Advocates rally to preserve DC’s Chinatown amid business closures

Activists push to protect DC?s Chinatown

Community members and activists are staging a rally Tuesday to try and save businesses in D.C.?s Chinatown neighborhood, calling for stronger preservation efforts as redevelopment advances in the neighborhood.

WASHINGTON - Community members and activists held a rally Tuesday to try and save businesses in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood, calling for stronger preservation efforts as redevelopment advances in the neighborhood.

The "Stand Up for Chinatown" rally comes in response to the recent closures of two long-standing businesses, including Full Kee Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant that operated for 40 years, and Gao Ya Hair Salon. The sites are being cleared to make way for a $75 million hotel project.

Chinatown businesses close

Organizers from the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network argue that symbolic gestures like Chinese characters on buildings are not enough to preserve the area's cultural identity. They are urging the D.C. Council to approve budget measures aimed at protecting the community from what they describe as the government’s decades-long prioritization of luxury development over community preservation.

READ MORE: Chinatown on the 'brink of erasure,' says group as two legacy businesses close for $75M hotel

Community pushes back

"It's not just about a restaurant and a hair salon, it's about community and institutions that serve the community and the remaining residents in Chinatown," said Cassie He, a member of the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network.

While some activists say the business owners had no choice but to shut down, FOX 5 reports that one owner expressed support for the redevelopment in a letter to a D.C. zoning board, saying he chose to close in order to spend more time with his family.