Last year, the owners took that mission to the , organized by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District and The , a woman-founded market operator dedicated to promoting equity, sustainability, and small business growth, for the first time. During the month-long event, the book store sold everything from their inventory, and for Young, there was no question they would return this winter. 

“That type of exposure for a small business is unheard of,” Young said. “The market is a tremendous boost for us.”

Before knowing their first year at the market would be a success, Young said they were scared they wouldn’t sell everything or have enough for the entire month. This year is different, she said. 

Over the past year, the business owner spent time budgeting the inventory necessary for the four-week market, in an attempt to not “scurry and try to order something that may take a week to arrive.”

They have gathered data around what was popular, what wasn’t so popular and what customers requested often. Now, Young said, they are ready. 

From Nov. 21 through Dec. 23, Mahogany Books and 114 other vendors, including over 20 first-timers, will take over between 7th and 9th Streets. 

The market is open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. 

Young said many customers who have visited Mahogany Books over the past year have credited the market, adding that she noticed the event’s diversity allows for different cultures and communities to combine and learn more about each other, including Black history. 

“It’s crucial at a time when I feel like so many people’s ideas get isolated,” Young said. “this market, to me, really reflects all the different cultures, all the different values, all the different communities in D.C.”

The Youngs started the online book store in a one-bedroom apartment, hoping to make Black history and stories accessible. But being a business owner doesn’t come without its hurdles. 

Young said many people didn’t believe in their mission, but they decided to mute the “naysayers.” 

The couple commonly heard questions such as “Are people even buying books?” Ramunda’s answer is yes. Mahogany Books’ location at the National Harbor sees 55,000 people a year.

“The proof is in the pudding now,” Young said. “This little Black bookstore is rocking.”

Young said the preparation for the market starts months in advance. 

for vendors interested in participating in the market open between February and March. After that, The Makers Show chooses the 115 vendors who will participate at the market. 

Gerren Price, the CEO of the DowntownDC BID since 2022, said “a mix of different types of vendor options” and ensuring diversity among them are key factors behind the decision making. 

This year, 70% of the market’s vendors will be women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and locally owned. 

The market celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, and Price said it was a reset moment for the event. With a change in the aesthetics, a greater focus on supporting small businesses and the addition of more vendors, the event brings foot traffic to Downtown, an area still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since 2020, fewer people have visited local businesses and restaurants in the area, Price said. Beyond remnants of the pandemic, he said federal layoffs and the 44-day government shutdown also impacted foot traffic in downtown. 

However, the holiday market helps shift that dynamic. Price said the DowntownDC BID did an economic development analysis after the 2024 Holiday Market and found that for every $1 people spend in the market, they tend to spend $1.50 in activities downtown. 

“It’s important that we’re bringing as many people as we can into the downtown core just to support that broader economic infrastructure,” Price said. “So it’s fun and it’s festive, and it’s all about bringing joy, but it’s also dollars and cents and it helps the baseline of the economy in the city.” 

The market broke a record in 2024, with more than 347,000 visitors in 31 days, according to the CEO. He said he expects even higher numbers this year based on previous success and “positive word of mouth.”

For the small female-owned business those numbers make a difference. 

Angelika O’Reilly, owner of Eliana Curated, a jewelry store in Old Town Alexandria, has been a customer at the market from the start. Since opening her business in 2020, one thing was certain: She wanted to have a pop-up in the DowntownDC Holiday Market.

For three years, O’Reilly applied to join the market, with no success. However, things changed in 2024, when the DowntownDC BID partnered with The Makers Show. 

“That was the best thing that ever happened to me,” O’Reilly said. “It was transformative. I can tell you, 30% of our revenue last year came from the DowntownDC Holiday Market.”

O’Reilly was born in Eastern Europe, and when she was 5, her parents made a choice: to move to the U.S. and give their daughter an “American education.” Her interest in entrepreneurship flourished early. 

During her time in middle school and high school, O’Reilly started a “babysitting club” and a driver’s ed school for 16-year-olds. However, she spent 18 years of her adult life in the tech industry before launching Eliana Curated, and she didn’t do it alone. 

The business is a family affair. In 2020, when O’Reilly was pregnant with her first daughter, her parents moved to D.C. to be present for their only daughter and the first granddaughter. But they weren’t ready to retire; they needed a project.  

So, O’Reilly, who wasn’t prepared to leave the tech industry just yet, had an idea in mind: to buy designer brand garments from antique shops, collectors and state sales and “cycle the buttons.” They filled the buttons with 14 karat gold posts and made them into earrings.

