FEATURE
A lack of digital know-how hampered many Chinatown businesses during Covid .
O ne of the first things you notice when you approach the junction of Mulberry and Canal Streets in New York City is a wire block-letter sign declaring “ Welcome to Chinatown ”.
Flanked by two neon-hued dragons , the sign is a marker of one of New York City ’ s most well-known neighborhoods – home to hundreds of businesses , including restaurants , cafes , and mom-and-pop shops selling everything from porcelain tableware to herbal medications .
It is also the name of an ambitious nonprofit organization dedicated to saving local businesses and the soul of New York City ’ s Chinatown .
Businesses on the brink The organization Welcome to Chinatown was launched in March 2020 during the frantic beginning stages of the Covid-19 pandemic .
At a time when many people were already experiencing heightened anxiety around the health hazards the virus caused , the Asian- American community was also experiencing fear and discrimination caused by hateful and ignorant phrases such as the “ China virus ” or “ Wuhan Flu ” being thrown around by civilians and politicians .
In a report conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism , while hate crimes dropped by 7 percent overall in 2020 , in comparison with the prior year , anti-Asian hate crimes surged by 149 percent , especially in cities like Los Angeles and New York .
Growing xenophobia , combined with the forced closure of brick-and-mortar stores due to Covid-19 , brought many Chinatown businesses , some of which had been around for over a century , to the brink . Unfortunately , some businesses didn ’ t make it .
Wellington Z . Chen , executive director of the Chinatown Business Improvement District / Partnership , has stated that at least 17 restaurants and 139 ground-floor stores in Chinatown have permanently shut down since the pandemic .
For Victoria Lee and Jennifer Tam , two friends with a deep love for New York City ’ s Chinatown , standing by and watching this neighborhood fade away simply wasn ’ t an option .
Lee , a born-and-raised New Yorker , has been visiting the neighborhood since her youth , when her late grandmother had an apartment in Chinatown . Tam , who is from Houston , moved to the neighborhood in the early 2000s , and it inspired her to explore her identity as an Asian-American woman and connect with the area ’ s vibrant Cantonese culture .
Launching Welcome to Chinatown was their way of giving back to the community that had given so much to them .
“ We looked at how much it had given to us – even though the community may not have realized it – as , you know , just your everyday resident . I think that was certainly a driving mechanism for us as we started to get this off the ground ,” Tam remarked .
A systemic problem In March 2020 , Lee , whose day job is global travel and meetings director for The Estée Lauder Companies , and Tam ,
Standing by and watching this neighborhood fade away simply wasn ’ t an option .
communications and culture lead at VMware , started to discuss how they could use their combined skill sets to save the Chinatown they knew and loved .
Initially , they built a website that listed Chinatown-based businesses that consumers could support by buying electronic gift cards . However , they quickly ran into a major issue . Most businesses in Chinatown weren ’ t using digital point-ofsale systems . In 2020 , only 3 percent of their transactions were digital .
With this in mind , Tam and Lee instead launched a GoFundMe page to raise money to purchase meals from Chinatown restaurants and donate them to essential workers . It was while working with a team to pick up and deliver these meals that they came to
fully understand the long-lasting effect of the pandemic on the community .
“ That ’ s when we learned more about their challenges and how it had been very prolonged because of the xenophobia , the racist rhetoric that was happening , and how systemic this is . When there is a historical disaster , it continues to impact Chinatown ,” Tam explained .
Indeed , even before the pandemic , Chinatown was still recovering from the repercussions of events like Hurricane Sandy ( 2012 ), the SARS epidemic ( 2003 ), and 9 / 11 ( 2001 ). In times of crisis , Chinatown is often left out of government relief programs due to a variety of factors , including language barriers and its ZIP code .
22 www . insideretail . us September 2023