Albany Allocates $20 Million to Revitalize Downtown’s Asian Ethnoburb
Governor Kathy Hochul is allocating $20 million to help revitalize Chinatown in the wake of the Covid pandemic, as part of the State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Noting that Lower Manhattan’s Asian enclave is home to the largest Chinese population in an urban area outside of China, she said, “these critical investments will transform the neighborhood and create a more vibrant and inviting destination for locals and visitors alike, while enriching the neighborhood by improving foot traffic, economic and cultural activity.”
The $20 million grant will be divided among 11 projects, which aim to improve streetscape connectivity and public gathering spaces; increase health, wellness and business opportunities; while also enhancing cultural destinations and amenities.
In the Streetscape Connectivity/Public Gathering Spaces category, $5 million will go to renovating Kimlau Square, at the convergence of Park Row, Worth Street, and the Bowery, where new facilities will allow for more open space and a broader mix of events.
Adjacent to Kimlau Square, $4 million will be spent on “beautifying the Park Row Connection to Chinatown,” which stretches for more than half a mile between Vesey Street (near City Hall) and Chatham Square, and which has been closed for most of its length since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This plan is directly responsive to a call by Community Board 1 (CB1), which enacted a resolution last April noting that “the state of disrepair on Park Row is illustrated by cracked sidewalks, unsightly concrete medians, steel barricades, and temporary lighting. There is a lack of adequate open and green space, which is a timely concern as the construction of resiliency infrastructure projects will close many parkland and related areas along the periphery of Lower Manhattan. Large scale infrastructure like the Brooklyn Bridge and FDR Drive have divided our community. Park Row has suffered from security-related closures for more than 50 years after One Police Plaza was built, with a resurgence more than 20 years ago after 9/11.”
CB1 partnered on this push with the Park Row Alliance—a consortium of residents, small businesses, and not-for-profits advocating for the community’s desire to reimagine and revitalize the boulevard. The CB1 resolution further observed, “the Park Row Alliance has proposed reimagining Park Row as the southern gateway into Chinatown. This would spur economic revitalization by connecting the thousands of visitors from the Brooklyn Bridge, via Park Row, into Chinatown, Little Italy and beyond. The plan would address safety, lighting, repairs and access.” The Board anticipates that this project will “catalyze the creation of new jobs, new annual visitor spending, permanent City tax revenues and State tax revenues… and help revitalize Chinatown and Seaport businesses.”
City Council member Christopher Marte said, “after decades of neglect, we are excited to see major investments in reopening Park Row. The entryway to Chinatown has been closed for 20 years, and has had a serious negative impact on foot traffic and the local economy.”
The Enhance Cultural Destinations group includes $2.5 million to create a Chinatown Welcome Arch/Gateway, which will “build a landmark… to commemorate the cultural heritage of the area and draw visitors to the neighborhood.” Such arches are traditional entrances to a Chinese community, which recall the city gates that once guarded the approach to towns and villages throughout China, dating back to the Tang and Ming dynasties. Chinatowns in American cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. are home to such structures, but Manhattan has never had one.
This category also earmarks $352,000 for establishing an “Asian Culinary Arts of New York” (essentially, revamping an existing 3,000-square-foot kitchen to support the training of professionals specializing in Chinese and other Asian cuisine) and $300,000 to establish a Chinatown Cultural Welcome Center (envisioned as “a community gathering space for intergenerational knowledge transfer related to food, art, and culture”).
Under the heading of Increase Health, Wellness and Business Opportunities, $1 million each will be allocated to creating a new community health and wellness center and establishing a building upgrades fund to help small businesses and property owners make improvements to the local building stock.