Why ACB?

The ACB project is dedicated to creating an 'archive of loss' to commemorate Chinatown micro-businesses in NYC that suffered from the influence of the pandemic.

"Only the forgotten are truly dead."
— Tess Gerritsen

As the metropolitan that gathers the finest global cuisine, the vibrant restaurant culture in New York City has always been a significant contributor to its local hustle-bustle.

However, since the night on March 16, 2020, when Andrew Cuomo mandated the tri-state shutdown of indoor dining, the city’s bar and restaurant community has faced unprecedented struggle.

According to the dedicated restaurant haunter website and media organizations based in local New York, ever since the enactment of the policy, more than 1,000 local restaurants have been driven out of business; many of which has been Asian restaurants.

Analysis & Result

According to my in-depth online research, I was first able to identify the names of a total of sixty-two Asian restaurants around areas...

Methodology & Data Collection

Through analyzing and mapping out the data obtained from official reports and open census data using tools in ArcMap(e.g., interactive...

Implications & Photography

Indeed, passing by the omnipresent closing restaurants around Chinatown as shown in the scrapped pieces of photography I have taken in...

How to help?

AS CONSUMERS...

The most simple way is to...
Go EAT in these restaurants, support/appreciate their food.
Check out bloggers/authors such as
- Grace Young and her documentary series
- Yuh-Line Niou and her secret lis

As PRODUCERS/

PROFESSIONALS...

A list of professional organizations to reach out:

The LIST continues...

Do you know any restaurants in struggle?
Try applying for Grant Programs Resources.

Through the process of researching the restaurants in Chinatown, I worked in partnership with the consultants at the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

Aside from learning about their efforts in helping micro-businesses to revitalize their operations, I was fortunate to help them with composing a Grant Programs Resource Guide for small business owners.

The document contains a long list of funds provided by public/private/startup companies with the aim of supporting small businesses to recover from the loss of the pandemic.

While working with Harry, a consultant at MCC. I took the initiative of making a Chinese version of the document so that the elderly Chinese owners of restaurants may use the file that I made as guidance.

Click on the buttons below to access the files.