The Matchmaking Service That Pairs Visionary Designers With Covid Conundrums

FABnyc, AAFE and Think!Chinatown…

“South of this burgeoning court, Yin Kong is thrilled to see a vibrant new future for Chinatown’s Forsyth Plaza. Kong is the cofounder and director of Think!ChinatoThink!Chinatown, a non-profit that helps foster inter-generational cultural engagement in Chinatown. “This is my dream project,” Kong said. “AAFE and Chinatown have been thinking about this project for years.”

This spring, Neighborhoods Now partnered Think!Chinatown and AAFE—Asian Americans for Equality, a community development organization that advances equitable opportunities for Asian Americans—with designers to implement their plans for a monthly night market in Forsyth Plaza. The plaza sits empty once fruit vendors leave for the evening; the central neighborhood spot is then “just, like, crickets chirping,” Kong said.

The night market, scheduled to begin this summer, will bring people and light to the triangle plaza. It will feature outdoor screenings of locally produced short films and also accommodate vendors. The commercial dynamic of the market will function like an incubator for Chinatown businesses affected by the pandemic. “The idea,” Kong said, “is that [vendors] will develop a following, so that by the time they’re ready to graduate to a brick and mortar, they already have [business].” The actualization of this long-term dream will not only replace the chirping crickets of Forsyth Plaza with New Yorkers, but will also re-populate Chinatown’s storefronts.”

Although we actually like chirping crickets in parks!