Literature Review

Gentrification is a process in which a neighborhood’s property value increases due to the developments that occur in the area. This increased property value may lead to the displacement of those who originally inhabited the neighborhood because they are not able to keep up with the new market rate prices. This is the case for New York City’s Chinatown, where most of its residents feel that they are being pushed out due to recent developments caused by the former Mayor Bloomberg’s zoning plan. While long-time residents feel exploited, the perspective of the local government is that these developments will help the economy of the neighborhood. 

• In 2008 the future of Chinatown was silently being decided by the Bloomberg administration through different zoning laws. Bethany Li (2010), an equal Justice Works Fellow at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, gives an overview of the situation in her report “Zoned Out: Chinatown and Lower East Side Residents and Business Owners Fight to Stay in New York City.” She explains what zoning is and how voluntary exclusionary zoning took effect in Chinatown without the consent of Chinatown residents. According to Li, the majority of residents did not know such a plan was taking place and for those who attempted to take part were turned away, or were not given adequate materials to understand the situation such as translators. However, Li claims the effects of the plan were clearly visible to the neighborhood and disproportionately affected low-income residents of color which is the majority of Chinatown residents.

 

• A Vox article titled “Will Luxury Towers Edge Out the Last of the Working-Class Chinese in New York’s Iconic Chinatown?” by Sarah Ngu (2019) goes into further detail about the income status of residents in Chinatown, and how they are susceptible to displacement. She states that the median family income in the area is around $40,000 while luxury apartments go around for 1 million. The article also provides information on how gentrification in Chinatown is overlooked due to the popular “model minority myth.” She debunks this by stating in 2017, “Asian Americans in New York were found to have the highest poverty rate of all the city’s racial groups” and that “Chinatown and the Lower East Side’s median family income is 35 percent lower than New York City’s median, and its poverty level is basically 10 percentage points higher.” She relates these numbers to how susceptible Chinatown residents are to gentrification because developments and luxury condominiums create an unaffordable situation for the low income residents in the community. 

 

• Furthermore, tenant organizations agree that the zoning laws that were implemented created a bad situation for Chinatown residents. The Committee Against Asian American Violence (CAAAV) is a well established tenant organization formed in 1986 and wrote a report, “Converting Chinatown,” discussing the specifics on how tenants are facing gentrification. According to the article, developments in the area are increasing rent prices in apartments, harassment from landlords have increased, and the new luxury condominiums are too expensive and take space away from actual affordable housing, which is not affordable at all. 

 

• Due to the decreased affordability in Chinatown that was mentioned in the previous article, Chinatown residents have made an effort to combat this. In the Brokers Weekly, a newspaper company, an article titled “Chinatown Says ‘No’ to Luxury,” expresses the concern of the residents about the lack of affordability in the neighborhood (2011). Since this is a primary source it gives good insight to how people feel about the changes that took place in 2008. Due to the increased luxury buildings in the area, the neighborhood is reaching out to Bloomberg to rezone Chinatown to preserve affordable housing (by requiring newer buildings to be site reviewed by community guidelines and to offer at least 60% affordable housing) in order to protect the community

 

• While it may seem as if these zoning laws were implemented to cause displacement in a low income community, the original intent was to help the economy and revitalize the economy. According to Bloomberg, an article entitled “Dan Doctorroff on Rebuilding New York After 9/11,” gives good insight into Bloomberg’s and his executive’s perspective. When 9/11 occurred, Bloomberg needed a plan to help boost the economy of New York and create a welcoming environment for tourists. He did so with his pro-development plan to help make certain areas a tourist attraction and raise property values. Thus, 40% of the city was rezoned (Florida, 2017). However, the people mentioned in the previous articles would argue with Bloomberg’s plan because this has only helped the wealthy and not the poor immigrant families inhabiting Chinatown. 

The articles mentioned are important for having a complete understanding of what is occurring in Chinatown. To understand if residents feel the impacts of zoning in ways of gentrification, it is significant to understand what zoning is, the original intent of zoning, if Chinatown residents were involved in the decision, and why and how it is affecting them. These articles informed the following study on tenant advocacy groups in Chinatown and CAAAV in particular.