Protestors in front of the Museum of Chinese in America at its reopening Photo: Youth Against Displacement @YADArmy1 via Twitter
A crowd of demonstrators rallied in front of New York’s Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) yesterday. They were protesting what they see as the institution’s support of a jail expansion plan and to denounce the board’s co-chair Jonathan Chu, a landlord blamed for the gentrification of Chinatown and for the closure of two unionised restaurants in the neighbourhood.
Earlier this year, an exhibition focusing on the art collective Godzilla was cancelled after several members withdrew from the show, stating that the museum had supported the construction of a new jail in Chinatown when it accepted a $35m concession from the city. The concession is part of a community give-back programme for neighbourhoods affected by the construction of new jails after the planned closure of the Rikers Island prison complex.