To Prevent Further Gentrification in Chinatown: 20+ Chinese Students Take on the Responsibility of Organizing Chinese Tenants
Title
To Prevent Further Gentrification in Chinatown: 20+ Chinese Students Take on the Responsibility of Organizing Chinese Tenants
Description
This news article documents a community panel discussion on Chinatown gentrification hosted by CAAAV’s Youth Leadership Project. The event featured five of the six candidates running for Lower Manhattan’s City Council District 1 seat and centered on how to prevent further gentrification in Chinatown. CAAAV also announced the creation of the Manhattan Chinatown Tenants Union.
The Youth Leadership Project consists of more than twenty Chinese students whose families recently immigrated to the U.S. from Fujian or Guangdong province. Because many of their parents worked in sweatshops, these students were personally familiar with the cramped, “birdcage-like” living conditions experienced by Chinese immigrant workers. To promote wider understanding of gentrification’s impacts, these students performed original sketches to illustrate how profit-driven landlords used various strategies to harass and evict low-income tenants.
CAAAV’s director Li Lin Di (李凌第) also shared their own lived experiences: at 166 Elizabeth Street, the number of Chinese households dropped from 19 to just 9 within three months, as the landlord used illegal tactics such as shutting off gas service. Due to concerns over immigration status and language barriers, many Chinese immigrant tenants endured these unfair treatments. After minor renovations, the vacated units were rented to higher-income newcomers at three to four times the previous rent.
The Youth Leadership Project consists of more than twenty Chinese students whose families recently immigrated to the U.S. from Fujian or Guangdong province. Because many of their parents worked in sweatshops, these students were personally familiar with the cramped, “birdcage-like” living conditions experienced by Chinese immigrant workers. To promote wider understanding of gentrification’s impacts, these students performed original sketches to illustrate how profit-driven landlords used various strategies to harass and evict low-income tenants.
CAAAV’s director Li Lin Di (李凌第) also shared their own lived experiences: at 166 Elizabeth Street, the number of Chinese households dropped from 19 to just 9 within three months, as the landlord used illegal tactics such as shutting off gas service. Due to concerns over immigration status and language barriers, many Chinese immigrant tenants endured these unfair treatments. After minor renovations, the vacated units were rented to higher-income newcomers at three to four times the previous rent.
Creator
The China Press/QiaoBao (侨报)
Date
August 20, 2001
Contributor
Source: The China Press/QiaoBao (侨报)
Digitized by: Shutong Wu
Catalogued and Translated by: Laine Yu-Jing
Digitized by: Shutong Wu
Catalogued and Translated by: Laine Yu-Jing
Format
Newspaper
Identifier
newsarticle_2001.8.20_China Press
Citation
The China Press/QiaoBao (侨报), “To Prevent Further Gentrification in Chinatown: 20+ Chinese Students Take on the Responsibility of Organizing Chinese Tenants,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed July 13, 2026, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2572.