YADstack #1 - 88 East Broadway, Congestion Pricing, and Palestine
young & young at heart fighting the overdevelopment and displacement of NYC
Welcome to the inaugural Youth Against Displacement newsletter, where we proudly present YADstack! Whether you have known about and/or participated in our picket line for the past two and a half years, or you've just stumbled upon us through our posts, reels, or TikToks, we’re so excited to have you here! Within this digital YADstack, you won't just find updates; you'll discover the beating heart of our fight against displacement and overdevelopment in Chinatown and the Lower East Side —the pulsating energy of young and young-at-heart voices protecting the communities we cherish. Each YADstack amplifies YAD's unwavering commitment to solidarity with fights against displacement and fights to protect Chinatowns across North America. Join us as we mold a future where displacement has no place in our communities!
For our first YADstack, we will be sharing and boosting statements we have written that address critical issues that impact the fabric of Chinatown and the Lower East Side and displacement abroad. Below is an excerpt of each statement and a link to the full statement on our Medium page. Happy reading!
On 88 East Broadway Mall:
After 2 years of picketing in front of MOCA to raise awareness to protect banquet halls like Jing Fong, it’s official: City Council Member Christopher Marte has helped facilitate a deal between Broadway East Group and 318 Restaurant Workers Union to once again open a large dim sum restaurant at East Broadway Mall! In addition, the new restaurant will prioritize the hiring of displaced workers, like those from the former Jing Fong, Joy Luck Palace, and 88 Palace. This community-led revitalization will help workers and small businesses thrive, unlike the destructive “revitalization” promised by mega-landlords and luxury developers like Jonathan Chu, the largest landlord in Chinatown and third generation landlord dynasty… This monumental reopening of a dim sum hall in East Broadway Mall, which can again serve as a cultural nucleus, is a triumph for the Chinatown community which refuses to be displaced, or have what we have worked so hard to build, erased. It shows the power and resilience of the community in the face of sellouts like the Chu family. As the lights to the banquet hall turn back on, so opens a new chapter for the Fujianese community and the entire Chinatown community.
To read our opinion piece on the reopening of 88 Palace, click here.
On Congestion Pricing:
The regressive congestion tax will hurt us, creating an economic barrier dividing the Chinatown community. The cost of coming into Manhattan will further the separation between residents and former neighbors who have been displaced. It will discourage families and friends, seniors and people w/disabilities, and young parents with kids from visiting each other and our favorite shops and restaurants. It will ruin family relations & decrease foot traffic. Yet when we complain to Mayor Adams, instead of fighting for us, he tries to divide us by suggesting exemptions for some groups, but not others. Exemptions can only obscure how we are all dependent on each other, and displacing one of us will displace all of us.
Congestion pricing only adds salt to the wound of the City’s displacement agenda on all of us.
To read our opinion piece on congestion pricing, click here.
On Palestine: Demand the US Government Stop the Violence and Displacement in Palestine
More than just a strategic outpost, the Israeli government also serves the interest of finance and real estate capital with US ties. While expanding their empires in Israel, some of the same big real estate developers have made huge profits from displacement in the US. Extell, for example, built an 80-story luxury tower in the Lower East Side, driving up rent and real estate tax of the surrounding area, and displacing tenants, workers, and small businesses. Extell owns land in Tel Aviv and has been in the Israeli stock exchange since 2014, and recently used the money it made from displacement to purchase land in Jerusalem, extending its displacement scheme.
To read our opinion piece on violence and displacement in Palestine, click here.
Thank you for reading the inaugural YADstack. Please follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok! We hope to see you on the picket line in front of MOCA, 215 Centre St, Thursday through Sunday, 11am to 2pm, rain or shine!
In Solidarity,
Youth Against Displacement