Editing Chinatown, Manhattan (section)

====Current status as Chinese shopping business district====
Despite the area's gentrification, it is still a popular Chinese commercial shopping district, frequented by residents of the [[New York metropolitan area]] as well as tourists. In addition, high-income professionals are moving into the area and patronizing Chinese businesses.<ref name="macaulay.cuny.edu"/> However, commercial activity is not concentrated evenly through Chinatown. The western half of Chinatown (the original Cantonese Chinatown), known as [[Mott Street|Little Hong Kong/Guangdong]], is still relatively active. However, the eastern/southern part of Chinatown, known as [[Little Fuzhou]], has become primarily residential, and thus, the most primarily affected by the decline in business. Businesses in Little Fuzhou may be affected by the spread of gentrification from the nearby [[Lower East Side]] and [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]].<ref name="macaulay.cuny.edu">{{Cite web | url=https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/genyc/2018/05/10/a-tale-of-two-chinatowns/ | title=A Tale of Two Chinatowns – Gentrification in NYC &#124; Rosenberg 2018 | access-date=April 11, 2019 | archive-date=January 19, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119193235/https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/genyc/2018/05/10/a-tale-of-two-chinatowns/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://voicesofny.org/2018/07/the-decline-of-east-broadway/ | title=– the Decline of East Broadway? | access-date=August 13, 2019 | archive-date=May 27, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527134505/https://voicesofny.org/2018/07/the-decline-of-east-broadway/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2016, the oldest continuously run business in Manhattan's Chinatown was up for sale: [[Wing on Wo and Co]], established in 1890. The building was worth around $10 million, including six stories and a store front, one of the only buildings left of its kind in the area. [[Mei Lum]], a grandchild of the original owner, stepped in before the sale and took over the business to preserve its history and position within the neighborhood, to "regenerate, encourage and protect" Chinatown's culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vadukul |first=Alex |date=October 7, 2016 |title=On Brink of Sale, Family Shop in Chinatown Stays in Family |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/nyregion/family-shop-in-chinatown-stays-in-family-wing-on-wo-co.html |access-date=July 1, 2022 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022911/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/nyregion/family-shop-in-chinatown-stays-in-family-wing-on-wo-co.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Lum started the "W.O.W. Project", which hopes to "preserve Chinatown's creative scene through art and activism".<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 20, 2018|title=W.O.W. Project Shares Stories of Resilience in Chinatown Open Mic Night|url=https://bedfordandbowery.com/2018/07/w-o-w-project-shares-stories-of-resilience-in-chinatown-open-mic-night/|access-date=December 2, 2020|website=Bedford + Bowery|language=en-US|archive-date=October 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022233514/https://bedfordandbowery.com/2018/07/w-o-w-project-shares-stories-of-resilience-in-chinatown-open-mic-night/|url-status=live}}</ref> Events such as Open Mic nights and exhibitions would start conversations about this neighborhood's past and the people that have lived there.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Vadukul|first=Alex|date=October 7, 2016|title=On Brink of Sale, Family Shop in Chinatown Stays in Family|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/nyregion/family-shop-in-chinatown-stays-in-family-wing-on-wo-co.html|access-date=December 2, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022911/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/nyregion/family-shop-in-chinatown-stays-in-family-wing-on-wo-co.html|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, in February 2020, the W.O.W. Project exhibited ethnographic research and oral history interviews that highlighted stories of migration, displacement, and everyday resilience in Chinatowns all over the world.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Public Programs|url=https://www.wingonwoand.co/programs|access-date=December 4, 2020|website=Wing on Wo & Co.|language=en-US|archive-date=October 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013015428/https://www.wingonwoand.co/programs|url-status=dead}}</ref> In response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in New York City]], the W.O.W. Project started a project called Love Letters to Chinatown.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Love Letters to Chinatown|url=https://www.wingonwoand.co/love-letters-to-chinatown|access-date=December 4, 2020|website=Wing on Wo & Co.|language=en-US|archive-date=October 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021165923/https://www.wingonwoand.co/love-letters-to-chinatown|url-status=dead}}</ref>