As many as 45 members and allies of the Coalition to Defend Chinatown and the Decrease East Facet gathered outdoors of a Tribeca occasion venue yesterday night, November 7, to protest the Museum of Chinese language in America (MOCA) throughout its Legacy Awards Gala. Organizers accused the museum and its associates of actively harming Chinatown’s residents and financial system by accepting a “community buy-back” for the development of a brand new jail and of being complicit within the closure of a banquet corridor within the neighborhood.
“They have some of the richest benefactors … the richest landlords in Chinatown here,” Aaron Yin, an organizer with the coalition member Youth Towards Displacement (YAD) instructed Hyperallergic firstly of the protest. “We want to disrupt this event and tell them they can’t control the narrative around Chinatown.” Yin additionally famous that comic and actor Jimmy O. Yang and actor BD Wong withdrew from the gala programming after calls for his or her boycott of the museum and occasion. (Yang and Wong haven’t but responded to Hyperallergic’s request for remark.)
Jennifer 8. Lee, a member of MOCA’s board of trustees, despatched Hyperallergic the next assertion in response to the protest: “Many of the concerns the protestors bring up — the loss of jobs due to iconic restaurant closures, preservation of New York City’s Chinatown and its history, the impact of a massive jail in the community — are things that the museum staff and board are concerned about and already work on in various capacities. We look forward to the point where we can have a productive, actionable conversation about how we can collectively address these together.”
Youth Towards Displacement organizer Aaron Yin captures the protest on his telephone.
Protesters shaped a picket line at 5pm, an hour earlier than the gala’s scheduled begin at 2 Desbrosses Avenue. Members of the coalition, together with YAD activists, began their march alongside the sidewalk with hand-painted indicators condemning the museum’s determination to just accept a $35 million “community give-back fund” from the de Blasio administration in 2018 in alternate for supporting the development of a brand new jail in Chinatown. The museum finalized its constructing buy early this yr.
Different indicators, props, flyers, and chants referenced Chinatown legacy actual property mogul Jonathan Chu, a MOCA board member and former Jing Fong landlord who has lengthy been accused of pushing out the staple dim sum and banquet corridor from its Elizabeth Avenue website in 2021. The area stays empty now. (In 2021, a spokesperson for Jing Fong expressed to Hyperallergic that the banquet corridor closed because of plummeting income amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and that they’d been “offered some rent relief” earlier on by the Chu household.)
Many protesters carried indicators that includes viral Thai child pygmy hippo Moo Deng of their condemnation of the museum and its associates.
YAD organizer Jun Chang instructed Hyperallergic that the teams’ calls for are clear and have been for years: “Return the $35 million, come out for the community and against the jail, and reopen Jing Fong at its original location; that’s what the people of Chinatown want.”
Chen Liang, present Jing Fong worker of 20 years working on the restaurant’s smaller location, instructed Hyperallergic that the museum “doesn’t care about the life and death of Chinatown” in an onsite interview translated by Yolanda Zhang.
“The restaurant brought a lot of foot traffic to the neighborhood, and since we’ve been displaced, small businesses around Chinatown are suffering,” Liang elaborated via Zhang, explaining that Jing Fong as soon as had 10,000 clients every week and held huge occasions for the neighborhood. “The people inside need to see that despite how the museum tries to market itself as the representation of the Chinese community, it’s the real culprit for why Chinatown is dying.”
An worker at Jing Fong for 20 years who rushed to the motion after his shift, Chen Liang reveals how the unique banquet corridor location usually held occasions with a 1,000 particular person headcount earlier than it closed. 
Law enforcement officials started inserting barricades to safe the entryway of the venue at round 5:45pm
After former MOCA President Nancy Yao left the museum within the spring on a lower than constructive word, the museum has since appointed a brand new chief, Michael Lee. Protesters known as consideration to Lee’s roles as a board member for the Chinese language-American Planning Council (CPC) and director of the board of its House Attendant Program for aged and disabled metropolis residents. The group has been accused of stealing wages from its homecare staff who have been usually working a number of 24-hour shifts in a row per week in suboptimal to abusive situations. Lee has not responded to a request for remark despatched to the museum.
“Lee has inherited the old ways of the museum,” Liang left off.
Talking particularly about Lee, 29-year-old freelance artist Kara Fan of Queens stated that she attended as a result of she’s “over people weaponizing their identities to hide sell-out behavior and their crimes.”
Gala attendees have been met with cries of “Don’t go in! Don’t cross the picket line!” as they filed into the venue.
“These people in power that claim that they’re here to advance the community are actually allowing higher powers and developers to degrade it,” Fan stated.
As gala attendees began pulling up in black Escalades and yellow cabs at round 5:45pm, police onsite pressured the protesters to maintain the entryway clear by placing barricades on both aspect of the venue’s doorway and eradicating any spillover from the cobblestone street.
Company have been met with loud cries of “Don’t go in! Don’t go in! Don’t cross the picket line!” as they quietly filed into the gala by the venue’s safety. The protesters hollered “Shame!” at those that entered, together with gala award honoree Connie Chung, who briefly took within the protest and had an inaudible alternate with one of many protesters earlier than ducking into the venue.
The protesters addressed Chinese language-American tv reporter and creator Connie Chung, who was being honored with an award on the gala, calling on her to not cross the picket line. Chung had an inaudible back-and-forth with one of many protesters earlier than going into the venue. (pictures Rhea Nayyar/Hyperallergic)
Held annually since 1995, MOCA’s Legacy Awards Gala usually honors folks “whose service as pioneers, role models, and leaders has paved the way for generations.” This yr, Chung was honored together with Ophthalmologist and Professor Stanley Chang. Neither has responded to Hyperallergic’s inquiries.
Just one attendee heeded the organizers’ calls to not cross the picket line — New York State Senator John Liu, representing the sixteenth District. Per an announcement to Hyperallergic from his workplace, “Senator Liu was apprised of the problem by articulate and spirited young activists, and he decided to skip the event out of respect for their effort and is looking further into the issue.”
The motion wrapped up at round 7:30pm, mid-way via the gala, with the organizers reminding the museum that “we’ll be back.”
Isa Farfan contributed reporting.
The flyer informing passersby in regards to the causes for protesting was double-sided in each English and Chinese language textual content. 
The first calls for have been to reopen Jing Fong’s unique banquet corridor location and to return the $35 million neighborhood give-back fund given as a part of a plan for a brand new jail in Chinatown.
Jing Fong employee Chen Liang joined the picket march together with dozens of different neighborhood members. 
Protesters have been pressured to face on both aspect of the barricades and off the sidewalk for the rest of the motion.
The protest solely acquired louder when all of the organizers started chanting in unison after the barricades have been put in. 
Artist and inventive employee Kara Fan, 29, was amongst many who expressed their disdain for the museum’s acceptance of funds given as a buy-back for the development of a brand new jail.
Editor’s word 11/8/24 5:18pm EST: This text has been up to date with remark from Jennifer 8. Lee.
