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The Chinese
Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) of New York, along
with 7 key traditional organizations including: Lin Sing
Association, Hoy Sun Ning Yung Association, On Leong Merchants
Association, Hip Sing Association, The Chinese Chamber of
Commerce, Chinese Freemasons, Chung Kuo Kuo Min Tang Eastern
Region are all founded in New York City Chinatown more than a
century ago. These organizations represent Chinese Americans in
all different fields. We own many properties in Chinatown, and
we provide social services to the public in affordable housing,
education, business assistance, social justice, etc. We have
witnessed the development of Chinatown since the 19th
century and have been standing together with the Chinatown
community since then.
We are very
delighted to learn that Mayor Bill de Blasio had budgeted $80
million to re-construct the building at 70 Mulberry Street, that
was damaged by fire in January, and we welcome the Mayor’s
decision.
There are two
major directions from the community’s input:
1) to demolish the building and REBUILD it;
2) to RESTORE the current structure and add two
storied on top of the current foundation
CCBA and the 7
key traditional organizations have discussed regarding this
issue, collected community’s input and consulted professional
opinions. We found that majority of community input prefers to
rebuild the structure. The main reason is the fire in January
has damage a big portion of the building structure. To demolish
the old structure and rebuild it can significantly increase the
efficiency, complete the construction earlier and create less
impacts to the nearby residents and businesses.
Besides that,
Chinatown is insufficient of community space. Its available
community space is the less among the neighborhoods in Community
Board 3. Rebuilding 70 Mullberry Street can benefit Chinatown
and provide an opportunity to increase community space to
fulfill the needs of community organizations, increase resident
units for affordable housing and attract additional visitors to
Chinatown.
Although there
are various opinions from the community on how to rebuild,
however, we have a common goal that the location should continue
to be utilized by the community organizations to provide their
services. It should also keep the outlook with Chinatown’s
special landscape and the overall benefits of the community.
CCBA and the 7 key traditional organizations hope the community
can focus on the benefits of Chinatown, avoid argument and
eventually reach a common consensus. Below are (4)
recommendations came up from CCBA and the 7 key traditional
organizations regarding 70 Mulberry Street:
1)
CCBA and the 7
key traditional organizations have been serving the Chinatown
community for over 100 years, and we concern the historic style
of Chinatown more than any other organizations. However, since
the structure of 70 Mulberry Street has been damaged, it is
inefficient to restore the building and it cannot fulfill the
needs and future development of the 5 current organizations. We
request the newly designed building can maintain its red bricks
walls outside and its historic design style. In this way we can
fulfill the requests and concerns proposed by members from our
community and maintain Chinatown’s style.
2)
The 5
organizations settled in the 70 Mulberry Street building before
the fire were all historic and well recognized by the
Chinese-American community. The design of the new building
should be modernized and provide space to meet the needs of
these 5 organizations, i.e. a performance space for H.T. Chen
Dance Center to promote out community’s culture.
3) The
CCBA always promotes Chinese culture in New York City. In fact,
the CCBA Auditorium is always the space for cultural performance
in Chinatown. However, CCBA auditorium is not ADA compatible
and it is not convenience for the seniors. Besides that, the
schedule of CCBA auditorium is always full on weekends and we
cannot accommodate all the requesting cultural organizations.
We recommend the new building can provide a space for a
performing center. Furthermore, we also need exhibition halls,
office spaces and conference facilities for small community
based cultural organizations to use to promote Chinese culture
and reserve tradition.
4) Chinatown
has been losing our populations for two decades, and that is
because a lack of urgently needed senior housings. Mayor de
Blasio planned to build 200,000 affordable housing in New York
City, but the plan has not been effective due to the lack the
lands. 70 Mulberry is a government property, and it is a
perfect location to build additional affordable housing units
for our seniors on top of the needs of the 5 non-profit
organizations. This can benefit the residents and seniors in
the community, provide them a place to live and avoid losing the
community’s characteristic like Little Italy. We suggest to
build a 20-stories complex at 70 Mulberry Street and provide 250
affording housing units on top of the needs of those 5
organizations.
Although the
fire caused a huge loss for the community, however, if we can do
the right things, it is now an opportunity to provide more
benefits to Chinatown. Once we reach our common decisions, the
land not only can allow the 5 organizations to keep and expend
their excellent services, it can also provide affordable housing
to our residents and seniors to maintain the economic and
cultural strength of Chinatown.
The City will
soon form a committee to discuss the rebuilding of 70 Mulberry
Street. We hope that our community can consider the long term
benefits of Chinatown and reach a common consensus within the
local budget. This can allow the construction to start and have
the new building providing services and benefits to the
Chinatown community as soon as possible.
Co-signed by:
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA)
Lin Sing Association
Hoy Sun Ning Yung Association
On Leong Merchants Association
Hip Sing Association
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce
Chinese Freemasons
Chung Kuo Kuo Min Tang Eastern Region
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