INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER
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March 1, 2017 – March 14, 2017 — 1
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FREE EST. 1974—SEATTLE VOLUME 44, NUMBER 5 — March 1, 2017 – March 14, 2017 THE NEWSPAPER OF THE NORTHWEST ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITIES. FIND YOUR INSPIRASIAN.
CID business advocates call for temporary halt on large events following Womxn’s March By Chetanya Robinson IE Staff Writer Following the Womxn’s March in January, some business advocates in the Chinatown International District are calling for a temporary halt on large events in the neighborhood because of how the march affected local businesses. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people filled the streets for the Womxn’s March on January 21. Starting at Judkins Park in the Central District and ending at Seattle Center, the route took the sea of marchers through Jackson Street, the main arterial cutting through the neighborhoods of Little Saigon, Chinatown, and Japantown in the International District. Organizers of the march didn’t foresee the consequences of this route. The timing of the march was a rebuke to the inauguration of Donald Trump the day before. But likely unknown to most marchers, it also fell on the weekend before the Lunar New Year, the largest annual holiday celebrated in the neighborhood. For many businesses in the CID, the Saturday of the
The Womxn’s March passes through Little Saigon on January 21, 2017. • File Photo
Womxn’s March was the biggest shopping day of the year—the equivalent of Black Friday. With Jackson and King streets blocked off, and the streets and sidewalks filled with marchers, many customers and employees couldn’t get to the neighborhood to park or shop. “Many businesses, especially grocery stores and restaurants in Little Saigon, were greatly affected as their loyal customers
were unable to access the stores,” according to Jessa Timmer, executive director of Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA), in an email to the International Examiner. “Many saw huge revenue drops that day in comparison to previous years.” Viet Wah, a major Vietnamese grocery store in Little Saigon, was one of the businesses affected. “None of our inventory was moving because no one was able to get to our store to shop,” said Leeching Tran, Viet Wah vice president. “We lost about 60 percent of our sales that day compared to the typical Saturday before new year. Pretty major.” It is usually Viet Wah’s biggest shopping day of the year, said Tran. To prepare for the Lunar New Year holiday, many of Viet Wah’s customers drive to the neighborhood to buy groceries, decorations for the home and gifts, from an inventory Viet Wah orders months in advance, Tran said. Because it’s the largest Vietnamese specialty grocery store in the western Washington area, customers come from as far as Bellingham and Olympia.
Saturdays are also the busiest days for Lam’s Seafood Market, especially the one before Lunar New Year, according to employee David Tran. But because of the march, business was slower than usual, and the market lost 50 percent of its sales. “It was just terrible,” Tran said. Employees of the market couldn’t get to work because of traffic, because the roads that would allow them to get to the parking lot were closed off. Not all businesses in the neighborhood were hurt that day. Momo, a gift shop in Japantown on the corner of 6th and Jackson Street, had a business day twice as profitable as a normal Saturday, to the surprise of Momo co-founder Lei Ann Shiramizu. “We had people that didn’t know about us, discover us.” As Shiramizu pointed out, Momo’s location might have helped; it was impossible for marchers to miss it. While Momo found some new customers, Shiramizu said the march probably discouraged some of the store’s regulars. “If I was a store that was MARCH: Continued on page 8 . . .
Navigation Center: Engagement, safety at forefront of concerns surrounding new homeless shelter By Lyra Fontaine IE Contributor
City of Seattle representatives, Ben Han with the Department of Neighborhoods and Jess Chow with the Human Services With the Seattle Navigation Center Department, heard questions and shelter scheduled to open in Little Saigon concerns. this year, city officials hope to transition “We hope you can pause it until you can homeless people off the streets and into address all of our community needs as permanent housing. However, community members are calling for a clearer plan, well as only open when you are actually transparent community engagement, sure that everything is secure,” said and city-allocated resources to address Quynh Pham, Friends of Little Saigon board chair. “I want the center to be impacts on the neighborhood. very planned out and the community is More than 30 people gathered at a engaged and knows what’s happening public safety meeting hosted by Seattle before it opens.” Chinatown International District PresLocal business owner and Friends of ervation and Development Authority Little Saigon member Tam Nguyen said (SCIDpda) on February 21. Many voiced the community supports city efforts to frustrations about the City’s lack of prior help the homeless. communication and concerns about the potential effects of the shelter on the CID “We want to understand the whole community. logistics and plan so we can be part of
the solution,” Nguyen said. “We need the City to talk to us from the very beginning. How do we work as partners, instead of being put on the sidelines?”
community, hear from the community regarding their concerns and needs, and allocate the required resources to mitigate safety, health and financial impacts from A letter dated February 20 to city the Navigation Center. officials requesting a pause on the project was signed by Friends of Little Filling a gap Saigon, Helping Link, Summit Sierra On February 8, the Office of Mayor Public School, Viet Wah Supermarket, Ed Murray announced the center would Asian Plaza Redevelopment, Vietnamese be located at the Pearl Warren building American Community of Seattle & Sno- at 606 12th Ave. S. and would open to King County, and Tet In Seattle. a limited number of people this spring. The organizations called the decision While the facility is being completed, the to locate the center in Little Saigon City plans to provide similar services at without prior engagement “disrespectful, temporary sites. short-sighted, and antithetical to the The center fills a gap in the city’s shelter values of racial equity that we expect types, as it would be a 24-hour, lowfrom a ‘Sanctuary City.’” The letter barrier shelter that connects homeless requested a hiatus on the project until city individuals to services and helps them officials create an inclusive community engagement plan with the Little Saigon NAVIGATION: Continued on page 5 . . .