Members of the Godzilla collective, ca. 1990. Courtesy Godzilla.
The Museum of Chinese in America in New York has called off an exhibition focusing on a 1990s Asian American art collective after the majority of the participating artists withdrew.
The 19 artists, who were members of the group Godzilla, oppose the museum’s acceptance of $35 million in city funds, which they say suggests its complicity in the construction of a new jail in Chinatown that is part of Mayor Bill De Blasio’s plan to close the notorious Rikers Island jail.
Among the signatories to the letter are Byron Kim, Paul Pfeiffer, and Lynne Yamamoto.
March 11, 2021 at 3:00pm
New York’s Museum of Chinese in America has canceled an exhibition of work by pioneering artist collective Godzilla: Asian American Arts Network after nineteen of the group’s members withdrew in protest of what they contend is the museum’s support for a large new jail in Chinatown, where the institution is located. The exhibition, “Godzilla vs. the Art World: 1990–2001,” was to open in May focusing on the efforts of the collective over the 12-year span of its existence, during which it published a newsletter, organized “slide slams,” and sponsored symposiums on Asian American art in an effort to elevate its presence on the national art scene and to foster intergenerational and interdisciplinary collaboration on a more local scale.
The Uncertain Recovery of Manhattanâs Chinatown
Alternate-side parking: In effect until March 28 (Passover).
Image
Credit.Andrew Seng for The New York Times
Jenny Wu, 28, planned to have her wedding banquet next year at Jing Fong, the largest restaurant in Chinatown.
For many, the dim sum palace was the prime spot to hold weddings, birthdays, graduations and reunions. But that is no longer possible: After 28 years in operation, the banquet hall closed down this past Sunday.
The restaurant will continue to offer takeout and some outdoor dining. But Jing Fongâs banquet hall was geographically and symbolically at the heart of Chinatown, and the shutdown underscored the uncertain recovery of one of New Yorkâs most famous immigrant neighborhoods.
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Jing Fong, Manhattan’s largest Chinese restaurant, is dead. When I visited on March 2, the two grand escalators ascending to the third-floor banquet hall were frozen. The restaurant could once seat a thousand people upon red carpet, beneath golden dragons and resplendent chandeliers. But last week only two of its six heaters were working, and next to the dining room’s entrance were just a handful of patrons eating out of takeout containers. After nearly three decades on Elizabeth Street, Jing Fong limped through its final days its dining room closing for good on March 7.
Restaurant Union Calls On Jing Fong Landlords To Keep Banquet Hall Open
arrow Jing Fong banquet hall in pre-pandemic times Nathalie Cone / Flickr
The impending closure of one of Chinatown’s largest and most popular restaurants is more than just a loss to the community, but a financial setback for the many employees who depend on their jobs there and a blow to the local economy, said a representative for the restaurant’s union.
Last month, the owners of Jing Fong banquet hall announced their plans to close March 7th after 49 years, citing the pandemic-driven loss of revenue and the inability to pay rent on its 20 Elizabeth Street lease.