As many as 45 members and allies of the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side gathered outside of a Tribeca event venue yesterday evening, November 7, to protest the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) during its Legacy Awards Gala. Organizers accused the museum and its affiliates of actively harming Chinatown’s residents and economy by accepting a “community buy-back” for the construction of a new jail and of being complicit in the closure of a banquet hall in the neighborhood.
“They have some of the richest benefactors … the richest landlords in Chinatown here,” Aaron Yin, an organizer with the coalition member Youth Against Displacement (YAD) told Hyperallergic at the start of the protest. “We want to disrupt this event and tell them they can’t control the narrative around Chinatown.” Yin also noted that comedian and actor Jimmy O. Yang and actor BD Wong withdrew from the gala programming after calls for their boycott of the museum and event. (Yang and Wong have not yet responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.)
Jennifer 8. Lee, a member of MOCA’s board of trustees, sent Hyperallergic the following statement 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.”
Protesters formed a picket line at 5pm, an hour before the gala’s scheduled start at 2 Desbrosses Street. Members of the coalition, including YAD activists, started their march along the sidewalk with hand-painted signs condemning the museum’s decision to accept a $35 million “community give-back fund” from the de Blasio administration in 2018 in exchange for supporting the construction of a new jail in Chinatown. The museum finalized its building purchase early this year.
Other signs, props, flyers, and chants referenced Chinatown legacy real estate mogul Jonathan Chu, a MOCA board member and former Jing Fong landlord who has long been accused of pushing out the staple dim sum and banquet hall from its Elizabeth Street site in 2021. The space remains empty now. (In 2021, a spokesperson for Jing Fong expressed to Hyperallergic that the banquet hall closed due to plummeting revenue amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and that they had been “offered some rent relief” earlier on by the Chu family.)
YAD organizer Jun Chang told Hyperallergic that the groups’ demands 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, current Jing Fong employee of 20 years working at the restaurant’s smaller location, told 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 through Zhang, explaining that Jing Fong once had 10,000 customers a week and held enormous events for the community. “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.”
After former MOCA President Nancy Yao left the museum in the spring on a less than positive note, the museum has since appointed a new leader, Michael Lee. Protesters called attention to Lee’s roles as a board member for the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) and director of the board of its Home Attendant Program for elderly and disabled city residents. The organization has been accused of stealing wages from its homecare workers who were regularly working multiple 24-hour shifts in a row per week in suboptimal to abusive conditions. Lee has not responded to a request for comment sent to the museum.
“Lee has inherited the old ways of the museum,” Liang left off.
Speaking specifically about Lee, 29-year-old freelance artist Kara Fan of Queens said that she attended because she’s “over people weaponizing their identities to hide sell-out behavior and their crimes.”
“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 said.
As gala attendees started pulling up in black Escalades and yellow cabs at around 5:45pm, police onsite forced the protesters to keep the entryway clear by putting barricades on either side of the venue’s doorway and removing any spillover from the cobblestone road.
Guests were 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 security. The protesters hollered “Shame!” at those who entered, including gala award honoree Connie Chung, who briefly took in the protest and had an inaudible exchange with one of the protesters before ducking into the venue.
Held each year since 1995, MOCA’s Legacy Awards Gala typically honors people “whose service as pioneers, role models, and leaders has paved the way for generations.” This year, Chung was honored along with Ophthalmologist and Professor Stanley Chang. Neither has responded to Hyperallergic’s inquiries.
Only one attendee heeded the organizers’ calls not to cross the picket line — New York State Senator John Liu, representing the 16th District. Per a statement to Hyperallergic from his office, “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 action wrapped up at around 7:30pm, mid-way through the gala, with the organizers reminding the museum that “we’ll be back.”
Isa Farfan contributed reporting.
Editor’s note 11/8/24 5:18pm EST: This article has been updated with comment from Jennifer 8. Lee.
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