Redesigning the Gateway to Manhattan’s Chinatown

Chinatown Connections will redesign the gateway to Manhattan’s Chinatown into a safe and vibrant space that celebrates the neighborhood’s Chinese heritage, improves multimodal circulation into and around Chinatown, and supports local businesses.

For over 150 years, Manhattan’s Chinatown has been an important home for the Chinese diaspora in New York City and a destination for Chinese Americans all along the Eastern Seaboard. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic had a deep impact on Chinatown, with many businesses experiencing hardship.

In 2022, in response to the acute challenges the neighborhood is facing, the Chinatown neighborhood received $20 million in grant funding from the New York State (NYS) Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) for 11 projects to support the neighborhood’s economic recovery. Local stakeholders identified these 11 projects through the Chinatown Downtown Revitalization Strategic Investment Plan as catalytic investments intended to improve multimodal circulation into and around Chinatown, support local businesses, and celebrate the neighborhood’s rich cultural history.

Improving the Public Realm

Three of the project awards granted to the City of New York propose making public realm improvements around Chinatown’s southern gateway at Chatham Square. These projects represent a combined $11.5 million in funding from DRI. The City of New York and NYS Department of State are combining the three DRI projects into one project known as “Chinatown Connections.” Chinatown Connections merges the $11.5 million DRI award with $44.5 million in City capital to deliver the following public realm improvements:

Reimagining Chatham/Kimlau Square

Chatham/Kimlau Square features a six-point intersection with complex traffic movements; this results in many conflict points, which endanger drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. In consultation with the local Chinatown community, the City will kick off public engagement and a traffic study to reimagine Chatham/Kimlau Square as a standard, four-way intersection with larger public space, shorter pedestrian crossings, and direct bicycle connections.

Beautifying the Park Row Connection to Chinatown

Park Row is a critical walking and biking route connecting Lower Manhattan, Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the new public space at the Brooklyn Bridge Arches. The City will launch a Street Improvement Project on the Park Row connection to Chinatown, between Frankfort Street and Chatham/Kimlau Square. In consultation with the local community, the city will implement improvements to upgrade the walking and biking experience into Chinatown, including safety enhancements, art interventions, new planters, and additional wayfinding and signage.

Creating a Chinatown Welcome Gateway

Chinatown Connections aims to celebrate the cultural heritage of Chinatown by creating a Chinatown Welcome Gateway. This is a piece of public art meant to reflect a longstanding community desire for an iconic symbol that demarcates a key entrance to Chinatown. The Welcome Gateway will be located in a redesigned Kimlau Square and will coexist with two monuments in Kimlau Square: The Kimlau War Memorial Arch and The Lin Ze Xu Statue. It should do so in a respectful and harmonious way to acknowledge this public space serves many local communities and is a highly traversed node in Chinatown.

As part of the Chinatown Connections Working Group, the Welcome Gateway Subgroup focused on providing valuable feedback and guidance to craft a Chinatown Welcome Gateway Design Brief. The brief outlines the principles, purpose, role, and impact the Welcome Gateway should ultimately embody and accomplish.