O’Reilly said she still remembers the business’s first pop-up in Virginia, when no one bought an item. Her father, who shapes the designs alongside her mother, stayed positive and encouraged O’Reilly to “stay consistent,” she said.

After four years of juggling her job in the tech industry, being a business owner, a wife and a mother of two, O’Reilly said she decided to focus on her business full-time in October of 2024.

“We kept showing up,” O’Reilly said. “Then, we did the DowntownDC Holiday market last year, and it blew up.” 

Since then, the business owner has opened a physical store in Old Town Alexandria, where she said many tourists and locals who stop by credit the holiday market for introducing them to Eliana Curated for the first time. 

For the store’s second year in the event, O’Reilly said customers expect a new line of waterproof jewelry and new vintage designer buttons. But for her, what she looks forward to the most is connecting with new customers.

“What I love about being a woman-run business is getting to meet all of you in person and like having new relationships,” O’Reilly said. “I feel like I have 100 new friends that I make every single month.”

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In October, the company announced a seven-year deal with Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., making the pharmaceutical a major sponsor at the arena. Under the agreement, Vanda received naming rights to the arena’s new in-house production facilities, now called Vanda Pharmaceuticals Studios. 

In a joint statement with Vanda, MSE CEO Ted Leonsis said the partnership reflects a shared ambition to tell “bigger stories, reach wider audiences and uplift the D.C. community.”

The announcement came as phase one of the Capital One Arena redevelopment is nearing completion and phase two, which focused on locker rooms, lounges and premium fan areas, also is ending. 

Vanda is the project’s second founding partner, following a multiyear deal with United Airlines. The United deal includes branding and integration opportunities with the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals, WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Capital One Arena and Monumental Sports Network.

MSE is looking to secure as many as 10 founding partners, which would involve team-controlled media, community outreach programs and advertising.

MSE did not respond to requests for comment. 

Community impact minimal so far

Chinatown ANC Commissioner Thomas Lee said phase one brought little disruption to the surrounding Chinatown community.

The initial stage of construction mainly focused on interior upgrades, with minimal work on the building’s exterior. Aside from temporary fencing, a few dumpsters on Sixth Street and the short-term closure of the Metro stop entrances over the summer, Lee said most nearby businesses have been unaffected. 

Lee said the next phases will include exterior improvements and expanded work zones and will likely be more visible to the community. However, he said, for now, he sees the light footprint of phase one as a positive sign that the redevelopment has been well-managed. 

While the first stage caused little neighborhood disruption, Lee said he hopes the city will use this moment to address lingering issues with the surrounding streetscape and public spaces. 

He said his constituents have complained about cracked brick sidewalks, lights not working and overflowing trash bins, adding that those need attention. 

 As the project develops, the commissioner said he would like for the city to combine the “immense investment” in the arena with improvements to downtown infrastructure and public safety. 

“If we were to combine all three, we will then see a huge return to when people were attracted to downtown,” Lee said. 

Winston Lord, co-leader of the new phase of Chinatown’s Task Force, said the community has expressed “historical skepticism” about whether the redevelopment and renovations can work.  Some of those concerns, Lord said, are related to possible gentrification in the area and wanting to make sure the amount of money invested in the project is proportional to its changes.

However, Lord said MSE has been engaged with the Chinatown community to address concerns and fears about gentrification and loss of local culture. 

“It’s still early, but all the key players, as far as I can tell, are all rowing in the same direction, which is hugely optimistic,” Lord said. 

Lord, founder of Lord Advisory, a strategic advisory firm in D.C., is one of the co-leaders for the successor to the Gallery-Place Chinatown Task Force, an 18-month task force created by Mayor Muriel Bowser to address the future of Capitol One Arena and its neighboring areas. 

Lord and Tim Ma, a restaurant owner in D.C., who do not have governmental authority, were asked earlier this year to continue the task force’s work. The D.C. Council approved $250,000 as part of Bowser’s fiscal 2026 growth agenda to implement ideas seeded by the task force. 

Lord, the son of a Chinese immigrant and a D.C. native, said Monumental has shown interest in finding ways to be good neighbors to the Chinatown area. 

“They are eager and already have shown ways that they want to help celebrate Chinatown,” Lord said. “There’s an interest to keep that culture alive and make it thrive.”

The deputy mayor’s office for planning and economic development and the DowntownBID did not respond to requests for comment.

