As many as 45 members and allies of the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side gathered outdoors of a Tribeca occasion venue yesterday night, November 7, to protest the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) throughout its Legacy Awards Gala. Organizers accused the museum and its associates of actively harming Chinatown’s residents and financial system by accepting a “community buy-back” for the development of a new jail and of being complicit within the closure of a banquet corridor within the neighborhood.
“They have some of the richest benefactors … the richest landlords in Chinatown here,” Aaron Yin, an organizer with the coalition member Youth Against Displacement (YAD) informed Hyperallergic at the beginning of the protest. “We want to disrupt this event and tell them they can’t control the narrative around Chinatown.” Yin additionally famous that comic and actor Jimmy O. Yang and actor BD Wong withdrew from the gala programming after calls for his or her boycott of the museum and occasion. (Yang and Wong haven’t but responded to Hyperallergic’s request for remark.)
Jennifer 8. Lee, a member of MOCA’s board of trustees, despatched Hyperallergic the next assertion in response to the protest: “Many of the concerns the protestors bring up — the loss of jobs due to iconic restaurant closures, preservation of New York City’s Chinatown and its history, the impact of a massive jail in the community — are things that the museum staff and board are concerned about and already work on in various capacities. We look forward to the point where we can have a productive, actionable conversation about how we can collectively address these together.”
Protesters shaped a picket line at 5pm, an hour earlier than the gala’s scheduled begin at 2 Desbrosses Street. Members of the coalition, together with YAD activists, began their march alongside the sidewalk with hand-painted indicators condemning the museum’s choice to just accept a $35 million “community give-back fund” from the de Blasio administration in 2018 in trade for supporting the development of a new jail in Chinatown. The museum finalized its building purchase early this 12 months.
Other indicators, props, flyers, and chants referenced Chinatown legacy actual property mogul Jonathan Chu, a MOCA board member and former Jing Fong landlord who has lengthy been accused of pushing out the staple dim sum and banquet corridor from its Elizabeth Street website in 2021. The house stays empty now. (In 2021, a spokesperson for Jing Fong expressed to Hyperallergic that the banquet corridor closed as a result of plummeting income amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and that that they had been “offered some rent relief” earlier on by the Chu household.)
YAD organizer Jun Chang informed Hyperallergic that the teams’ calls for are clear and have been for years: “Return the $35 million, come out for the community and against the jail, and reopen Jing Fong at its original location; that’s what the people of Chinatown want.”
Chen Liang, present Jing Fong worker of 20 years working at the restaurant’s smaller location, informed Hyperallergic that the museum “doesn’t care about the life and death of Chinatown” in an onsite interview translated by Yolanda Zhang.
“The restaurant brought a lot of foot traffic to the neighborhood, and since we’ve been displaced, small businesses around Chinatown are suffering,” Liang elaborated by means of Zhang, explaining that Jing Fong as soon as had 10,000 prospects a week and held huge occasions for the group. “The people inside need to see that despite how the museum tries to market itself as the representation of the Chinese community, it’s the real culprit for why Chinatown is dying.”
After former MOCA President Nancy Yao left the museum within the spring on a lower than optimistic observe, the museum has since appointed a new chief, Michael Lee. Protesters referred to as consideration to Lee’s roles as a board member for the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) and director of the board of its Home Attendant Program for aged and disabled metropolis residents. The group has been accused of stealing wages from its homecare workers who were regularly working multiple 24-hour shifts in a row per week in suboptimal to abusive conditions. Lee has not responded to a request for remark despatched to the museum.
“Lee has inherited the old ways of the museum,” Liang left off.
Speaking particularly about Lee, 29-year-old freelance artist Kara Fan of Queens mentioned that she attended as a result of she’s “over people weaponizing their identities to hide sell-out behavior and their crimes.”
“These people in power that claim that they’re here to advance the community are actually allowing higher powers and developers to degrade it,” Fan mentioned.
As gala attendees began pulling up in black Escalades and yellow cabs at round 5:45pm, police onsite compelled the protesters to maintain the entryway clear by placing barricades on both aspect of the venue’s doorway and eradicating any spillover from the cobblestone street.
Guests had been met with loud cries of “Don’t go in! Don’t go in! Don’t cross the picket line!” as they quietly filed into the gala by the venue’s safety. The protesters hollered “Shame!” at those that entered, together with gala award honoree Connie Chung, who briefly took within the protest and had an inaudible trade with one of many protesters earlier than ducking into the venue.
Held annually since 1995, MOCA’s Legacy Awards Gala usually honors folks “whose service as pioneers, role models, and leaders has paved the way for generations.” This 12 months, Chung was honored together with Ophthalmologist and Professor Stanley Chang. Neither has responded to Hyperallergic’s inquiries.
Only one attendee heeded the organizers’ calls to not cross the picket line — New York State Senator John Liu, representing the 16th District. Per a assertion to Hyperallergic from his workplace, “Senator Liu was apprised of the problem by articulate and spirited young activists, and he decided to skip the event out of respect for their effort and is looking further into the issue.”
The motion wrapped up at round 7:30pm, mid-way by means of the gala, with the organizers reminding the museum that “we’ll be back.”
Isa Farfan contributed reporting.
Editor’s observe 11/8/24 5:18pm EST: This article has been up to date with remark from Jennifer 8. Lee.
