Make Open Streets on Canal equitable for the Chinatown community!

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

Read on for full details and action items…

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).

Courtesy of Neighbors on Canal, these photos are just a few examples of the Open Streets program violations by the bars and restaurants on Canal. As Neighbors on Canal stated, “In 2024 under Nialls Fallon’s mismanagement, Canal Open Streets devolved into an out-of-control open-air bar that ran 7 days a week until 11pm. Impromptu block parties and drunken fights would break out, businesses were unable to receive their deliveries and trash service, and ambulance drivers were left to move their own barricades during emergency response.”

Thank you to Neighbors on Canal for leading the community in this issue!

Send a letter of concern before April 4!

Make your voice heard, write to Community Board 3 of your concerns about Open Streets on Canal by noon, Friday April 4. Send your letter to SStetzer@cb.nyc.gov and slachair@cb3manhattan.org and CC programs@thinkchinatown.org and neighborsoncanal@gmail.com in your email, so we can keep track of how many letters have been sent. If you live within a 2-block radius of Canal Street, please emphasize that in your letter. Here’s a template to get you started, please customize the subject line and message as scripted emails will be ignored.

Show up to the April 8 CB3 transport meeting!

Transportation, Public Safety, Sanitation & Environment Committee Meeting (Hybrid)

Tuesday, April 8, 6:30PM
Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center (45 Rivington St), Cellar Level Conference Room
Online:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89756645780
By Phone: +1 646 518 9805, +1 929 205 6099 - Webinar ID:  897 5664 5780

The act of physically showing up to demonstrate that you care about this issue makes a big difference to the Community Board. Whether you speak or not, showing up in person as a united force will make an impact. If you live and/or work within a 2 block radius of Canal Street, we strongly encourage you to attend as the Community Board will especially take your opinions into account. For those who can only attend virtually, we suggest indicating your position in your display name or Zoom background image as you may not be called on to speak.

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Think!Chinatown is here to listen, to respond, and to build Chinatown's capacities as a strong & vibrant immigrant neighborhood of NYC. Our mission is to build inter-generational community through neighborhood engagement, storytelling & the arts. We believe the process of listening, reflecting & celebrating builds the community cohesion and trust necessary to take on larger neighborhood issues. Our aim is to overcome barriers of community organizing where socio-economic factors, language, and cultural barriers create challenges for immigrant communities’ autonomy to make decisions in their own neighborhood. We’ve built Think!Chinatown to push from within our neighborhood to shape better policies and programs that define our public spaces.