Several more phases are planned through 2027, with construction eventually shifting toward major exterior upgrades, including a new F Street entrance, upgraded concession areas and a redesigned facade. 

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In August, President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency” in D.C. and deployed federal law enforcement agents and National Guard troops to patrol city streets.ĚýĚý

However, while the federal surge ended in early September, its effects have not.ĚýĚý

Several business owners and pedestrians in the Chinatown and Gallery Place area expressed that unease but declined to speak on the record, saying they feared retaliation for criticizing the police or federal agents. Others who agreed to talk described an atmosphere of tension and confusion during the federal operation and a lingering skepticism toward local law enforcement.ĚýĚý

A frequent visitor to the area, who requested anonymity because of safety concerns, said he understands MPD had little choice but to cooperate with federal orders. Still, he said the collaborationĚýblurred lines between local and federal authority.ĚýĚý

“Maybe it’s not even anybody’s fault,” he said. “But I do think to an extent that MPD still has to lend a hand and maybe, in some instances, avoid fear tactics when they are unnecessary.”ĚýĚý

Another frequent visitor to the area, who also requested anonymity because of safety concerns, said she would like MPD to take a more vocal role in reassuring the Chinatown community that its mission is to serve and not intimidate. Ěý

She recalled a recent incident where a woman pushing two children in a stroller was publicly detained at the Metro station for skipping the fare gate.ĚýĚý

Ěý“I think they could exercise more discretion in situations like that,” she said. “Yes, give her a ticket, but it’s things like that that make people fear local police.”Ěý

Thaddeus Johnson, a former law enforcement official in Tennessee and a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, said the sense of surveillance and mistrust can linger for a long time. Ěý

He said the community in Chinatown may not differentiate one law enforcement entity from the other when they see a badge, and actions from one agency can directly impact how citizens see law enforcement in general. Ěý

Johnson said it takes more than participating in community events to strengthen the relationship between locals and law enforcement. Ěý

He said officers should practice “intelligence– driven patrol” to show the community they are not doing “stops and frisk.”Ěý

“Trust is hard to build and easy to break,” Johnson said. “You have to show that you’re responsible, responsive to the needs of people. You’re never supposed to govern in symbolism.”Ěý

Although violent crime District-wide went down by 4,760 reported incidents between January 2024 and October 2025, according to the , Chinatown remains one of the city’s areas of concern.Ěý

D.C. Crime Cards data shows theft and robbery remain persistently high in Chinatown, particularly around the Metro area. However, theft rates fell from 13,002 to 9,007 incidents between 2024 and 2025.Ěý

Johnson said the Asian community was targeted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and though he said things have improved, recent history combined with the federal takeover could trigger fear and mistrust.Ěý

Nearly 40% of over 3,500 arrests made since the operation began in early August were immigration-related, according to the Associated Press. Johnson said though MPD didn’t perform those actions, local communities may not distinguish one authority from the other. Ěý

“All we see is a badge of enforcement,” Johnson said. “So, how other agencies act impacts how you feel, even about the officers you see day to day walking in your community.”Ěý

The DowntownDC Business Improvement District did not respondĚýto questions in time for publication.

MPD First District Capt. Paul Hrebenak said a large part of policing is training MPD officers on community policing and identifying biases. He said MPD focuses on having a fair balance and check system so the community feels like they are “treated fairly.”ĚýĚýĚý

However, he said he understands how the federal takeover may have impacted the trust in local enforcement.ĚýĚý

“I can definitely understand that there’s been a shift, perhaps, as this takeover has happened with the community’s trust in law enforcement,” Hrebenak said. “But I think in the long term and the medium term, things really haven’t changed that much in our response from neighborhood to neighborhood.”Ěý

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While they acknowledge that crime in the neighborhood is down from previous highs, leaders say these initiatives help project a sense of safety and stability to neighborhood residents.

At an Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2C , 2C04 Commissioner Jim Swart said he reached out to Commander Colin Hall of the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District to ask for more frequent use of the drug free zones because he has seen them have positive impact in the area.

“It’s been an important piece of the crime reduction puzzle,” Hall said at the meeting. “I wish we could extend it.”

Over the past year and a half, D.C. officials have been leaning on a combination of initiatives to reshape Chinatown’s sense of security.

Mayor Muriel Bowser opened the Safe Commercial Corridor Hub in 2024 to connect residents to a range of services, with a focus to keep the neighborhoods clean and safe.

