Towers of terror

Before I pivot to a new topic, I want to zoom out and talk about gentrification, commercialization, and redevelopment—this time, a bit further afield: China .

This recent NY Times article, Tear It Down, They Said. He Just Kept Building, caught my eye just after I reviewed Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul. And honestly? It reminded me of something happening right here in 10002.

Meet Chen Tianming—a resident of Guizhou who has literally built his resistance, brick by brick. Defying demolition orders, he’s turned his family home into an eccentric, hand-built, 11-story tower that’s now part curiosity, part tourist attraction.

What started as a tactic to boost his relocation payout (since compensation is tied to the number of floors) morphed into a personal monument to defiance, creativity, and living life on his own terms.

Upside: He increased his home’s value and drew visitors.
Downside: He’s ruffled feathers in the community by putting his own interests first.

With development funds dried up and the project stalled, he’s bought himself time—but he’s still a lone operator on the frontier.

Just like Send Chinatown Love, here in 10002.

Founded in 2020, Send Chinatown Love was a response to the ugly wave of racism and xenophobia that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. Many small, Chinese-owned businesses were denied government loans and forced to close.

Meanwhile, a micro-neighborhood called Dimes Square began to pop up—between the triangle of East Broadway, Essex Street, and Canal Street—sprouting hotspots like Dimes, Corner Bar, Kiki’s, Le Dive, Cervo’s, and Parcelle Chinatown.

Yes, I’ve eaten at all of them—feeling 20 years too old for the scene but loving the neighborhood cool factor anyway.

Not long ago, I’d drop my kids at daycare on Orchard Street and walk past Boe Fook Funeral Services on Canal. Sometimes a uniformed band of musicians would gather for a funeral. I’d wonder:

How would I feel saying goodbye to someone I loved… while, just a few feet away, happy hour revelers stumbled out of a bar—laughing too loudly, sloshing drinks, and toasting life in the shadow of grief?

Send Chinatown Love was our local version of Chen Tianming’s tower—a grassroots stand against erasure. While he builds upward to claim space for himself, they built networks to keep Chinatown’s heart beating. Both acts of defiance, creativity, and preservation—proof that protecting a community’s soul can take many forms—yet Send Chinatown Love, sadly, has discontinued operations (as of June 2025).