China News Service, May 5. According to the US "World Daily" report, the bilingual Chinese and English road signs in Chinatown, New York, USA witness the history of the community, but bilingual road signs have become less and less in recent years, and many have been replaced by pure English road signs.
City Councilor Chris Marte held a press conference in Chinatown on the 4th, announcing the proposal to require the city government to retain and increase bilingual road signs in Chinatown, and to promote bilingual road signs to the city.
The New York Times previously reported that out of at least 155 bilingual road signs ordered by the city in 1985, only 101 remain, as damaged road signs will only be replaced with English ones.
Ma Tai said that the epidemic has caused serious injuries in Chinatown, and the construction of the Chinatown urban prison may keep the community in a construction environment for the next ten years. Chinatown is working hard to continue to serve as a home for immigrants, laborers, small businesses and tourists, " Bilingual road signs are not only a symbol of Chinatown, they are also useful wayfinding tools in non-English speaking communities; we should correct the mistakes of the past, so I put forward a proposal to not only protect Chinatown's bilingual road signs, but to promote bilingual road signs throughout the city. "
The proposal requires the Municipal Transportation Bureau to evaluate the existing bilingual road signs, expand the bilingual road signs to the Chinese-speaking communities in Chinatown and the Lower East Side, and restore the bilingual road signs that were previously replaced by pure English; the Transportation Bureau must also issue an evaluation Report and create a database so the public can track street sign replacements; the proposal also requires the city to allow councillors to request new bilingual road signs, up to 15 new bilingual road signs can be proposed by city councillors in each constituency, and the Department of Transportation can annually 250 new bilingual road signs in each district.
(with Zhaoyu)