Bowser also reimplemented the drug free zones. The zones were created under the 1996 to allow police to order groups in designated areas suspected of drug-related activity to disperse for up to 120 consecutive hours.

In 2014, the D.C. Council the legislation, but in 2024 Bowser reinstated drug free zones with the goal to “interrupt activities and allow neighborhoods to clean up and reclaim public space.”

Howard Marks, a Chinatown resident since 2014, said it was the right choice and said he would like to see it implemented more often.

“Just by putting the orange posters, drug dealers avoid the area,” Marks said, referring to the posters used to announce the drug free zones. “It’s amazing, it created a new atmosphere.”

Marks, the vice president of the Gallery Place Condominium, which manages the residential portion of the mixed-use building at 777 7th Street NW, said he would like to see more drug free zones implemented around the Capital One Arena area.Ěý

Capt. Paul Hrebenak of the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District said the enforcement tool must be backed up by data showing high levels of drug or violent crimes in the neighborhood.Ěý

Chinatown has seen a decrease in crime and increase in security since the pandemic, according to Hrebenak, who said the achievement is due to a combination of several efforts. Ěý

In August, President Donald Trump declared the Metropolitan Police Department under “direct federal control,” an order that lasted for 30 days. Hrebenak said local law enforcement in Chinatown remained consistent during the takeover and prioritized transparency with the residents in the area.Ěý

“I can definitely understand that there’s been a shift, perhaps, as this takeover has happened, with the community trust in law enforcement,” Hrebenak said. “But in the medium term, things haven’t changed that much in our neighborhood-to-neighborhood response with MPD.”

Hrebenak said moving forward, MPD’s goal is to continue to improve the safety in the Chinatown area, but drug free zones are not the only focus.Ěý

He said the tactic is not a “silver bullet,” but the zones give officers a legal way to curb loitering tied to drug use and sales.Ěý

“No drug free zone is going to magically make an area not have drugs anymore,” Hrebenak said. “It’s not like we slap a drug free zone on a certain area and expect it to be all, end all. It’s a small part of a larger initiative to help some of these areas.”

John Kwon, manager of Chinatown Liquor Beer & Wine, has worked at the store on 602 H St. NW for the past 10 years.

Kwon said he’s watched the negative impact of the pandemic on the Chinatown area and the said the drug free zones and the Safe Commercial Corridor Hub have played a role in improving the area.

“The drug free zones help so much, and I would definitely like to see it implemented more often,” Kwon said. “But homeless is my biggest concern about safety.”

First District Officer Majohn Williams is stationed at the Safe Commercial Corridor Hub at 675 H St. NW.Ěý

Williams started working at the hub when it first open. For the past year and a half, she said she has seen violence in the area decrease alongside the calls for service. Williams echoed Kwon’s concern and said though safety has been improving, homelessness continues to be an issue in the area.Ěý

In addition, Williams said a lot of people in the Chinatown community don’t know about the hub.Ěý

“Some people may walk past it and not know what it is,” Williams said. “I do feel like it needs more advertisement, so the center is able to help more than what we’ve been helping.”Ěý

Marks raised the same concern during the September ANC meeting. He said the hub can’t be an effective tool for the community’s safety if it’s hidden. Marks encouraged the

city to improve the signs in front of the hub to help people understand its role better.

91ÇŃ×Ó reached out to the mayor’s office and ANC 2C commissioner Thomas Lee but did not receive responses to questions in time for publication.

Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) said she has worked with Chinatown residents and stakeholders on ways to support and enhance public safety. Pinto is the chairperson of the committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, which is responsible for public safety issues including law enforcement, law enforcement oversight and also violence reduction in the city.

“Drug free zones are a critical tool for our local police to identify and address hotspots of crime activity to allow communities to reclaim public space,” Pinto said.

Hrebenak said while data can help the city and Chinatown residents have an idea of the bigger picture, the real measure of progress is how people experience the neighborhood.

“I think over the last few years, we’ve really seen the shift that’s been through investments like the Safe Commercial Corridor Hub and the Drug-Free Zones,” Hrebenak said. “But also we’ve made a conscious decision to make sure we have police resources in the area and we can ask people ‘How do you feel walking to work?’ ‘How do you feel living in Chinatown now?’ and there’s a huge difference from two years ago.”

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The Japanese restaurant it lost its lease to the incoming $75 million Marriott Tribute Chinatown Hotel, part of a redevelopment project led by Eddie Moy, the building’s longtime owner, and local developer Rift Valley Capital.

