing their livelihoods. Sky high rents and property taxes are a decades-old issue in Chinatown. Low told us that if elected she would lean on her experience as a banker to develop a loan program for struggling property owners.

And she realizes that with some businesses unlikely to return and persistently high unemployment, creating a jobs program will benefit hundreds of job seekers, a plan that’s similar to one proposed by Marte. As a former member of the Chinese American Planning Council, Low had developed a job training program geared toward the hotel industry.

"Before COVID, we trained countless new immigrants with some English skills, enough for them to work in the hospitality industry... the cleaning staff, or waitstaff. We trained them to have the skills and enough language, English language to be placed in hotels that are union shops,” Low recalled.

Salas, the candidate proposing super blocks, is also tying Chinatown’s revitalization to the increased housing stock. On top of pushing for more Mitchell Lama subsidized housing for the middle class, which is currently available at Confucius Plaza, Salas also wants to increase funding for community land trusts by $5 million so “long-term residents have a say over what goes into the neighborhoods.”

Maud Maron, another candidate, said — more immediately — the first order of business to jumpstarting Chinatown’s revitalization rests on permanently reopening public schools to five days a week, and increasing vaccinations to the eligible Asian community. So will including Chinatown in a zero-interest loan program that businesses in the community were denied from applying to since the neighborhood shares its 10013 ZIP Code with wealthier SoHo and Tribeca. Maron, if elected, looks to fold Chinatown into such a loan program.

"New York City varies too much in a five-block radius and a 10-block radius to use the blunt instrument of ZIP code. We have to be really conscious of making sure we target aid where it needs to go," Maron said.

That proposal mirrors one pushed by Tiffany Winbush, another candidate who considers small business loans as a bellwether to Chinatown’s recovery. Without access, small businesses can barely stay afloat, Winbush said. Additionally, she said she’d push for “no strings attached grants” to storeowners seeking a financial leg-up.

“This is free money, you don’t have to pay it back, do what you need to do in order to stay open, survive, and to continue to thrive, and still be here after COVID,” Winbush proposed.

But she didn't offer exactly where merchants would find such a cash infusion. Given the city’s austerity budget, such an unconditional windfall will likely depend on how much the federal government is attuned to Chinatown’s financial struggles. Currently, officials with the de Blasio administration say the city might receive nearly $6 billion in federal aid through the American Rescue Plan Act being worked out by Congress.

The June 22nd Democratic primary will likely determine who will be the district's next Councilmember. Wayne Ho, executive director of the Chinese American Planning Council, an advocacy group calling attention to issues in Asian American communities, hopes any relief plan proposed should consider a variety of factors.

“That's addressing healthcare issues, that's addressing economic issues, and that's addressing community issues,” Ho said. "I would like the folks move beyond sound bites or hashtags and have detailed plans for economic recovery. And that's everything from supporting small businesses and making sure small businesses survive to landlords a good most of the buildings in Chinatown are owned by smaller landlords. 'Cancel Rent' is a nice hashtag, but if renters are not paying rent, and businesses are not paying rent, we still need to support these landlords that have to cover their costs of owning the building. So what are we doing to support small landlords?"

Tagged

election 2021

Chinatown

David Cruz

David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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