On a sunny, chilly Sunday afternoon, a group of protesters at the Museum of Chinese in America held signs and chanted “Boycott MOCA” as people passed by on the sidewalk.

 

As the security guard opened the glass door to let a visitor in, one protester called the person urging them not to enter. The visitor turned around to briefly acknowledge the protester before heading inside and the door closing behind them.

Since the reopening of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) on July 15, 2021, activists and community groups alike have picketed in front of its doors demanding Jonathan Chu, the museum’s board co-chair and a prominent Chinatown landlord be held accountable for the closure of Jing Fong, a treasured dim sum restaurant and the only unionized restaurant in Chinatown.

After 43 years, the Lam family, owners of Jing Fong, decided to close the 800 seat dining room at 20 Elizabeth Street on March 7, 2021, due to the loss of revenue because of the pandemic, ongoing spikes in infection rates and staff shortage, according to the restaurant. While their new, smaller location opened in July at 202 Centre Street, many residents in Chinatown are not happy with the result and see it as a form of displacement.

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Jing Fong Workers

Aaron Yin, a member of Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association says he participated in open night mic performances in August and September of 2018 at the Museum of Chinese of America, but after hearing about Jing Fong, he knew he had to take action.

“The whole reason why I initially got started was when Jing Fong first got shut down and I was passing out pamphlets at Eastbank, which is also owned by the Chu family and is one block away from the museum,” Yin said. “Pamphlets about Jing Fong workers who were displaced and Jonathan Chu basically evicted them, closed the restaurant and put all of them out of work, so there is the Chinatown Working Group Plan, community driven, to get Jing Fong back.”

Based on the Chinatown Working Group, their plan is about preserving affordability and authenticity, protecting residents, workers and small businesses by curtailing the “domino effect” of displacement that occurs as a result of over-development and putting a plug on how much and what type of development can happen.

The president of the 318 Restaurant Workers Union, named after the day Silver Palace workers were fired, Nelson Mar says the union and other groups are picketing in front of MOCA to let people know that the actions of Jonathan Chu are hurting the local Chinatown economy and he unnecessarily forced Jing Fong to close.

This hurts all the other businesses in the community as it pretty much telegraphs to other landlords that if you want to push out your long term commercial tenants, you can.

“That put a lot of workers out of work, over 170,” Mar said. “This hurts all the other businesses in the community as it pretty much telegraphs to other landlords that if you want to push out your long term commercial tenants, you can.”

A GoFundMe page created to help Jing Fong workers states that the closure of Jing Fong laid off over 170 workers, many who were represented by the 318 Restaurant Workers Union. More than 7,000 dollars have been raised to help support them.

“Even if we give [Jonathan Chu] the benefit of the doubt that he is going to do something else with this [space located at 20 Elizabeth Street] that is going to help drive the economy for the community, it has come with no input from community members,” Mar added.

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Chinatown Jail

What added fuel to the fire was the resurface of a memo from October 2019 titled the “Borough-Based Jail Plan Points of Agreement” which outlined the use of $137 million to invest in the communities themselves as well as funding the jails.

On page 16, there can be found mention of the 35 million dollar investment in the Museum of Chinese in America.

Dean Fuleihan, first deputy mayor of New York City says many of these commitments are directly related to the borough-based jail system and other commitments address separate investments in the local neighborhoods to meet needs that have long gone unmet.

In response to criticisms that MOCA supports jail construction in Chinatown, the museum says the grant is not tied in any way to the jail development and issued a fact sheet.

“We asked the City to separate MOCA from this list and reiterate that MOCA applied for funds through the Department of Cultural Affairs process—akin to all museums seeking City funds,” MOCA said.

“If MOCA or any other cultural institution were to adopt the viewpoint of the critics and refuse public funding when it did not agree with every dollar of the City’s $90 billion annual budget, cultural institutions across the city would not exist,” the museum added.

A longtime resident and community advocate, Karlin Chan, says elected officials use tactics to cover their tracks and draw attention from other issues.

“Every organization at the table was used as a tool in a sham process to fulfill the community engagement requirements,” he said. “Much like the mayor’s scoping meetings, the city planning commission, and city council meetings–all were sham public displays of empathy and fake concern for the communities where the jails are going.”

Around 70 people are petitioning in support of MOCA and are asking for healing at the museum and Chinatown. The group says that they oppose the Mayor’s [Bill de Blasio] plan to construct a larger jail in Chinatown, but they do not support blaming MOCA for the City’s decisions about the jail.

Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies and professor of History at Columbia University was one person who signed the petition. She says the association of the grant with the support for the jail is simply an accusation.

I think this whole thing is misdirected and not constructive

“I think this whole thing is misdirected and not constructive,” Ngai said. “Why don’t they [the group picketing in front of MOCA] ask the City to support small businesses? Why don’t they ask the City to compensate people who are displaced by the construction of the jail?”

Mar says the union and other community groups didn’t intend to picket in front of MOCA at first, only after picketing in front of Eastbank did they decide to change their location.

“So people understood that the museum should stand with the community, the residents, small businesses and call on Jonathan Chu [the museum’s board co-chair] to do the right thing,” he said. “Jonathan Chu is the lynchpin in all of this.”

At the time of publication, Jonathan Chu did not respond to request for comment.

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Next Steps

Yin wants people to always support those who are least privileged and most vulnerable to losing their jobs.

“There are just so many very older immigrants of various educations, this is their lives that we are talking about,” he said. “Chinatown is about the people, places too, but more about the people.”

To mend the relationship between the Chinatown community and the Museum of Chinese in America, Chan says there needs to be an honest frank dialogue on the issues and cut the half truths.

At the end of the day not much has changed, elected and special interests find ways to splinter the voices in the community to prevent cohesion

“At the end of the day not much has changed, elected and special interests find ways to splinter the voices in the community to prevent cohesion,” he said.

MOCA’s spokesperson, James Yolles, says MOCA is proud to serve as a longtime cultural pillar and gathering space in Chinatown, and to tell the stories of Chinese Americans who’ve come before us.

“Securing a permanent home will allow us to continue playing that vital role,”he said. “Regardless of distractions motivated by completely unrelated issues and misinformation, we will stay focused on what matters: contributing Chinese American journeys to U.S. history, and healing through education.”

The picketers who are supporting the former workers at Jing Fong, Mar says are there to fight displacement and to ensure the community stays relatively affordable for its residents and small businesses.

“We are not against the museum, but how it is being used to further displacement in the community,” he said. “I don’t want the Chinatown that I grew up in to turn into a ghost town, I would be heartbroken and I will do everything I can to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

I don’t want the Chinatown that I grew up in to turn into a ghost town, I would be heartbroken and I will do everything I can to ensure that doesn’t happen.