“As we enter another healing phase, we have all the intention of regrouping and finding another way of continuing Momiji in the D.C. community,” the restaurant wrote on an Instagram post.

Momiji’s closure highlights a broader shift underway in D.C.’s Chinatown, where longtime businesses are giving way to redevelopment projects and changing demographics. The hotel project, a new luxury apartmenttower and are set to reshape the area.

Some residents and business owners see new investments as a chance to modernize and bring fresh activity to the area, while others worry it accelerates the decline of legacy businesses that once defined the neighborhood’s character.

Andrew Cohen, a Chinatown resident since 2021, said losing local businesses to bigger corporations can impact the cultural aspect of the community.

“It’s a shame to see places closing, but if something is going to close, I hope it can be replaced with something of a similar kind,” Cohen said.

Cohen said he is not familiar with specific plans for the Marriott hotel but added that he is optimistic the company will support the Chinese traditions in the area.

Momiji joins the list of Asian-owned business losses for the neighborhood, following Full Kee Restaurant and Gao Ya Salon, two long-time Asian-owned businesses that vacated their properties in July because of the hotel project.

Moy said the businesses were not forced to leave the building. Instead, he said the owners signed a month-to-month lease with the understanding that redevelopment was possible.

The building owner said the plan is to offer local Asian business owners the option to lease street-level retails and spaces below the hotel.

The hotel project is expected to preserve the seven historic row homes along the H street, where Momiji is located, and will feature 142 boutique rooms, a pan-Asian restaurant and a Chinese market.

“The hotel would bring more foot traffic to the city and a more vibrant and exciting Chinatown to the public sector and the Asian community,” Moy said.

Fewer than 10 legacy businesses.

Momiji’s closure will leave Chinatown with fewer than 10 small legacy-owned businesses, according to . Shani Shia, an activist with the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network, said the closures are part of a larger trend threatening the neighborhood’s cultural fabric.

Shia formed the network in response to  D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser’s  and to “support the preservation of Chinatown’s working class.”

She said the group calls for stronger protections to keep legacy businesses in place, saying that rising rents and redevelopment threaten to erase the neighborhood’s cultural identity.

“There needs to be more cooperation, collaboration and shared prioritization of preserving the legacy businesses instead of trying to replace with new stuff,” Shia said.

Bowser created the task force in 2024 to find ways to revitalize the neighborhood. As the initial stage of the task force came to an end in 2025, the group has recommended new steps to revitalize the area with Asian grocery stores, cultural festivals and targeted funding for minority-owned businesses.

Ben Guzman, the director of the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, said Chinatown is a key part of Bowser’s broader vision for the revitalization of downtown.

“Change is inevitable, and what’s important is how the city, from our perspective as a city agency, is how the city manages that change,” Guzman said. “The coming and going of businesses matters, but it is how we set the table in terms of being a place where businesses can and want to come that helps create the conditions of the culture we want to foster in Chinatown.”

Guzman said the role of Chinatown in D.C. has evolved since it was in the 1880s.

At the time, the prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States. The act pushed Chinese immigrants to create a place where they could integrate with others during a time when the law was against them.

Over the years, the Chinese and broader Asian communities spread to other areas, redefining Chinatown’s role as a cultural hub. In 1990, 60% of residents in Chinatown were Asian. In 2020, that number dropped to about 20%.

Guzman, who has lived around the area for almost 30 years, noted multiple factors that are leading to changes, including the effects of COVID-19 and the growth of other neighborhoods such as The Wharf and Union Market. Both districts underwent rapid redevelopment in the past decade, attracting more businesses and visitors. The Wharf and Union Market serve as examples, Guzman said. “But we’re not just trying to attract businesses to Chinatown. We’re trying to maintain a cultural legacy.”

Evelyn Moy, senior president of the Moy Family Association, agreed. She said Chinatown has long been a cultural touchstone for Chinese Americans in D.C., rooted in the history of exclusion and migrations.

Evelyn Moy said advocates won’t succeed in keeping major developments from happening. However, she sympathizes with advocates who want to preserve the culture in the neighborhood and said she encourages them to keep the cultural legacy alive.

“The city could have done more, but the city can’t save everybody,” Evelyn Moy said. “You have to adapt and change. You have to take the good and the bad, and there has to be a balance.”

The Moy Family Association is not involved in the Marriott Tribune Hotel project led by Eddie Moy and Rift Valley. Eddie Moy is the co-president of the association. However, the hotel is part of a personal project for him.

