A Map of Loss

“Remember 傾國傾城 (Café China, Café Blue)?! I can’t believe that they are permanently shutting down! This place has the best flavor in Chinatown which reminds me of home!” Relentlessly complaining about how his favorite Chinese restaurant has announced to shut down because of COVID-19 during the last month of summer, my friend David was even more disappointed when we found out that his two other dim-sum rendezvous were also closed. Resonating with David’s yearning for a taste of China, I started to ponder over the specific reasons behind the restaurant’s closure.

Identifying myself as Asian and specifically Chinese, oftentimes as the potential victim targeted by crimes and assaults during the age of the pandemic, I am deeply concerned with the experience of the Asian community during this special period.

Drawing inspiration from these sources and evidence, I wish to first examine the ‘death’ of these restaurants through the lens of NYC’s local demography. More importantly, by performing an “autopsy” on these evicted businesses, I hope to gain a better understanding of this ongoing crisis of “fear, loss, and struggle” faced by the Asian population through which the solutions for social justice might arise (Maharawal&McElroy 2018: 381). Therefore, I am able to formulate my central question: how to map the disappearance of Asian restaurants in Chinatown/surroundings and how might this archive of loss inform us the impact of COVID on the Asian communities in Manhattan?