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In Prospect Park, a tree grows in honor of Christina Yuna Lee
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Apr 20, 2022
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Arun Venugopal
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Apr 20, 2022
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Dozens of family members and friends gathered in Prospect Park on Wednesday to plant a tulip tree in honor of Christina Yuna Lee, the 35-year-old who was killed at her home in Lower Manhattan in February.
The ceremony took place under sunny skies on the banks of Prospect Park lake, as families went by in pedal boats.
“She was an artist,” said Charles Yoon, president of the Korean American Association of Greater New York, who addressed the crowd. “She used to come and enjoy the park and it's a beautiful setting and with the planting of the tree, there's at least looking forward to the future, and hope that the future will be better.”
Lee’s death was one of several violent killings of Asian New Yorkers earlier this year, amid a sharp rise in anti-Asian violence nationally. According to the NYPD, anti-Asian hate crimes in New York increased by 361% in 2021 over the previous year, and the group Stop AAPI Hate said it had received 10,905 reports of anti-AAPI hate between the start of the pandemic in March 19th, 2020 and December 31st, 2021.
She used to come and enjoy the park and it's a beautiful setting and with the planting of the tree, there's at least looking forward to the future, and hope that the future will be better.
Charles Yoon, president of the Korean American Association of Greater New York
Her younger sister Angela Yujin Lee told the crowd that “over $400,000” had been raised in Christina’s name, an amount that would go to a new nonprofit organization, the Christina Alliance.
“The Christina Alliance will continue to support causes that were important to Christina and aim to provide advocacy for underrepresented groups,” she said.
The organization’s website noted that beneficiaries so far included Womankind, Planned Parenthood, Elizabeth Street Garden and Safewalks.
Family and friends gathered in Prospect Park to plant a tree in honor of Christina Yuna Lee.
Arun Venugopal
Lee was stabbed to death in her Chrystie Street apartment after arriving home in the early morning of February 13th. A suspect, Assamad Nash, has been charged with murder, burglary and sexually motivated burglary.
After a prayer and remarks, participants threw flowers on the soil surrounding the sapling, after which parks employees erected a protective fence around the tree.
A sign noted that the tree had been planted “in celebration” of Lee “By Those She Loved” and cited a line of dialogue from Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 film Fanny and Alexander, “Perhaps we have no limits, perhaps we flow into each other, stream through each other, boundlessly and magnificently.”
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Chinatown
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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