China News Service, January 5th. According to the U.S. Overseas Chinese News, the New York City Small Business Bureau (SBS) proposed a loan program for stores in low- and middle-income communities on November 25, 2020 local time. However, the Manhattan surrounding Columbus Park The central area of Chinatown cannot receive assistance.
The community organization Chinatown once again made four appeals to the city government, urging the city government to include the area with the postal code of "10013" as the low- and middle-income areas hit hardest by the epidemic.
XinMu Chinatown stated that the city government adopted zip codes as the only indicator of the geographical qualification of the program for store loans in low- and middle-income communities, which led to the neglect of areas with the zip code address "10013", including the central area of Chinatown.
This area includes Chinatown with a long history and has many working-class residents, but because the zip code address also includes high-income areas such as Tribeca, Soho and Nolita, it is located in this area Of businesses are not eligible for the low- and middle-income community store loan program.
However, it should be noted that the area with the postal code address "10013" also includes some streets in the central area of Chinatown, such as Be Street, Elizabeth Street, Maupili Street, Bloom Street, Bastille Street, Bowery Street, Kennedy Road, parts of Bayard Street, and small businesses on Disclosure Street, Moskva Street and Zaiye Street.
XinMu Chinatown believes that the current assistance program launched by the city government lacks equal participation. In order to achieve the common goal of providing fair opportunities for immigrant communities and communities of color, it puts forward four demands to the Municipal Small Business Bureau:
1. Funding community partner organizations to promote assistance programs in local languages, and provide support to the most disadvantaged companies, helping small businesses in the community to apply for assistance programs without worrying about the challenges brought by language and cultural barriers.
2. In future assistance programs, stop using postal codes as indicators for geographic division or qualification review. It is recommended to adopt more detailed indicators, such as census tract data, in order to provide fair opportunities to all eligible communities.
3. The "first come first served" application review method is no longer adopted. Considering that immigrants and minority communities need more events to carry out outreach work due to language and other reasons, the "first come first served" approach will only make Small businesses in these communities are left behind. It is recommended that the city government adopt a phased or round application method to allow a fair distribution of resources.
4. Actively communicate with the community, listen to community feedback and suggestions, and adjust related work accordingly.
(Liu Yiling)