Welcome to Chinatown
Welcome to Chinatown (From the Banana Archives: Issue 003)
Words: Kathleen Tso
Photos: An Rong Xu
“Things in Chinatown are slipping away, so we can either let things phase out or we can be proactive about it,” says Sophia Ng, who is running her parent’s empire and NYC’s Chinatown institution, Po Wing Hong. Though the neighborhood has resisted a fast rate of gentrification, allowing Chinatown to maintain its core DNA, change is becoming increasingly inevitable. Today, the neighborhood faces an aging population, less affordable housing for incoming immigrants, and growing appeal for non-Chinese businesses to open up shop. The fate of Chinatown has progressively become a topic of conversation, as neighborhood favorites like the family-owned noodle and rice store Fong Inn Too are shutting down, while trendy bars like Mr. Fong’s are moving in.
We asked Banana 002’s Wilson Tang of Nom Wah, Mr. Chinatown himself, to bring together thought leaders, business owners and creatives who represent the new generation of the neighborhood to discuss Chinatown’s changing landscape. On a late fall afternoon, gathered around dumplings and beef noodle soup at the newly opened Nom Wah Nolita, Banana hosted this roundtable discussion. Wilson invited Evan Leong, director of Linsanity; Sophia Ng, of Po Wing Hong; Phil Chong, developer of Canal Street Market; Calvin Eng, head chef at Nom Wah Nolita; Christopher Wong, co-owner of Breakroom and L.E.S Kitchen; and An Rong Xu, photographer and director, who also photographed the participants.
Wilson’s relationship with the neighborhood wasn’t unlike many others, Chinatown was where the family flocked on weekends for dim sum and groceries, where he played basketball after Chinese school on Sundays and, of course, where he took SAT prep after school. However, the mindset taught to him was to work his way out of the neighborhood—not to grow into the food industry. Wilson disregarded this lesson. Chinatown became a special place to him, a place of nostalgia, where he felt a community, and, ultimately, where he runs his restaurant empire of Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Nom Wah Nolita and Fung Tu. Many Chinese Americans and the individuals featured in this story have a similarly complex relationship with Chinatown. They were raised with the goal of working their way out, yet now this new generation is dead set on staying and attempting to change it.
Evan Leong
As a sixth generation Chinese American, Evan Leong’s roots in America are deep, but his inclination toward Chinatown isn’t any different from someone whose parents immigrated here. Leong is a director and documentary filmmaker best known for his Linsanity about NBA player Jeremy Lin. Currently, Leong is in the midst of directing Snakehead, a drama he wrote about the infamous Sister Ping and the underground world of human smuggling that took place in NYC’s Chinatown. Growing up on the West Coast, his parents made sure to bring him to the Chinatown in San Francisco. But whether in SF or NYC, Chinatown represents the place in America where he doesn’t feel different. “I’m fascinated by Chinatowns everywhere. Chinatown is a community that feels both home and foreign to me. Chinatown is an integral character in my story Snakehead.” What he believes will help protect and preserve the neighborhood’s DNA is to “tell great stories about Chinatown and support great stories about Chinatown.” The changing neighborhood is more of an evolution. “It’s just going to happen, you can’t stop that. We have to just take charge of what we can.”
Sophia Ng
Sophia Ng’s story starts back in Hong Kong, where her dad was a merchant at a trading company. Her parents met while working in the food business, and ultimately moved to New York, where they started Po Wing Hong. Though she grew up in Livingston, NJ, her weekends were spent in Chinatown working at the shop after Chinese school. Sophia has since taken over running Po Wing Hong. She carries on the principles her parents founded the company on—authenticity, quality, fair prices and customer service. Sophia explains that with an aging population in Chinatown, a lot of traditional Chinese medicine knowledge is going with them. “As a store that sells traditional Chinese goods, we hope to teach subsequent generations to prepare and use traditional ingredients,” she says. “It is my vision to make Po Wing Hong not only a retail store for quality traditional Chinese goods but also provide educational resources.” However, Sophia warns that the store must also adapt to stay relevant, as Chinatown and Chinese culture continues to change. To Sophia, it’s up to her to change things up at the store—to modernize and continue to offer quality items and premium packaging. Outside of the store, Sophia follows her father’s footsteps by getting involved in Chinatown’s community. She sits on a few boards including the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, where they aim to provide quality, comprehensive and culturally effective primary health care for the community. “It’s about being present, to not just reap the benefits of Chinatown but to help preserve it,” Sophia says.
