“Happy Lunar New Year!”. At Kimlau Square, between Chatham Square & East Broadway, Mayor Eric Adams launched “Chinatown Connections”, an investment to rethink and redesign Park Row and Chatham Square improving Chinatown public spaces. New pedestrian-friendly areas and substitutive road rules to manage traffic will be implemented to make the neighborhood more safe and friendly for both locals and tourists, as it is one of the most popular and atmospheric places to visit.
“For far too long, Chinatown residents, neighbors, and tourists alike had to deal with confined public spaces and dangerous intersections at Chatham/Kimlau Square, but those days are coming to a close. This investment will allow us to reimagine the square with shortened street crossings, more public space, simpler intersections, and direct cyclist connections — making our streets even safer for all New Yorkers to share,” said Mayor Adams, among the red and gold banners hung from house to house to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.
Overall, “Chinatown Connections” project amounts to $56 million, funded by both the city–providing $44.3 million– and New York State–through $11.5 million from New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative awards.
Currently, Chatham/Kimlau Square is a five-point intersection with conflicting traffic movements, complex to cross both for drivers and pedestrians. It is a crucial point in Manhattan’s road system. Thanks to “Chinatown Connections”, the administration will study a way to make it a standard, four-way intersection, adding more public spaces, with brand-new branches and trees, shorter and safer pedestrian crossings and directly connected and well-marked bike paths. When the theoretical part is finished, Adams’ administration will begin working in real life. The construction kick-off is scheduled for 2027 and its end is estimated to come in 2029.
Mayor Adams, together with Ya-Ting Liu, the city’s first-ever chief public realm officer, originally born in Taiwan but vibrant participant of Chinatown community said, “We’ll beautify Park Row, making it easier for New Yorkers and tourists to get from the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge to Chinatown and all the small businesses here, and we’ll give Chinatown the entrance it deserves with a new Welcome Gateway that honors this neighborhood’s rich cultural heritage. At every step of the way, we will work hand-in-hand with the local Chinatown community so that the project reflects what the community wants and needs from our city”,
