San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced plans for a new sober living facility; the Chinatown community feels blindsided by the news.
Kathy Fang, owner of House of Nanking keeps up with the Chinatown current events. But, this proposed plan was a surprise.
Like many, Fang found out through the newspaper in early February.
“We were a little shocked because it is literally two doors down from us,” Fang said.
Merchants, like Fang, worry how this might affect their businesses.
LATEST STORIES
“It’s mind-boggling and baffling to put something there that could have detrimental impacts and perhaps even kill this iconic place,” Fang said.
Mayor Breed broke the news amidst Lunar New Year celebrations at Hotel North Beach earlier this month. The hotel would be transformed into a facility housing 150 recovering addicts, The San Francisco Standard reports.
“It couldn’t have happened at a worse time, in the middle of Chinese New Year,” the Chairperson for the Chinatown Merchant’s Association, Eva Lee said. “I was alarmed. It was a little unsettling.”
“Chinatown is suffering already. We’ve been through the pandemic, the lack of tourism, the anti-Asian hate,” Lee added. “We don’t need this right now.”
Many merchants felt surprised by the news.
Storeowner Nany Yu said, “How come we didn’t hear anything from anyone?”
Even after meeting with the mayor on Tuesday to learn about the proposal, merchants still have many questions.
“We don’t know exactly what kind of program it is. It’s the first of its kind in the nation according to what they say,” Yu said.
KRON4 reported others sharing similar frustrations about feeling excluded from the idea.
“I think what could be improved is really the communication between our neighborhood and the city and for a city to have better methods of reaching out,” business owner, Cynthia Huey said.
Many residents understand the need for such a facility but think that other locations should be considered.
Chinatown houses many tourist attractions and nightlife. Small business owners question the practicality
The facility would be just doors down from both a bar and a liquor store, ABC7 reported.
After the meeting on Tuesday and the subsequent community outrage, the mayor said she would delay the decision.
The mayor’s office made a statement.
“The city is committed to continuing to invest in efforts to support people in recovery and save lives. There is still a lot of community outreach and consideration that must be done before a final decision is made on this particular proposed facility, and there are alternatives as to how we can collaborate to support our community.”
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