Phil Chong
Developer Phil Chong recently joined the board of directors for the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center with Sophia. With one of their facilities on Canal Street, Chong states that he’s “serious about changing this block!” Growing up coming to Chinatown on the weekends, Phil didn’t appreciate the neighborhood until he saw what it meant to his parents: a place where they were really in their element. He even compares his father to being “like the Wilson (Tang) back in the day, because he knew everyone.” In addition to sitting on the health center board, Chong’s most recent project is Canal Street Market, a retail (and soon food) storefront that offers artisanal goods from local vendors, which he sees as a “real opportunity to change the retail dynamic of Canal Street.” “The ultimate goal is to start the shift in how people perceive Canal Street and Chinatown as a whole,” he says, by replacing the “knock-off bags and ‘I Love NY’ T-shirts with a food and retail environment that really speaks to a younger, more New York-centric demographic.” How does Phil believe the new generation in Chinatown will protect their neighborhood? “By doing cool shit, and encouraging others to do cool shit.”
Calvin Eng
As the head chef of Nom Wah Nolita, Calvin Eng contributes to keeping Chinatown thriving by buying locally and supporting small businesses. The neighborhood had always been a hub for shopping and food for Calvin growing up; he reminisces over spending every holiday at his grandma’s tiny apartment with over 40 relatives crammed in. Similar to Wilson, Sophia and Phil’s experiences, Chinatown was almost always a mandatory trip on the weekends. With an aging and changing community, the Johnson & Wales graduate works to keep traditions alive at Nom Wah Nolita, taking recipes he’s learned from his mother and tweaking certain dishes to make them “more palatable to a larger crowd” and his generation. “It’s important for cooks and chefs to understand the basics and the foundation of these dishes and cooking techniques,” says Calvin. He’s making food his own way, and interpreting it in ways that will attract the younger generation to the neighborhood. Though he believes change in the neighborhood is inevitable, he’s supporting local businesses while he still can. “All of these businesses make my life and many other’s lives more convenient and add so much character to Chinatown, so I would hate for them to have to close.”
Christopher Wong
“I know this place like the back of my hand,” Christopher Wong says about Chinatown, Manhattan. The co-owner of L.E.S Kitchen and Breakroom lived in the Smith Projects in Chinatown until he was 18, then moved to James Street. He has no intention of ever leaving his neighborhood. He grew up helping his mom pluck the ends of string beans and chopping garlic. Christopher followed this route into the restaurant business because he “grew up with it.” But why did he choose to serve up burgers and tacos? Because although American food wasn’t an everyday thing in his childhood home, these iconic dishes have become a staple in the Chinese American palate. Christopher says the biggest change he’s seen since his days in the Smith Projects is that former residents have started flocking to Brooklyn or Flushing. Yet as a supporter of the Chinatown BID, active member in Chinatown Cares (C4), and sponsor to youth athletic groups like the Chinatown Athletic Association, EESL Sports and Kreative Kids, Wong does more than give back to the neighborhood he calls home. Wong wants to give kids who are coming to Chinatown after school or on weekends the same experience he and his peers had growing up, coming to the neighborhood for groceries and grabbing dinner at their favorite spot.
An Rong Xu
Photographer and director An Rong Xu has a piece of advice on how to preserve Chinatown: “We have to teach our youth to take pride in their neighborhood and foster a next generation of youngins who want to take care of the neighborhood and love it just as much as I do.” Xu grew up in Chinatown until he was eight years old then moved to Queens, but continued to spend all his free time coming to the neighborhood. Chinatown is a focal and constant character in his work—his series “Chinese Americans” is a journey through Chinese America, and often focuses on Chinatowns across the country. He says the differentiating factor in Manhattan’s Chinatown is that its residents stick around and advocate for the neighborhood. Xu explains: “It’s what helps keep the identity of New York’s Chinatown going. We have younger Chinese Americans reinvesting in the neighborhood, opening up shops and bringing in [new] energy. I see the younger generation of Chinatown taking over, and trying to keep their identity in the neighborhood.”
The collective present at our roundtable that late fall afternoon is that very generation. They’re bringing their talent and passions to the neighborhood and taking pride in being in Chinatown.
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Kathleen Tso (@kathleentso)
An Rong Xu (@anrizzy)
Evan Leong (@arowanafilms)
Sophia Ng (@powinghong)
Phil Chong (@philchong)
Calvin Ng (@calvinhungry)