On Sunday, March 15, videographer Dan Ahn and I went into Chinatown to see out how businesses were dealing with the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. Grace began her journey with Dan with these comments: Episode 1: Grace Young introduces Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories The first video, posted below, was recorded at the end of the day with Grace providing context for the events that, she says “shaped the end of Chinatown as we know it.” In the subsequent videos, individual restaurant and business owners speak movingly of the personal toll wrought by the virus on Chinatown’s heart and soul. But the stories they captured on that Sunday provide a moving document of a tragic drama unfolding. With cautions now in place to maintain social distancing, and with the streets of New York eerily empty, it became inadvisable for Grace and Dan to venture to Chinatown and attempt more interviews. The team conducted five heart-wrenching interviews, realizing, as Grace reported, “we were recording and bearing witness to one of the saddest days in Chinatown’s history.” A few hours later that same day, the mayor ordered the shutting of all New York restaurants.
While two restaurants planned to remain open, they were shocked to learn 70 percent had decided to close the following day. But, as the videos posted below demonstrate, Grace and Dan were faced with a rapidly changing situation. She hoped her interviews would inspire diners to patronize Chinatown eateries and shops at this perilous moment. They commenced a one-day shoot on March 15, with a handful of businesses and restaurant owners so that New Yorkers could hear their personal stories.
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Sadly, their efforts had little effect.Īfter Grace posted an Instagram request for a videographer willing to accompany her, Dan Ahn offered his professional skills. Significantly, both Mayor De Blasio in New York, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, made trips into their respective Chinatowns to allay coronavirus concerns. The situation worsened as xenophobic fears caused a large portion of the general public to start avoiding Chinese restaurants. Due to COVID-19, tourism from China had ceased and Chinese locals were already beginning to shelter in place. She immediately suggested going into Chinatown and recording the stories of the mom-and-pop businesses that had been suffering since January. Even with our doors closed, we wanted to continue working with the Chinatown community and asked Grace for ideas. But on March 10, only eleven days after opening, we closed the museum in an effort to halt the spreading contagion. As part of the exhibition-related programming, we had reached out to Grace Young, a Chinese-American and an award-winning author of cookbooks devoted to Chinese cuisine. On February 27, Poster House had opened a show of 20th-century Chinese posters that tells the story of the economic relationship between China and the rest of the world: The Sleeping Giant (curated by Steffi Duarte & Marc H. It seemed a sadly auspicious moment for us to focus on this contemporary tale of unprecedented economic hardship, especially as it related, quite coincidentally, to a current exhibition. In January, one community in particular, New York’s Chinatown, had begun to unravel-at first slowly, then with terrifying speed-as both the virus and a concomitant shunning of Chinese restaurants began to take hold.
During this harrowing time, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages New York and the nation, Poster House is committed to supporting our communities by sharing their stories.
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