NYC Chinatown 'at risk' of disappearing

Businesses in New York Chinatown must make urgent plans to survive, or they could be at risk of disappearing due to the long-term aftereffects of the coronavirus pandemic, a report suggests.

The dim outlook on businesses in one of the city's most vibrant neighborhoods comes from the State of Neighborhood Small Businesses 2022 report by the nonprofit Welcome to Chinatown, which surveyed 150 businesses in the area.

It found that Chinatown's businesses are at greater risk of disappearing because Chinatown's workforce was hit harder by the pandemic than the rest of New York.

Before the pandemic in 2020, about 80 percent of visitors to Chinatown were tourists, city workers and residents. In 2019, it drew 25.6 million visitors. But amid the pandemic, visits to Chinatown fell by half between 2019 and 2021.

At least 94 percent of businesses in Chinatown have fewer than 20 employees, figures showed. Local businesses lost 57 percent of their food service jobs, compared with 45 percent citywide, including hundreds of workers from Jing Fong and 88 Palace, businesses that had stood for a generation before closing. Chinatown also lost 28 percent of retail jobs compared with 18 percent citywide.

By late last year, visits were still down 50 percent in Chinatown. The impact has been especially severe for food service businesses, given that Asian-owned businesses have been shown to do significantly less business online.

Anti-Asian sentiments

Additionally, anti-Asian sentiments, along with a rise in verbal and physical attacks, also scared some people from visiting the area. "Some businesses are concerned that stigma will prevent some customers from ever returning," the report said.

Despite these challenges, federal data shows that Chinatown received less aid amid the pandemic than the rest of New York. It got one Paycheck Protection Program loan for every 20 jobs, compared with businesses in the rest of the city which got one loan for every 10 jobs.

The reason for this was said to be language barriers, less access to banks, and the fact that many businesses are cash-only, which caused issues in reporting income.

The report stated that it will be up to new generations to ensure Chinatown's survival, or they "risk the erosion of the neighborhood's culture and identity". In the future, business owners should put succession plans in place, but many are unprepared, the report said.

Many small business owners in Chinatown are concerned about high real estate costs, including rent, labor and supply costs. Some feel "unable to raise prices due to consumer expectations of affordability and some low-income customers".

Welcome to Chinatown said it is spearheading initiatives that will help businesses expand, adapt digital tools and bring back customers.

In March, New York Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a plan called Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City's Economic Recovery to help the city recover.

New York-based nonprofit Museum of Chinese in America, or MOCA, is dedicated to documenting Chinese American history, culture and heritage. It believes that Chinatown holds significant importance not just to the local Chinese community, but to the rest of the US as well.

"Chinese culture is wide and vast," Nancy Yao Maasbach, president of MOCA, told China Daily. "It is neighborhoods like Chinatown that merge one culture with the myriad of other cultures that comprise the American way of life."