Spotlight: Chinatown Working Group

In this rapidly gentrifying city, it seems as though there is less and less space for the middle class. At times, New York feels like a playground for the wealthy, and the artists, students, and "average joes" amount to nothing more than a nuisance. If I see another sign taped to a bar door that says "Quiet please, our neighbors are sleeping," I'm going to scream. Who rents a luxury condo above a Lower East Side whiskey bar and expects peace and quiet?

Thankfully, there are organizations working to preserve life for the middle class in Manhattan, and Chinatown Working Group is one of them. Founded in 1994, CWG is a community planning initiative made up of Chinatown residents and business owners.  CWG develops plans to solve the problems facing Chinatown with the community in mind, and proposes them to government agencies. There's no guarantee that the government agencies will approve plans proposed by CWG, but that's not necessarily the point. CWG's main goal is to ensure that the residents and business owners of Chinatown, those with the biggest stake in the neighborhood, are heard over the developers and bureaucrats. 

CWG works within a loose set of guiding principles outlined on their website. It's a lofty set of goals that includes tackling rent hikes, passing zoning laws, reducing environmental hazards, and fighting for renters rights. Chinatown is one of Manhattan's most affordable neighborhoods, but developers have their eyes on it for a while. Through planning, CWG hopes to be heard over the real estate moguls who have been edging in on the middle class families who have presided there for decades. Most importantly, CWG works to make Chinatown's policies favor its residents and business. While CWG appreciates and acknowledges the aesthetics of Asian-style buildings and monuments, on their web site they caution against what they refer to as a "Disneyland" Chinatown- one with all of the visual trappings, but culturally void of authenticity.

CWG is a grassroots organization, so it doesn't receive public funding-- every member's participation is voluntary. CWG's members come from all sorts of backgrounds, interest groups, and organizations.

The Committee Against Asian Violence has a vote, as does the Chinatown YMCA. Even The Pistol Club of Greater Chinatown is represented. Each organization or interest has one representative in CWG; each representative gets one vote per proposal.

As of late, CWG has been focused on transportation issues. Last June, CWG met with Secretary of Transportation Ray La Hood to discuss some hot button topics: federal funding for the east coast Chinatown bus system, traffic near the Verazzano Bridge, and re-opening Park Row, a formerly busy Chinatown street that's been closed since 9/11. So far, none of the changes CWG has  proposed have been put into effect, but you can read them in their entirety here.

Meetings are open to anyone interested and take place every Monday at 6 p.m. at 192 Canal Street.