NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Mayor Eric Adams launched an initiative on Friday, Lunar New Year's Eve, that will invest $56 million in revitalization efforts to add new public space to Chinatown and ensure the flow of traffic is safer for pedestrians.
The investment, which Adams announced last month at his State of the City address, is dubbed “Chinatown Connections” and aims to improve the neighborhood’s public space by redesigning Park Row and Chatham/Kimlau Square.
Funding is split between city capital funding of $44.3 million and $11.5 million from New York state’s Downtown Revitalization awards, City Hall said.
Adams said that the 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.”
City Hall released a graphic showing the way that Kimlau Square currently functions.
Building off of this, the administration said it will launch a traffic study, in consultation with the Chinatown community, this year to inform the redesign. The study, taking into consideration traffic and future traffic under congestion pricing, will evaluate creating a four-way intersection, and the option of keeping Park Row closed to private cars or reopening it with a redesigned square.
It will also lead into a community engagement process, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 with an anticipated completion in 2029.
Hizzoner also specified that the project will beautify Park Row and make it easier for tourists to get from the base of the Brooklyn Bridge into Chinatown and all its small businesses. Chinatown will also be receiving a new “Welcome Gateway” to “honor this neighborhood’s rich cultural heritage,” Adams said.
In an effort to beautify Park Row, the initiative will implement short-term improvements that will be put in place in 2024 like safety changes, art interventions, new planters and wayfinding and signage, City Hall said. The city will also interact with the community to decide how to use $4 million for permanent improvements.
The creation of the Welcome Gateway will take into account the traffic study, and this month, “the city will convene a community working group of key stakeholders across Chinatown sectors to help guide the entire project design and implementation,” City Hall said. This group will meet over an 18-month engagement process that includes public input.
“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,” Adams said.
At the State of the City, Adams committed $375 million to creating new public spaces, and launched projects such as Chinatown Connections in all five boroughs.