Although the Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force completed its initial phase in 2025, Bowser appointed two community advocates to move into a second phase of revitalization. Winston Lord, a D.C. native, and Tim Ma, a local chef, will work as liaisons between the Chinatown community and the city.

Their appointment comes as city leaders seek to guide Chinatown’s transformation while maintaining its cultural identity.

“We will bring Chinatown back as a vibrant cultural destination that’s rooted in heritage and designed to bring people together.” Lord wrote in an .

The post Chinatown loses another legacy business as Momiji shuts down first appeared on 91ÇŃ×Ó.

Older adults at the in Chinatown can join a range of activities starting Jan. 3, when the center officially opens with full operational ability.Ěý

The adult day care center soft launched its opening last October — only offering limited and appointment based medical services due to the pandemic — after nearly three years of planning and discussions with the Mayor’s office for approval.Ěý

Since then, patients and staff have also hosted intimate birthday gatherings, gone on field trips and attended lectures about COVID-19 safety protocol.ĚýĚý

Along with interactive lessons, the adult day care center also provides free breakfast, lunch and a snack to each patient on weekdays. For now, patients can show up at the center at mealtime, get their temperature taken and answer a list of questions, before grabbing their packaged food and returning home to eat.Ěý

But, when the center opens at full capacity next month, patients will be able to sit together at tables of eight or more for their meals to chat or play games before going off on group activities.Ěý

“It’s like a little kindergarten,” said Rita Lee, director of the center. “We just want to make sure they are busy, happy and healthy.”

Kwok Wing Yumg, 81, agreed and said the center has been special and convenient for him. “It’s very nice here. They do everything very good.”

He is most excited to enjoy the library for some reading and “maybe do some exercise” like Tai Chi next month.

‘You gotta have a heart’

The Wah Luck Adult Day Care Center is located in the heart of Chinatown on 6th Street and around the corner from the iconic Friendship Archway.

It occupies the first floor — a 7,000 square foot space — of the Wah Luck House, the last remaining low-income apartment complex in the neighborhood. Roughly 98% of the folks living in the building’s 153 units are elderly Chinese-Americans, making up the majority of the remaining Chinese population in Chinatown altogether.Ěý

The center’s top priority, Lee said, are the medical treatments it provides. It offers an array of medical assistance to the patients — from blood drawing, urine testing and nurses visits to transportation to and from specialists offices.Ěý

With a roughly 20-person staff, including a doctor who comes in twice a week, nurses, a social worker, a mental health specialist, a nutritionist and other medical professionals, Lee said the adult daycare center also prides itself on the personalized support it offers to each patient.Ěý

“You gotta have a heart,” Lee said. “All of my staff knows this too. If you are just here to make money and you don’t have a heart for the seniors, I tell them please leave.”

Yumg Yu Meng, 80, has lived in the Wah Luck House for six years. She said she feels the staff at the center are like her family. “They treat us so well. We live here very comfortable and happy everyday,” she said.

On a recent field trip to the Holocaust Museum, Meng said it brought her joy to see one of her friends, a 103-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair, tag along comfortably with the rest of the group.Ěý

91ÇŃ×Ó that trip, Lee added “they were so happy — chatting, taking pictures with each other.”Ěý

Staff at the center also manages and sorts each patient’s medication weekly, ordering prescriptions and filling in pill organizers by time of day to make it easier for patients to follow a medication routine.

The , a community service organization founded in 1883, funds and operates the adult day care center separate from the Wah Luck House, though the apartment’s leadership is as invested in giving back to the community as the CCBA is.Ěý

Local businesswoman and real estate developer Yeni Wong and her business partner, Andrew Agetstein, purchased Wah Luck House in 2017, looking to turn a page on from the real estate company Aimco. Tenants have long known Wong as the owner of the nearby restaurant Chinatown Garden.Ěý

Wong said when she bought the space it was important to her that she gave back to the community. Plus, Wong said “you have to take care of the elders.”ĚýĚý

But first, before the adult day care center could operate, the CCBA needed to prove to the Mayor’s office that there was a need for the center in Chinatown.Ěý

So, they went unit by unit in the building and took a survey about age, any medical conditions and income status, among other things. The answer was resoundingly “yes,” Lee said.Ěý

What makes Wah Luck so special, she added, is how different it is from other elder care facilities across the District.Ěý

