New York Chinatown: Fighting for Equity after Sept. 11th

by Tracker
11/4 /02

One year after the 9/11 attacks, New York Chinatown continues to struggle to recover. Workers have lost jobs and have been unable to find new ones. Business is down, and the capitalist social structure questions whether the community deserves aid.

Economic and Other Impacts
The 9/11 attacks brought traffic in Chinatown, which is normally grid-locked, to a halt. This crippled business dependent on this traffic - restaurants, garment shops, tourist services, and grocery stores. According to a study by the Asian American Federation of New York, even one year after, 15% of garment shops, about 40 shops, have permanently closed. The shops closing are the smaller ones without long term or large contracts. Other retail businesses reported drops in business from 30 to 70% three months after.

The UNITE garmet workers union has lost 5,000 members, about half its membership. Restaurants, which had significant business with World Trade Center firms, have also closed. In all, about 7600 workers were laid off and 24,000 were affected both short and long term..

People are unsure about long term health impacts, respiratory and post-traumatic stress illnesses. There is no effort to comprehensively investigate them. The prevailing winds blew the debris from the World Trade Center toward Chinatown.

Fighting for Equity 2: Demanding Notice