Because it is so close to SoHo and the Financial District, the latter rising as a residential neighborhood, Chinatown and most of the Lower East Side is attractive to developers hoping to build luxury housing and take advantage of the high-end commercial space available. In an already gentrifying Lower East Side, this development is threatening the diversity, economy, culture and very existence of Chinatown. Almost 8 years under Mayor Bloomberg has only accelerated the gentrification in Chinatown. Because there aren’t any laws that protect tenants’ rights, residents of Chinatown are vulnerable to “rising rents, landlord harassment, unsafe building conditions, and displacement.” The Chinatown Tenants Union (CTU) was formed in 2005 to combat the unjust treatment and protect Chinatown’s tenants.
But for more than a decade, new development with building permits has increased from 40 per year in 1990 to 970 in 2006. By rezoning Chinatown, the Department of City Planning can spur housing development.
This is the Department of City Planning’s proposed rezoning plan. Obviously, District 3 which includes 3 major neighborhoods: East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown, will get rezoned to be smaller. As the map shows, the Department is focusing on East Village, completely excluding Chinatown and the Lower East Side, where there has been an increase in luxury high rises. The purple and green highlighted areas on the map mark the areas of dramatic upzoning and use of Inclusionary Zoning. Upzoning means that developers can build larger buildings and Inclusionary Zoning increases buidling height limits. “This proposal foreshadows a possible glass and steel wall of buildings separating neighborhoods.” (Coalition to Protect Chinatown, 2013) The zoning proposal has also been accused of being racist. The racially diverse District 3 with a community of Asians, Hispanics and Whites will be rezoned to favor the East Village while areas outside will be subjected to overdevelopment.
The favoritism is evident in this chart. Compared to the White residents protected under the proposed rezoning plan, a whopping 73%, the other major races pale in comparison.
The rezoning plan also caters to the affluent as the zoning protects most of East Village where residents earn, on average, from $20,001 to $60,000. The proposed plan fails to meet the needs of low income residents. “Affordable Housing” is misleading and untrue, and will displace many of Chinatown’s residents, destroying the culture and history of Chinatown. “Affordable Housing” uses a skewed median income (Current AMI, Area Median Income, for a family of 4 in NYC is $78,300, the AMI for a family in Chinatown in 2009 was $41.254) to determine income limits for families that want to qualify. This means that most units go to middle income and high income people. The AMI needs to be calculated from zip codes for accuracy and insure that “affordable housing” is determined by local conditions.
From this map of Chinatown in 2008, there were already:
- 25 new hotels
- 118 new high-end boutique and cafes
- 26 luxury residential buildings
It’s been 5 years since then and with the new permits, there has been a definite increase in new buildings.
“Chinatown is an important place for a lot of Chinese people and it’s a place where a lot of people live. It’s more convenient to shop and live here. Without Chinatown, people will lose a lot of conveniences. I would feel uncomfortable if Chinatown is gone. But, the more things cost, the harder it is to live. My [rezoning] concerns are about higher rents and less housing, which would result in making living harder and harder here in Chinatown.” –Yan Chen (19)