“We’re not a nursing home. We’re somewhere in the middle and that’s what makes it so great,” Lee said. “Because a lot of the time nursing homes can be so overcrowded. I can see first hand how we can benefit the seniors but still grant them their independence.”Ěý

Starting the adult day care at Wah Luck House and in Chinatown was also a way to overcome the language barrier many of the seniors faced when seeking medical assistance elsewhere.Ěý

Fostering community

Since the soft-launch opening last October, Lee said she realized the social aspect the center provides is crucial. Many of the patients have begun to take depression medication as a result of isolation and the pandemic, she said.Ěý

“Some of the seniors will say to us, ‘you know I’m happy you’re all here,’” Lee said. “‘Before I feel sorrow, it was like hell, and now it’s not.’”Ěý

She said before the center arrived, many of the seniors would spend entire days alone in their apartments. “It can be so lonely.”

Now, Lee said most of the seniors seem to be cheerier. She thinks it’s because they have something to look forward to every day, even if it’s just going downstairs to pick up lunch.Ěý

Lee described a “sweet and bighearted” woman who comes to her office early every morning to sneak her candies and chat.Ěý

“That’s the Chinese way,” she said. “Giving. It shows your love — gratitude.”Ěý

On one occasion, Lee showed up to work late from a doctor’s appointment and missed the visit. That afternoon, Lee said the woman’s daughter called her concerned because her mother — who wasn’t sure of how to use the phone to check on Lee herself — was worried something had happened to her that morning.Ěý

“It shows that we really care for eachother,” Lee said. “It goes both ways.”

Recently, she said, another lady made food for the whole staff — though it wasn’t the tastiest.Ěý

“Of course we ate it and didn’t tell her. It would have broken her heart, she was so excited and did it out of love.”Ěý

The center has been approved to provide for around 100 seniors who have a proven medical condition and use both Medicare and Medicaid. Right now, about 94 of those slots are filled and eight people remain on the waiting list — some of which are from within the building.

Though it is not required to live in the Wah Luck House to be treated at the daycare center, all of the current patients do.

Lee said she and the CCBA are hoping to eventually accept people from outside the building, but high rent prices in the neighborhood have made expansion plans difficult.Ěý

She mentioned another affordable housing building on K Street that has a large older adult population.Ěý

“They come over here. They’re looking for the opportunity,” Lee said. But, she said, “unfortunately we can’t accept them yet.”Ěý

If all goes well, Lee said she also wants to invite school children to come and volunteer at the center so they can chat with the seniors and play games together.

In the meantime, Lee said she is looking forward to Jan. 3, and to more field trips, grocery trips and holiday or monthly birthday parties among the patients. She said at those events, it’s nice to see them “all dressed up and waving to each other, smiling.”Ěý

“We try to do the best to talk to them and help them to bring that community value back to life,” she said.Ěý

“That’s my goal.”

The post At Wah Luck House, Chinatown community takes care of its own first appeared on 91ÇŃ×Ó.

A digital billboard promoting the iPhone 13 abuts a traditional gabled roof building. A red dragon snaking around a light pole greets patrons outside the American restaurant Clyde’s. A WeWork space neighbors a family-owned Chinese grocery store.Ěý

For some, the District’s Chinatown appears to be a relic of what it once was. But neighborhood leaders say Chinatown isn’t dying, it’s just changing.Ěý

“This narrative of decline assumes that there was an apex state of perfection, like an Eden, at some point in Chinatown,” said Wei Gan, project director at the , a non-profit organization working to bring awareness to the significance of Chinese exclusion laws in D.C.

As Chinatown becomes more contemporary, with national franchise brands and a vibrant nightlife, people say it is losing its authenticity. But, Gan said, the alternative is Chinatown staying exactly the same — so people can continue to say the neighborhood is nothing more than shabby, basement restaurants.Ěý

“It is a lose, lose situation,” she said.Ěý

In other words, Gan said, public opinion of an authentic Chinatown is a neighborhood that is never restored. “If you can’t renovate it, you can’t develop it, you can’t change it, you’re forever relegating these people to live in an undeveloped neighborhood,” she said.

