Say NO to Cuomo in this election!

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New Yorkers today are in a displacement crisis. Our City is destroying public housing and allowing luxury towers in modest neighborhoods. This forces out longtime residents and small businesses. Developers are also funneling billions of dollars towards casinos.

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, responsible for initiating the crisis, was decisively defeated in the primary election. Yet with big real estate’s backing, he’s running for mayor in this general election with his displacement agenda.

Cuomo has long championed privatization of public housing through programs like RAD/PACT, which turns public housing funding and revenues over to private companies. This leads to increased eviction of residents. Unsurprisingly, the same developers profiting off of the destruction of public housing in Chelsea right now are also backing Cuomo for mayor.

The proposed casinos in NYC, which face huge pushback from communities across the city, are the result of Cuomo’s 2013 amendment to the State Constitution. Cuomo has no issue spreading gambling addiction to destroy families and giving developers yet another method to siphon the time and health of our community into profits.

As Governor, Cuomo and developers instituted programs like the extension of 421-a, which mandated some “affordable housing” in return for big tax breaks. The resulting few “affordable” units are unaffordable to the majority of people, while many more high-priced market-rate units were built. They make our already high rent rise even more and increase property taxes for homeowners and small businesses.

Big luxury projects that Cuomo was so fond of, like Atlantic Yards, went even further: not even a single promised affordable unit was built, after the community was already displaced.

We call on communities across the city to reject Cuomo in this coming election. Chinatown and the Lower East Side have proven that, when we unite across trade, race and age against the big real estate’s displacement agenda, we can win. We’ve built a movement to push for the community-led rezoning plan, the Chinatown Working Group Plan, which enshrines the following principles: deep affordability on any new development, 100% affordable housing on public land, and height limits to stop real estate speculation.

Despite the same backers for Cuomo fighting hard against this plan over the years, our communities have gained many victories.

We stopped the four luxury megatowers in the Lower East Side that would destroy the homes of many neighboring residents. We saved Elizabeth Street Garden and secured hundreds of new affordable units along the way. In this past primary election, we defeated real estate candidate Jess Coleman and re-elected the anti-displacement Council Member Chris Marte. If people can win in lower Manhattan against big real estate, we can win throughout New York City.

Andrew Cuomo is the real estate industry’s last gasp in this election cycle. Let’s bring a crushing defeat to their displacement agenda: say NO to Cuomo in this coming election.

Open Letter to Mamdani: Our Community Demands Low-Income Housing, Not Jails!

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The Coalition to Protect Chinatown & the Lower East Side has been a part of organizing against the new Chinatown mega-jail since it was proposed. Recently, Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani told reporters: “Part of closing Rikers Island is following through on the contractual obligations that the city has with the construction of these new jails,” he said to reporters Sunday. “That doesn’t preclude me from meeting with New Yorkers who have immense concerns about them, but it does ensure that the focus has to be on following that law.”

The Coalition has sent Mamdani the following letter, which we will now share here:

Dear Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani,

We are the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side, an association of community groups, elected officials, senior centers, small business, students, workers and families fighting displacement and taking control of our community. We are writing to you to express our concern about your support for building the new mega-jail in Chinatown.

The humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island won’t be resolved by building a new mega-jail in Chinatown. Worse, it would criminalize everyone in our community, as former Mayor de Blasio stigmatized immigrants and people of color by claiming the new jail would be “closer to home.” The preparation of its construction has already caused displacement of Chinatown businesses and damaged the structure of Chung Pak, the adjacent senior building.

Chinatown, Little Italy and the Lower East Side are already suffering because of the displacement of the people and small businesses that make up the fabric of our community. Building the mega-jail will only exacerbate this crisis. The only people who benefit from this mega-jail are big landlords and developers like Jonathan Chu who are glad to see our community gone. Chu displaced the beloved Jing Fong Restaurant and colluded with former Mayor de Blasio to upzone his properties for luxury high-rises. Chu’s own organization, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), directly benefited from the mega-jail by taking $35 million from the City in exchange for providing support.

For years, our community has been vocal against the mega-jail and displacement. Our district’s Council Member Christopher Marte has stood firmly with the community against the jail. We’ve held a weekly picket line for four years in front of MOCA to call out Chu and the museum’s support for the new jail. Further, we collected over 10,000 petition signatures calling on the City to stop the new jail and pass the community-led Chinatown Working Group Plan to protect our neighborhood from displacement. We support building 100% truly affordable housing on the proposed jail site instead.

