Pratt Center for Community Development, an urban planning consultant company, released a
Pratt Center for Community Development, an urban planning consultant company, released a long-awaited report on Chinatown at a meeting of the Chinatown Working Group (CWG) on July 1. The more than 100-page report will be used by the CWG, a joint community task force, as a reference to draw a blueprint for the future of Chinatown.
During the meeting, members also summarized the town hall session held a week earlier and discussed the main points raised by the participants.
The report, which the consultant team at Pratt finished on schedule, focuses on Manhattan’s Chinatown and adjacent areas and addresses many aspects including population, housing and businesses.
It finds that among the three Chinese-dominated neighborhoods in New York – Chinatown in Manhattan, Sunset Park in Brooklyn, and Flushing in Queens – Chinatown is the initial landing spot for Chinese immigrants, but the enclave has been shrinking both in population and in scale.
According to the Census, the population of Chinese residents in Chinatown dropped 18.9 percent in the 10 years between 2000 and 2010, compared to the 70 percent and 86 percent increases in Sunset Park and Flushing respectively. The rate of increase among new immigrants who settled in Chinatown only went up by 1.1 percent.
Meanwhile, aging is becoming an increasingly serious issue for Chinatown. This is reflected in the incomes of the neighborhood where the majority of residents are mid to low income, with a high proportion living below the poverty line.
When it comes to land use, the report finds Chinatown and the Lower East Side lost 9,000 rent-stabilized housing units in the past 10 years, in line with the general trend of the city. Most of the residents in Chinatown are paying more than one-third of their income on rent, meaning housing is no longer affordable for them.
Major businesses in Chinatown, including retail, health and personal care, food, beverage and jewelry stores, all see more non-Chinatown customers than neighborhood residents. This means outsiders rather than locals are the pillar of Chinatown businesses.
Members of the CWG gave the report a thumbs up and said they plan to release it online soon so the public can take a look at it. Meanwhile, members and urban planners will make suggestions on the current proposal for land use reform in Chinatown based on the findings.
Moderator Jocelyne Chait said that the town hall meeting the week before attracted 100 participants, despite the short notice. A description of the report’s purpose as well as a related questionnaire were translated into Chinese and Spanish, alongside the English version. In the end, 36 questionnaires were turned in including 16 in Chinese and 20 in Spanish. Chait said affordable housing was the main issue for the participants.
Members of the Lower East Side Coalition who attended the July 1 meeting were not happy. They complained the Pratt report didn’t include the Lower East Side, especially plans for the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area and government housing. And the study discriminates against the black and Hispanic residents in the area.
Victor Papa and Michael Levine, two members of the CWG, fought back saying the CWG was established five years ago with the exact purpose of bringing Chinatown into the development of the East Side. In the beginning, members tried to expand the geographic focus of the CWG to the Lower East Side. But they gave up after strong opposition from Community Board 3 and agreed to not touch the Seward Park Urban Renewal proposal as a compromise in order to get approval from CB3. Therefore, they are able to pursue the planning for Chinatown and the adjacent area. As for government housing, it has been a longtime priority of the CWG and it never tried to dodge its duty.
Translated by Rong Xiaoqing from Chinese
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