Abstract This collection of interviews was started in 2008 and explore the diversity and depth of stories about the neighborhood's change and the force of gentrification as told through the communities residents, workers, and families. The interviewees reminisce about key landmarks in Chinatown from the Music Palace to the Phoenix Poultry Market to the former Jewish Daily Forward Building and how these locales have changed throughout the years. The collected personal histories explore how everyday...

Scope and Contents

Chinatown News was Vancouver's first Chinese News magazine published in English for the Chinese Canadian community. The entire Chinatown News series was published from its establishment in 1948 to 1996. The bulk of the collection consists of 796 paper magazines published between 1954 and 1992.

Abstract Bert Feinberg, native to Brooklyn and long-term resident of New York, describes his experiences in Chinatown and the block often referred to as the Daily Forward block, colloquially named after the Yiddish Daily Forward newspaper. There, Feinberg was employed at a family-owned catering and restaurant business called the Garden Cafeteria. During his time at the Cafeteria between 1949 and 1974, he saw significant demographic changes in the neighborhood. Feinberg initially estimates that the...

Abstract Betty Sze discusses her vague memory of spending her early childhood playing outside of the Grand Machinery Exchange building, which was located on Centre Street. Her father owned a produce wholesale supply company, while her mother worked in factories. In her interview, she describes gentrification in terms of rent-prices consistently rising, developers becoming more aggressive in planning building projects, and entire neighborhoods such as Little Italy, being taken over by Chinese...

Abstract Chris Yeo sits down with MOCA to talk about his experience leaving Singapore and coming to the US where he opened a series of successful restaurants. He explains his journey from opening a salon to becoming a restaurateur and several of the things that he’s learned about cooking for American patrons. He discusses his family and how his cooking stems from a desire to please people. Chris also shares some anecdotes about his experience on Food Network and speaking at the Smithsonian...

Abstract Connie Ling, born in the Philippines and later a resident of Hong Kong during the 1960s, summarizes her experiences emigrating with her husband from Hong Kong to New York in 1967. Ling initially lived and worked in Chinatown, where she found employment as a machine operator in a garment factory. During her ten years working for the garment industry, Ling recalls an influx of Chinese immigrants and substantial growth in industrial businesses. After serving as a factory chairwoman for several...

Abstract Francis Tso moved to the United States from Hong Kong in 1976, and settled two year later in Chinatown. For over thirty years, he and his wife have run a newsstand located on Canal Street that was handed down from Tsos father and leased through the city. Tso portrays Chinatown as a haven for those who do not speak English and, while he says he has seen an increase in business at his stand as a result of development in the area, he also realizes that many non-English speakers are finding it...

Abstract Jason Wang was born in Xi’an, China, and moved to the U.S. when he was eight years old. His father worked at restaurants throughout his time in high school. In 2005, his family started a bubble tea business in Flushing, Queens. Wang went to college and after his first year his father decided to change the shop to sell street food. Xi’an Famous Foods was created. The restaurant focused on street food from Xi’an, China, with recipes honed by Wang’s family. After four years of studying finance,...

Abstract Larry Goodman, today’s owner of his familys corporation Grand Machinery Exchange, Inc., recounts how his first generation Polish grandfather founded the company in 1927. Goodman’s father Jerry and uncle Isidore took control of the business in 1947, and Larry Goodman later succeeded his father in 1983. According to Goodman, Centre Street machinery dealers were predominantly Jewish and were often afraid of non-Jewish “outsiders.” These business men were concerned with gaining respect and...