We urge you to respect our community’s voice and change your position on building the new mega-jail. Please stand with our community to stop the new jail and stop displacement!

We look forward to hearing from you and are happy to talk more.

Best,

The Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side

Shame! Prestigious Judge Crossed Picket Line to Join Ranks with Criminals

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On Wednesday July 16, around 80 community members join the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side’s protest to call on the Honorable Judge Denny Chin, United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit and former Judge of the Southern District of New York, to boycott the Museum of Chinese in America (MoCA). Judge Chin ignored the boycott and crossed the picket line to do an event on that evening as part of the Museum’s MoCA Talks series. By doing so, Chin ties himself to MoCA’s legacy of promoting displacement and the modern day slavery of the 24-hour workday.

MoCA is a symbol of racism, sexism, and displacement in our community. Community members have held a picket line at MoCA for the past four years. MoCA took $35 million in city money in exchange for supporting the construction of the new mega-jail in Chinatown—one that criminalizes our community. Jonathan Chu, former MoCA board co-chair, displaced our community’s beloved and iconic Jing Fong restaurant during the height of the pandemic—when small businesses needed help the most. MoCA’s current president, Michael Lee, is on the board of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), which has stolen $90 millions in wages from Chinese immigrant women workers, forcing them into 24-hour workdays and damaging their health, families, and futures.

Inside MoCA, Judge Chin spoke about the injustices faced by immigrants in this country. Yet when asked about the protest, Chin said the protestors’ criticisms were “unreliable”, despite ample evidence of MoCA supporting the new jail and 24-hour workdays, and victims of CPC’s 24-hour workdays being part of the protest outside the museum. Siyan Wong, a workers’ rights lawyer and artist who lives in the community, called out Judge Chin’s hypocrisy. Wong is among over a dozen lawyers who wrote to Judge Chin urging him not to cross the picket line. Inside the event, Judge Chin admitted that he had received multiple letters urging him to cancel this appearance.

Wong stated: “This picket line started because the bankers, lawyers, and business owners inside this museum threw our community—and the future of our youth—under the bus. And sadly, Judge Chin chose to cross that picket line today. Judge Chin, those well-to-do bankers, lawyers, and business owners inside MoCA have adamantly refused to even speak with their immigrant community. I am deeply saddened by your decision to side with the well-to-do, with those in power—those who have taken advantage of our immigrant working poor.”

Lily Randall, a member of Youth Against Displacement, said: “Why is this judge criminalizing our working people, and protecting our community’s biggest criminals?? This is not simply an error in judgment, it’s clear that Judge Chin stands not with the people, but with the sweatshop bosses and sellouts who want to divide and destroy our community. What Denny Chin is doing is not justice – but our picket line, this community, united against displacement and exploitation, is the power that will bring us justice!”

MoCA even blocked its storefront from the inside, so that those attending the event couldn’t see the community outside. While Judge Chin spoke about discrimination and the Chinese American experience, MoCA security guards hurled threats at protesters—telling Chinese homecare workers that they should be deported, echoing rhetoric straight out of Trump’s playbook. What kind of justice is this? Certainly not justice for homecare workers demanding an end to the 24-hour workday and the people of Chinatown & the Lower East Side fighting to protect their neighborhood from displacement.

Chinatown and the Lower East united and defeated the big developers!

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David once again defeats Goliath! Community members of Chinatown, Lower East Side, SoHo and other downtown areas gathered on Tuesday 9/24 with Council Member Christopher Marte to celebrate our victory against a developer’s latest attempt to build luxury high rises on the Two Bridges waterfront. 

A month ago, Chetrit, the developer and owner of 265-275 Cherry Street, announced that they were in the final stages of bringing on a development partner to help finance their megatowers project, and planned to break ground within a few weeks. Our community, with Council Member Marte’s leadership, swiftly condemned Chetrit’s greed in pushing this project and their disregard for people’s lives. Three weeks later, the tide has quickly turned in the community’s favor: Chetrit, abandoned by their development partner, is backing out of the project and has defaulted on their loan. The lot now heads to the auction block.

Chetrit’s surrender is the latest victory in our community’s years-long fight against the megatowers. By organizing with Two Bridges residents, neighbors from the Lower East Side and Chinatown, as well as workers, students and small businesses who are a part of these communities, we have proven that a unified community can triumph over the greed of billionaire developers.

