Statement in response to the building permits filed for 265 Cherry Street

Dear friends and neighbors,

You may have heard that the developers recently filed permits for their illegal proposed luxury megatower at 265 Cherry Street, near the waterfront in Two Bridges. We are furious that the City is continuing to steamroll over the will of the community, despite receiving 5000 signatures from our neighbors opposing this illegal development. We see clearly how our elected officials like Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Johnson and Council Member Chin sacrificed our community to luxury developers when they refused to pass the Chinatown Working Group Plan, a community-led rezoning plan that would protect our whole neighborhood from displacement. Despite the City’s best efforts, the fight to protect our communities against luxury development and displacement is stronger than ever and continues to grow. Over the last few years, thousands of residents, workers and small business owners across Chinatown and the Lower East Side have come together to demand the passage of the Chinatown Working Group Plan to protect all of Chinatown and the Lower East Side, rejecting the divisive tactics our elected officials have used to try to weaken us. 

Democratic City Council Candidate Christopher Marte’s decisive win in the June 2021 primary race shows that our communities are fed up with the status quo of the City’s displacement agenda. Marte ran in full support of the entire Chinatown Working Group Plan, recognizing that Chinatown and the Lower East Side will not settle for crumbs, nor will we sell each other out while the City works with developers to destroy our communities. We will not accept anything less than passing the FULL Chinatown Working Group Plan, to ensure that not a single neighbor – from the East River to the Bowery to the Chinatown Core is left unprotected.  

Once more, we have taken to the streets – on September 26th, hundreds marched through Chinatown demanding an end to the racist violence of displacement. In the past month, over three thousand community members have signed our petition–online and in the street–calling for the full CWG plan.

  • If you have not done so already, please sign and share the petition here, and join us in the streets to collect signatures in person.
  • Vote for Christopher Marte in the general election. Early Voting begins on Saturday, October 23rd and Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd; you can find your poll site info here.
  • Come to Christopher Marte’s General Election campaign barnstorm this Sunday, October 18th at 10:30am at Forsyth Plaza (Forsyth and Canal Streets, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge) to learn how to get involved in these last few crucial weeks before the election!

Let’s not fall for the same old tricks that the city always uses to divide us – we stand united in our demand for the passage of the Chinatown Working Group Plan and an end to luxury overdevelopment and displacement!

– The Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the LES