Boston’s first Urban Renewal Project, bulldozing the New York Streets neighborhood, resulted in decades of injustice for Chinatown and other working class neighborhoods, particularly communities of color and immigrants.
After more than three hundred buildings were razed, Chinatown’s land was turned over to construction of the Central Artery in 1954 (“Interstate 93”) and the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension in 1963 (“Interstate 90”), truncating a vibrant family neighborhood at its southern and eastern ends. Throughout highway construction, institutional expansion, then downtown revitalization, the sacrifice of immigrant neighborhoods and communities of color to the greater goal of urban economic progress is a theme that continues to shape our pursuit of equity today.
This is the story of how thousands of lives were upended by deliberate federal and local policies. This is why we had no Chinatown Library for more than 60 years, why the neighborhood is a paved-over heat island, why brick row houses sank with the groundwater levels, why generations of children grew up playing in rubble, in parking lots, and in needle and condom-strewn alleys. This is the story behind gridlocked traffic, pedestrian tragedies, overcrowded housing, and the highest level of particulate air pollution in the state.
So, the announcement of a $1.8 million federal Reconnecting Communities grant, for Boston to explore reknitting community fabric with a signature open space on Mass Pike air rights, was a real cause for celebration in Chinatown. Community leaders, who supported Boston’s Transportation Department in this bid, point to other signs of progress as well. A misting station provides relief when the renovated Auntie Kay and Uncle Frank Chin Park by the Chinatown Gate reaches temperatures as much as 10 degrees hotter than elsewhere in the city. The inaugural installation of Hudson Street Stoop at One Greenway Park in 2021 provided much needed activation and outdoor gathering place for residents during the pandemic. Tiny Tai Tung Park got a makeover a number of years back, and the installation of tables and seating in Phillips Square, where Chauncy Street and Harrison Avenue meet, became even more important to Chinatown’s restaurants when the pandemic hit and business relied heavily on take-out meals.
Still, compared to Boston residents as a whole, Chinatown has only 10% tree canopy, and the downtown area has 2.17 acres of open space per 1,000 residents as compared to 7.59 acres per 1,000 residents citywide. The only public recreational open space, Reggie Wong Memorial Park, is an asphalt court between highway ramps that lay neglected by either city or state government for many years, prompting a small band of local community members to step up with plans to take over its care. Chinatown has no actual green space except the One Greenway Park on Hudson Street and a gated area owned by Tufts University.
Chinatown cannot wait for improved access to green space. Local officials must also take action now to design an improved green space at Phillips Square, increase street planting, protect and improve the future of Reggie Wong Park, offer public access to green spaces at the Josiah Quincy Upper School and on the elementary school’s rooftop, and work with the community on planning for a park near the future Chinatown Library.
Our experience with COVID-19 has underscored the importance of public open space for our mental, physical, and emotional health. This year, eight community organizations are coming together under the banner of Chinatown HOPE, supported by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, to organize gardening brigades and wellness programs in order to activate open space, build resident leadership, and to continue the call for new and improved open spaces laid out in city and community plans for years.
As we continue to reckon with our city’s long history of racial injustices, local officials, institutions, and community members can take action today to achieve real milestones for environmental justice as Chinatown grapples with the extreme heat, drought, flooding, air pollution, traffic, and overcrowding that are part of our historic legacy.
Angie Liou, Asian Community Development Corporation
Lydia Lowe, Chinatown Community Land Trust
Debbie Ho, Chinatown Main Street
Karen Chen, Chinese Progressive Association Ben Hires, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