These two towers, each 60- to 80-story tall, were planned to be built right next to two existing buildings that provide affordable housing. If built, they would damage the structure of the buildings, threaten the health and safety of their residents and drive up real estate taxes and rents in the surrounding area. In 2017, with the support of former Council Member Margaret Chin, developers proposed to build these luxury megatowers. Chin sent a letter to residents saying they “could not stop the towers from going up” and at best they could ask for some crumbs from the developers. Since then, multiple developers have taken over the project only to abandon it, due to consistent community organizing against displacement.

Jihye Song Simpkins from Youth Against Displacement said: “This victory is extra sweet because we were told that we were going to lose. In this town that is run by real estate developers, we still won. And that shows that when our community comes together, not only can we win now, but we can win and we will win, again and again and again! And if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere else in New York City.”

Mr. Chen, a longtime Two Bridges resident said: “I’ve lived in Two Bridges for many, many years. So the developers came, they wanted to build a highrise megatower. They don’t care about the people, they only care about money. But because our community is very united, and because we have a very good City Council Member, Chris Marte, who stands with the tenants and stands with the community, we are able to fight back!”

Kathryn Freed, former District 1 Council Member, retired State Supreme Court Judge & current State Committee Member said: “This demonstrates what a community can do to fight back against the developers, even when they tell you that you can’t fight back. The truth is, you can, and what it takes is a motivated community, a coalition like this that encompasses everyone in the community, and a really good Council Member to fight for the community.”

Longtime community member Tony Queylin said: “They’ve been telling us from the beginning that this was a done deal, that we were never going to stop it, that we were never going to win. This shows right now that we still are winning. We can’t give up, we have to stay together, stay cohesive…we need to stick to the plan, The Chinatown Working Group Plan, we need to pass that, and get everybody to stay focused and get involved. Same with saving Elizabeth Street Garden, we need to stay vigilant with the city trying to take things away from us. It’s people like Chris who are fighting for our neighborhood…If you’re not involved, get involved, because we need you.”

District Leader Vittoria Fariello, representing the Downtown Independent Democrats said: “I’m so thrilled to be here with you to celebrate this win for the community, not just because the towers are not going up, but because everybody told us they were going to. And we are here today to show them that the tide has turned. By coming together, by fighting together, by being united, our communities can make their voices heard…DID supports the Chinatown Working Group Plan, an amazing plan that is from the people who know not just what the community needs, but what is possible.”

Marion Reidel from the Grand Street Democrats said: “The Grand Street Dems have supported this effort from the beginning, we support the Chinatown Working Group Plan, we believe that our neighborhood is not for sale…we do need housing, we need affordable housing, not more luxury condos. Thank you Chris for all your leadership and thank you all for your participation!”

Council Member Chris Marte said: “Today is a testament to the will of the people…It’s a major win for our neighborhood, for our city, because soon enough, we’re going to see other communities come to us and say ‘how did they do that in Two Bridges, in the Lower East Side? How did this community take on some of the biggest developers in NYC and probably the world, and win?’ There’s still a lot of work to be done, we have to pass the Chinatown Working Group Plan…but when people on the street say this is just the way it is, there’s nothing we can do, you’re going to say: however, in Two Bridges, we took on developers & won!”

In celebrating this victory, community members call on the City to pass the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan, which would stop luxury high rises in Chinatown and the Lower East Side by capping the height of new developments and mandating truly affordable housing. 

Our community sends a clear message to any big developers threatening to take over our neighborhoods: do not build luxury towers that destroy people’s lives, or else you will encounter our united opposition and lose.

Coalition Year in Review

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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

2021 has been a year of resilience and achievements for our community fighting against racism and displacement. Despite the challenges, we’ve seen amazing victories and our energy continues to grow. Here’s our year in review.

January
Our community spoke out as the City appealed the court decision that put an injunction against the construction of luxury towers on the Two Bridges waterfront. Over 150 people joined our zoom rally before the Appellate court hearing. The Appellate court overturned the decision despite Mayor de Blasio’s clear violation of the law when he approved towers that would be detrimental to the environment and to people’s health. But the fight continues, with a renewed push to pass the full Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan (CWG) which would stop luxury high-rises like these towers.

