Chinatown Tenant Union Comments to the East River Waterfront Development EIS Report

Chinatown Tenant Union
Comments on the East River Waterfront Development EIS Report
Submitted to the LMDC
July 2, 2007

The Chinatown Tenants Union is comprised of more than 100 members, all of whom are residents of Chinatown, and more than 1,200 supporters in Chinatown.

As residents of Chinatown, we applaud the City of New York’s Economic Development Corporation’s desire to make the East River waterfront an attractive area for residents of Chinatown. This is a wonderful opportunity to improve the community for the benefit of the people who already reside there.

However, we are troubled by some of the comments that the EDC has made about the impact of development on Chinatown residents and businesses and also by the types of businesses and services that the EDC is proposing for the waterfront.

As stated in the East River Waterfront Economic Impact Statement, EDC projects that there will be no displacement due to the development of the waterfront. At the Chinatown Tenants Union, we strongly believe that there will be significant primary and secondary displacement, and call for the EDC to further assess this issue through a second and broader study to examine the impacts of development on the displacement of both tenants and small business owners in Chinatown, one that would widen the zone to be studied further than the immediate area slated for development. We have seen from experience how development of new businesses can lead to secondary displacement and strongly recommend a new and broader study. In addition, we call on the city to develop proactive strategies as part of an overall plan for the community to mitigate the pressures of displacement of current residents and small businesses that will inevitably arise as the neighborhood desirability increases as a result of the waterfront development.

The Chinatown Tenants Union is excited by the idea of more community-oriented open space and businesses along the East River waterfront, but we want to ensure that these spaces and businesses serve the existing Chinese community that already lives in Chinatown close to the waterfront. We know that our tenants don’t need, for example, high-priced flower shops or yoga studios—they need affordable goods and services. Also, small businesses owned by Asian immigrants are increasingly being pushed out of Chinatown due to rising rents. The waterfront space can and should be an affordable space for small businesses that cater to Chinatown residents to set up shop and should give preference to locally-owned and existing small businesses.

There is also a need for community spaces such as centers for the elderly and also young people, and we at the CTU believe that the EDC should also make the creation of more community spaces a priority during the development process.

In short, we applaud the vision of the EDC to create a more welcoming and open waterfront for the lower Manhattan community, and we urge you to create a waterfront that serves the needs of the low-income Asian immigrant community that already lives and works in the area.

Thank you for your time.

Helena Wong
Representative for the Chinatown Tenant Union
c/o CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
191 E 3rd Street
New York, NY 10009
(212) 473-6485