Ted Gong, executive director of the 1882 Foundation and president of the D.C. chapter of the a non-profit organization fighting against racial discrimination, agreed with Gan and said he pushes back against the idea that Chinatown restaurants are no longer authentic.Ěý

“Authentic to who?” he said.Ěý

“I would hesitate to say there is one authority on authenticity, it depends on the eater’s background and preferences,” Gong said.Ěý

For instance, he said Americanized chop suey might be as authentic as something from the Fujian province, but not from the Hupei province. He said it depends on what you want and what you expect when dining in the District’s Chinatown.Ěý

A community trying to surviveĚý

Chinatown spans roughly two square blocks, along H and I Streets between Fifth and Eighth Streets Northwest. Its entrance is marked by the Friendship Archway — an elaborate 47 foot tall archway that spans 75 feet of road. It was built in 1986 to commemorate the then newly-established sister cities relationship between the District of Columbia and Beijing, China.Ěý

Dotted along the streets are corner signs and storefront slogans written in both Chinese and English. Numerous hole-in-the-wall eateries offer dim sum, dan dan noodles and various pork dishes. China Boy even wholesales fresh rice noodles to other Chinese restaurants in the DMV area.Ěý

Adjacent to the remaining Chinese-owned businesses in Chinatown are an Xfinity, a Capital One bank, a Walgreens and a number of vacant buildings.Ěý

Many of the Chinese owned businesses and landlords chose to sell to bigger corporations because they wanted to make more money and knew the franchises could afford higher rent.Ěý

Gan said it is easy to label an ethnic community as either resilient or dying, but on the ground people are not as interested in the cultural identity of the area as they are in trying to survive.Ěý

This is not the first time the District’s Chinatown has been in a battle of endurance.Ěý

In the 1880s hundreds of Chinese people in the District moved to Federal Triangle because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers to the U.S., and racial discrimination. Without access to bank loans, insurance or healthcare, Gan said, “They were forced to congregate and create their own, kind of, parallel economy and support system.”Ěý

“It was less of ‘let’s get together and celebrate’ and more of ‘how do we survive,’ ” she said. By the 1930s the government took over the land for development projects, pushing Chinatown to its current location and by 1943 the exclusion act was repealed.Ěý

Most of the original residents left Chinatown for the suburbs when a Metro station came to the area in the 1970s and again with the arrival of the Verizon Center in 1997, now the Capital One arena. Rapid gentrification in the area caused rent to skyrocket.Ěý

Today, just about 300 people live in the neighborhood compared to the thousands that once did.Ěý

Chinatown Garden gets creativeĚý

Carl Brown, executive director of the, which provides free one-on-one services to empower new and existing businesses, said small businesses are integral to communities.Ěý

“A community without stores is a dying community,” Brown said. “Small businesses provide a service or product that doesn’t already exist in the community.”Ěý

For Chinatown’s nearly 20 family-owned eateries, Gan said business owners are less interested in preservation and more in promoting a successful product. She calls this a “zest to continue.”Ěý

“What I really see happening with Chinatown businesses, and what we’re really trying to do here is move with the times,” Gan said. The pandemic applied more pressure to mom and pop stores than they were already under and seemed to accelerate plans to revitalize the businesses on social media or with partners like DoorDash, she said.Ěý

Chinatown Garden, at 618 H St., is one of the many small businesses adapting to the times and trying to bring more activity to the area.Ěý

On the first floor, customers dine on spring rolls and kung pao chicken amid traditional Chinese decor. Upstairs, however, is the 618 cocktail and whiskey lounge that opened right before the pandemic and turns into a nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights.Ěý

“It’s weird because suddenly you’re like why is there a techno party in the middle of Chinatown on top of a Chinese restaurant,” Gan said. “When the assumption is that it should be, like, a banquet thing.”Ěý

But, she said, the stereotype is that Chinese people don’t party and are “stiff and want to sit at these giant banquet tables,” so a techno nightclub in the middle of the neighborhood bolsters the idea that Chinatown is declining.Ěý

“Everyone is just trying to make something of themselves,” Gan said. “So, it is not really my place, neither would it make sense for me to go to the bar manager and be like ‘Well, why don’t you go find a Latino neighborhood for your nightclub.’”Ěý

Plus, she said, “that bar business is sustaining the restaurant business, there is a symbiotic relationship there. So what’s the big deal if there’s a techno club in Chinatown?”Ěý

Surviving in the District’s Chinatown has been a chronic problem for family businesses for a long time. The Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs has been dedicated to plans to bring the neighborhood back to life, including small business grants and other programs for long term customers and owners to become familiar with online service tools.Ěý

“We have been here,” Gong said. “We will always be here.”

The post ‘A zest to continue:’ DC’s Chinatown challenges narratives of its decline first appeared on 91ÇŃ×Ó.