March
Jonathan Chu, the biggest landlord in Chinatown and co-chair of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), displaced Jing Fong Restaurant, causing more than a hundred workers to lose their jobs and the community to lose a staple gathering place. The Jing Fong workers and the community launched a picket line in front of Chu’s institutions and businesses and called for boycotts until they reopen the big Jing Fong dining room.

May
Chinatown and the Lower East Side united with SoHo and NoHo to oppose Mayor de Blasio’s SoHo/NoHo Rezoning, which would allow big landlords like the Chu family to build luxury high-rises while raising rent and real estate taxes in the surrounding area, including Chinatown, which would displace middle- and low-income families and small businesses.

June
City Council candidate Christopher Marte, who ran on a platform  of passing the community-led CWG Plan to stop luxury high-rises, gained the support of tenants and workers across the district and won overwhelmingly in the Democratic primary. It was an indication that the community had come together to fight back against Council Member Chin’s sellout pro-developer agenda and the big real estate interests she represented.

July
While the community protested MOCA for accepting Mayor de Blasio’s $35 million to support a new jail,, museum president Nancy Yao Maasbach came out and insulted Chinese seniors who joined the protest, claiming they were “paid protestors”, and that Chinese getting paid to protest is “a historic trend.” Our seniors stood up to condemn MOCA’s blatant racism.

September
Hundreds marched down the streets of Chinatown against racist violence that’s perpetrated by so-called community representatives MOCA and the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC). 

October
Our Coalition worked with artists who stood with the community to open a one-day art & health fair in front of MOCA, showcasing Chinatown’s history against racism and artwork on the community’s resistance and spirit of unity. The art exhibit now continues at the Citygroup space at 104b Forsyth Street.

December
The community’s petition for the City to intervene to reopen the Jing Fong dining room, stop the new jail, fund neighborhood recovery, reject the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning and pass the CWG plan got 10,000+ signatures. Council Member-elect Marte joined our press conference as we delivered the petition to Mayor de Blasio, Council Member Margaret Chin and Mayor-elect Eric Adams. 

Your participation is indispensable to our movement to protect the community. With your continuing support, we are hopeful for a new year with bigger achievements! Currently, as the Jing Fong workers and supporters are maintaining the picket line in front of MOCA, we have launched an art print sale, with earnings going to sustain their effort.

Please consider ordering the print for your New-Year gift and support the workers’ effort!

Have a safe and happy new year.

– Coalition to Protect Chinatown and LES

Petition: Protect Chinatown and Lower East Side

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As the community of Chinatown and the Lower East Side was struggling through the pandemic, Alex and Jonathan Chu, the biggest landlords in Chinatown, displaced the beloved Jing Fong Restaurant. This effectively put over 100 unionized immigrant workers out of work and sent a shock wave throughout the community, as people saw the biggest dining hall in the heart of Chinatown closed. It is clear that the Chus do not have the interest of the community in mind.

Mayor de Blasio’s refusal to intervene to reopen the Jing Fong dining room is the latest offense in a pattern of his collusion with big developers and bad landlords. First, he refused to pass the community-led Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan to preserve affordability and limit real estate speculation in immigrant neighborhoods. Rather, his idea of helping Chinatown is constructing a new jail and bribing the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), where Jonathan Chu is Chair of the Board, with $35 million in exchange for their support for his project. Now he defers to Chu again, staying silent on the displacement of Jing Fong, and enriching Chu’s property values by trying to upzone SoHo/NoHo and the borders of Chinatown.

As elected officials, you have the responsibility to heed the concerns of the people that you represent. We say: end the City’s displacement agenda and protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side from destruction by big developers and bad landlords. We call on you to take immediate steps:

1. Demand the Chu family reopen the Jing Fong dining room

2. Stop the new jail and instead use the resources (including the $35 million to MOCA) to fund recovery for workers and small businesses most affected by the pandemic

3. Lower the real estate tax for small property owners who are willing to lower commercial and residential rent

4. Stop displacement by rejecting the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning and passing the FULL Chinatown Working Group plan to protect the entirety of Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

SIGN THE PETITION
DONATE TO THE JING FONG WORKERS FUND

Open Call for Art Action to #SaveCHINATOWN in response to displacement + the closure of the Jing Fong dining room

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CALLING ALL ARTISTS! We are putting together an art exhibit about the closure of the iconic Jing Fong Restaurant dining room, which has left many workers jobless in the middle of a pandemic and the community without a major gathering center.

