During the peak of the pandemic, NYC Dept. of Transportation’s (DoT) Open Streets program was an effective temporary solution to enliven the streets. However, without proper regulation and oversight, this well-meaning city policy has now come to endanger the Chinatown community. We are concerned about the privatization of our public realm where large hospitality groups and restaurateurs exploit a pandemic response program to maximize profit at the expense of the Chinatown community. Without proper regulations, DoT’s policy has unwittingly become a channel for rapid gentrification in Chinatown.

We call on the City to right-size the Open Street program and enforce fair use. We also call on participating restaurants to be good neighbors and stewards to ensure that our streets are truly for all.

Tell CB3 about your concerns about the inequitable impacts of the Open Street program in Chinatown:

• [Friday, April 4] Deadline to submit a letter to CB3
• [Tuesday, April 8] Attend the CB3 Transport meeting

The abuse of the Open Streets program on Canal St has had a negative impact on the community. Since 2020, Open Streets on Canal has led to a sharp increase in undesirable and disruptive behaviors in our primarily low-income residential area, including but not limited to public intoxication, public urination, increased littering, massive uncontrollable crowds at all times of day and late into the night, major noise pollution, increase in rodents, increased graffiti, increased public smoking, illegally parked cars, bar and restaurant violations and more. While the Open Streets program intends to transform “streets to public space open to all”, a select group of large hospitality groups and restaurateurs on Canal have instead transformed two blocks of the street into an unrecognizable and alienating space that no longer serves our local community. As Neighbors on Canal put it, “300 private seats in a public space is a corporate takeover of a program meant to serve a public good.” The privatization of public space and related disruptive behaviors have given the Chinatown community good reason to fear accelerating gentrification and displacement of longtime businesses and working class, immigrant families.

The responsibilities laid out by the Open Streets program have not been fulfilled by participating restaurants. The Open Streets permit on Canal St is held by Cervo’s co-owner Nialls Fallon.

Alongside complaints by other Chinatown residents and business owners, Think!Chinatown can personally attest to the aggressive private takeover of public space in the past five years as a result of the Open Streets program. As our community space is on the corner of Pike and Division, we have witnessed the rapid gentrification of the eastern side of Chinatown and the pushing out of small Mom & Pop businesses for trendy bars and restaurants that come from the world of large hospitality groups (e.g. Le Dive, Cervo’s, Parcelle).