“I think it’s important that artists also stand in solidarity with the workers and the spaces that we occupy.” “When places like these close, you lose a lot of history, and I don’t want to see Chinatown become another museum,” said Leanne Gan, an artist who attended today’s rally. Jing Fong’s closure comes as hate crimes against Asians and Asian-Americans are on the rise. It will continue service from its second-floor kitchen for takeout and delivery until further notice, according to an announcement. We are saddened by this pandemic and the unemployment that has resulted from inadequate federal, state and local support for workers and small businesses.”Īround 150 people are employed at the restaurant, which is due to close its dining hall at 20 Elizabeth Street on March 7. “My family has been loyal patrons of Jing Fong for decades, standing shoulder to shoulder with employees on holidays and during important life events. “Nobody has tried harder to keep Jing Fong in this space than we have,” Chu said. (Jing Fong told Grub Street that the Chus “wanted the space back” prior to the pandemic.) In a statement shared with Hyperallergic, Jonathan Chu said that Jing Fong’s rent had remained the same since 1993 and the restaurant had not paid rent for the last 12 months. According to one survey, more than half of NYC’s restaurants were in danger of closing permanently by December 2020. The restaurant industry has been ravaged by the public health disaster in the US and in New York in particular, where rents were already skyrocketing pre-pandemic. Jing Fong’s hardships are far from unique amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. It’s becoming harder and harder for us to survive.” “It’s hard for us to sustain ourselves, no matter how many deliveries we make. Business has been down 85 percent - it’s not a typical 25 or 30 percent,” Leo told Hyperallergic. “With 800 seats in the restaurant, it’s just impossible. The parlor’s business model requires seating hundreds of people at once to make a profit, which virus safety measures prohibit. The 318 Restaurant Workers Union, which represents roughly 70 Jing Fong dining room staff, claims the Chus have done nothing to stop the restaurant from sinking, rejecting pleas to forgive rent.Ĭlaudia Leo, a spokesperson for Jing Fong, told Hyperallergic that China Arcade LLC, the company owned by the Chus, had “offered some rent relief.” Leo explained that the imminent closure was the result of plummeting revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. Approximately 200 people gathered in front of East Bank at 193 Centre St., owned by the Chu family, in a rally to save the restaurant. Because let’s face it, this is a union-busting activity,” Yu said, adding that Jing Fong was one of the few restaurants where arts nonprofits could host events with the knowledge that its workers were unionized and protected. “They are using artwashing and culturewashing to incarcerate Black and Brown folks and to displace Chinese-American working-class people, and to bust a union. Former unionized servers of the restaurant said they had been questioned about their union activities when they tried to re-apply for the jobs they had lost, and discriminated on the basis of their union status.

In 1998, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against the New Silver Palace Restaurant in Chinatown, a 900-seat dim sum parlor that went bankrupt and was bought and reopened by Jonathan Chu. “We’re supporting the struggle because we understand that the Chu family, the dynasty, has been gentrifying Chinatown since the 1960s,” Betty Yu, a co-founder of CAB, told Hyperallergic at today’s demonstration. The museum has also come under scrutiny after its board accepted $35 million from the city as part of a “community give-back” deal to build a new jail in Chinatown. The Chinatown Art Brigade (CAB), a collective of Asian American and Asian diasporic identifying artists, has frequently called for Chu’s removal from the board, citing the developer and his family’s contributions to gentrification. Luxury real estate developer Jonathan Chu owns the 50 Bowery Hotel directly adjacent to Jing Fong and is co-chair of the Board of Directors at the local Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA).

The Chu name is well-known in the neighborhood. Demonstrators held handmade signs urging for Chinatown’s protection.

Jing fong nyc reservations