This is a struggle that so many families and youth are facing amid a broader landscape of displacement & predatory land use decisions by the current Mayor and City Council, from refusing to demand the landlord reopen the Jing Fong dining room to investing tax dollars in building a new jail in Chinatown to passing rezonings that would encourage big developers and bad landlords to build luxury high-rises and kick out low income families and small businesses.

We are seeking art submissions that explore or question the legitimacy and impact of the City government’s displacement agenda on the lives of people. This art exhibit aims to amplify people’s hope and visions for a future in which students, residents, independently owned businesses, and workers of all types–who have built and sustained our diverse community over time–can continue to thrive in Chinatown and the Lower East Side!

We’re primarily looking for flat, eye-catching, non-precious, poster-sized artworks (drawings, prints, graphic art, poetry broadsides) that will be installed on a wooden outdoor gallery space. We’re also very interested in and encourage poetry and/or performance submissions that can be read/performed in the show’s opening rally.

Artists of all ages can apply!

If you need art supplies or have questions, please contact us at protectchinatownartaction2021@gmail.com!


All selected artworks will win a cash prize and have their work displayed at an outdoor location in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Saturday October 23rd and 24th!

Deadline for submissions is October 4th.

Submission guidelines can be found here: bit.ly/chinatownart

Community Victory! Chinatown & LES elect Chris Marte for D1 City Council seat

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This City Council election, the Chinatown and the Lower East Side communities have spoken: Chris Marte is taking a decisive lead in the first choice votes, far exceeding all the other candidates, and is expected to win after the rank choice votes are counted. 

This is a clear mandate that our communities reject business as usual. We are fed up of being told that we couldn’t stop the luxury megatowers from going up, and that it’s “too ambitious” for Chinatown and LES to have equal protection as the East Village that stops luxury high-rises and discourages real estate speculation. We are sick and tired of seeing Councilmember Chin and Mayor de Blasio collude with big developers and bad landlords to destroy good jobs, existing affordable housing and the environment. We are disgusted by the City that pits one neighborhood against the other and intensifies racial violence.

We never gave up when we encountered setbacks. We were not intimidated by facing off against our enemies in big real estate and their political representatives, which so many assumed were too powerful to overcome. If anything, they made us more united and determined to turn the tide, and we made it. This is a victory of tenants, workers, and small businesses across racial boundaries. And we are prepared, more than ever, to push for the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan.This election result shows that when our communities come together to fight the City’s displacement agenda, we win. 

Join us and be part of the change that’s coming!
We will rally to celebrate our victory on Friday, 7/2 at 12pm noon at 183 Centre Street at Canal Street, NYC.

OUR FIGHT AGAINST DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES

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Join us in the final days of Chris Marte’s campaign to bring an ally of the people to City Hall! We need all hands on deck before early voting starts on June 12!

Click here to get involved in the Marte campaign

Unite with the Jing Fong restaurant workers to fight for the future of Chinatown!

Join the Zoom Rally on June 3rd at 12pm!

50 Bowery Hotel front desk at 212-508-8000 (press 0)
Phone zap script:
“Hi my name is ___________. I’m (calling/writing) to leave a message for Alex & Jonathan Chu. The community demands that the Chu family reopen the jing fong dining room, the largest gathering place in chinatown, and rehire the unionized workers that they forced out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please also use the $35 million dollar bribe that was given to MOCA by Mayor de Blasio in exchange for their support of a new jail in Chinatown to fund Chinatown’s post-pandemic recovery instead. Stop selling out Chinatown and the LES!”

Chinatown Working Group Week of Action

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The Coalition to Protect Chinatown & The Lower East Side supports the passage of the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan, a community-led plan that stops displacement in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. The plan prevents luxury high rises and requires new housing to be truly affordable to the community among other protections. Join the member groups of the Chinatown Working Group for an action-packed week of organizing to help spread the word about the CWG Plan to our friends and neighbors!

Monday 5/10 @ NOON at Eastbank, 183 Centre St:
Joint CWG + SoHo/NoHo Press Conference (read the statement here!)

Tuesday 5/11 @ 2-4pm starting at Alfred E. Smith Houses (21 St. James Place):
NYCHA Walkthrough Meet & Greet outreach with District Leader Jonathan Gardenhire & District 1 City Council Candidate Christopher Marte (the only candidate fully committed to passing the entire CWG Plan!)

