San Francisco s historic Chinatown is at risk of vanishing
Ariana Bindman
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Lanterns along Grant Ave., Chinatown.Kate Beale/ Special to SFGATE
Since lockdown, life has been rather quiet behind the Dragon Gate. Cocktail lounges and cafes have dimmed their neon lights. Red lanterns solemnly sway in the wind; shop doors firmly remain shut. Once a popular tourist destination and beacon for Chinese immigrants, the oldest Chinatown in the United States is now at risk of vanishing due to financial fallout from the pandemic.
The neighborhood is no stranger to hardship. COVID-19 is just one hurdle that the community has faced since it was first established in 1848. For over a century, Chinatown has collectively endured the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Black Plague, bloody turf wars and devastating fires. A potent combination of xenophobia, natural disasters, and corporate interests have relentlessly threatened the neighborhood’s existence. Now, Chinatown’s merchan
S.F. proposes $1.9 million in relief for Chinatown restaurants
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Shuttered businesses line Grant Avenue in S.F.’s Chinatown in August, months into the pandemic.Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle
San Francisco Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Sandra Lee Fewer introduced legislation during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that would pay Chinatown restaurants to cook meals for older adults and families living in single-room-occupancy hotels through Chinatown Community Development Center’s Feed and Fuel program.
“We’re witnessing the potential loss of one of the last intact Chinatowns in the United States . not only to the debilitating economic impacts of COVID, but to what I call the triple threat: COVID, the Central Subway delays that have been going on for years, as well as the fact that Chinatown was actually impacted earlier by COVID than the rest of the city,” Peskin said at the meeting.