Wednesday 5/12 @ 4pm-6pm in East River Park (6th St. overpass entrance):
joint tabling session with CWG + East River Park Action, a CWG member group advocating for a community-led plan to save East River Park, an area covered under the CWG Plan

Thursday 5/13 @ 7pm on Zoom: 
Meet & Greet with District 1 City Council Candidate Chris Marte, hosted by Amalgamated Neighbors on Grand St + CWG + local small businesses. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/MarteMay13

Friday 5/14 @ 10am: 
Phone zap! Call WNYC during Brian Lehrer’s Ask the Mayor segment at (646) 435-7280 and ask the Mayor to support the CWG Plan! Then call the Mayor’s office with the same request: (212) 788-2162 (wait for the voicemail recording to end and leave a message)

Friday 5/14 @ 5-6pm at 59 Henry St @ Market St:
Join Art Against Displacement + Citygroup architecture collective for visualizations + a deep dive into exactly what the CWG would mean for an actual development site in the neighborhood

Sunday 5/16 @ 12pm-2pm at Eastbank, 183 Centre St:
stand with former Jing Fong workers as they boycott former Jing Fong landlords the Chu family to help win back the only union restaurant jobs in Chinatown and stop the displacement of workers and small businesses! Sign up here.

Monday 5/17 @ 6:30-7:30pm on Zoom: 
Join us for a Town Hall to learn why we urgently need the CWG plan and how to fight to pass it! Bring your friends and neighbors! Register here: https://bit.ly/cwgtownhall

Let us know what the CWG means to you. Fill in your reason and share! #passthecwg

Join the Jing Fong picket: next steps to support the restaurant workers’ union and re-open the dining room

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The fight to keep the Jing Fong dining room is far from over, as the community is standing up against the destruction of Chinatown and the Lower East Side!

Wednesdays & Sundays 12-2pm at Eastbank 183 Centre St.

Bit.ly/jointhepicket

The Chu family, the biggest landlords in Chinatown, have forced the beloved Jing Fong restaurant to close, and ignored offers from the community to take over the restaurant operations. Meanwhile politicians like Mayor de Blasio speak out against anti-Asian violence, but say nothing about the economic violence of putting over a hundred people out of work.

Alex and Jonathan Chu are putting their own profit first, ripping out the heart of Chinatown, and destroying the only union restaurant jobs in the entire neighborhood. Our elected officials sit on the sidelines and do nothing to save Chinatown despite the hardship caused by the pandemic.


TAKE ACTION to save Jing Fong and protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side: 

  1. Join the rally! 183 Centre St in front of Eastbank on March 25 at 12pm to demand the Chu family re-open the dining room. 
  2. Boycott Chu’s businesses: Eastbank, 50 Bowery Hotel, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), Chikarashi, Nakaji
  3. Share on social media: Use the hashtags #SaveJingFong and #SaveChinatown to call out the Chu family and tag @NYCMayor to demand he intervene

Open Letter to the Mayor Regarding Jing Fong Restaurant

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For immediate release: March 4, 2021

Dear Mayor de Blasio,

The announcement of the closure of Chinatown’s iconic Jing Fong Restaurant has sent a shock wave in the community and beyond. Workers are losing their jobs and small businesses would lose faith in surviving the pandemic. Many are wondering if Chinatown can continue to exist with Jing Fong Restaurant, the heart of Chinatown, shut down. 

Such a bleak prospect is caused directly by its landlord, Alex Chu and Jonathan Chu. The Chu family is the biggest landlord in Chinatown and the owner of Eastbank. Alex Chu and Jonathan Chu have benefited from Jing Fong’s business all these years, but during the pandemic when the business has gone down, they are heartlessly trying to use rent to force the restaurant to close.

You have come out against anti-Asian violence. The closure of Jing Fong Restaurant is having a serious impact on Chinatown. Isn’t this also violence against the Chinese community? Therefore, we call on you to immediately step in and take a stand to save Jing Fong and Chinatown from being destroyed by big developers and landlords like the Chu family:

1. stop the Chu family’s eviction of Jing Fong Restaurant 

2. stop the new jail and instead use the resource to fund Chinatown recovery 

3. lower the rent and property tax to save Chinatown businesses 

4. pass the Chinatown Working Group plan to protect the whole Chinatown and the Lower East Side from displacement.