Philadelphia: Chinatown celebrates stopping 76 Place

Philadelphia

After an over two-year struggle to stop construction of a basketball arena that threatened the destruction of Philadelphia’s historic Chinatown and a contentious 12-to-5 City Council vote approving the plan on Dec. 19, just a few weeks later on Jan. 12 Philadelphia 76ers’ team owners suddenly announced that their planned 76 Place in Center City was “off the table.”

Word quickly spread through posts on X that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Comcast Spectacor President Brian Roberts talked the Sixers into staying in their current location in South Philadelphia’s stadium district. Yet neither Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, who strongly promoted the initial plan nor Sixers owners bothered to meet with the potentially impacted residents of Chinatown, despite numerous invitations from the Save Chinatown Coalition to do so.

A day after hearing the news that the team had decided not to build the arena in Chinatown, dozens of activists with the Save Chinatown and No Arena Coalitions gathered Jan. 13 by the historic Friendship Gate for a celebratory press conference to speak out.

Beatrice Forman with Save Chinatown opened the event with the popular chant: “Tell me what democracy looks like — this is what democracy looks like!”

Mohan Seshadri, Executive Director at the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance opened and chaired the event: “We have just witnessed an example of city council 101, where the billionaire developers get to write the rules and city leaders go along with it. Our 150-year-old Chinatown will continue to stand strong, but let’s be clear — none of this had to be like this.

“We researched, rallied and held press conferences. Our elders and young people were arrested at City Hall. We were told to ‘give up, shut up and go away.’ But we are at a new phase of the struggle in Philadelphia where neighbors can tell the developers to go home. We hope that our elected officials get the message that our communities should be centered at the table.”

Wei Chen with Asian Americans United and the No Arena Coalition said: “This is not just about Chinatown winning, it’s about the people united together to fight this proposal that would have damaged the city. How dare the politicians claim to care for our communities but then vote for the arena! Today’s win shows our young people that when people unite together, we will be stronger — that when we fight, we win.”

Harry Leong, President of the Philadelphia Suns youth basketball league, opened by thanking the five council members who voted against the arena proposal and noting that although community organizers met with all 17 council members, 12 supported the billionaires. “We need to change the narrative in this city where money rules,” Leong declared.

Broad support from communities outside Chinatown

Throughout the over two-year fight against the arena, the Save Chinatown Coalition received broad support from other communities that were also fighting against billionaire developers. Rev. Greg Holston with Black Philly 4 Chinatown said: “Organizing made the difference. People made the difference. The billionaires made the decision to pull back, because the people came together, and 70 percent of the people in this city said ‘NO’ to the arena.

“Black, Asian, white — all together — wherever developers are pushing people out of their communities, we now have a movement called Save Chinatown Coalition, but it is really a Save Philadelphia Coalition.”

Brittany Alston with the Black Workers Project noted: “We were watching our elected officials bend over backwards for the billionaires. When will they bend over backwards for us? The people don’t need tax giveaways for the rich. We need funding for schools and, Mayor Parker, we do not need more police.”

Representing Washington Square West, a Center City neighborhood south of Chinatown also fighting the impact of the potential arena with the No Arena Coalition, Katie Garth said: “The billionaires call the shots as long as the politicians allow them to. It doesn’t matter how Mayor Parker tries to spin it — this was not about Philadelphia getting a WNBA [women’s professional basketball] team out of this [as she suggested at her press conference]. Whether it was intentional or not, the politicians have helped unite the city.”

Vivian Chang, Executive Director of Asian Americans United, stated: “This fight is about the future of our city. At Mayor Parker’s press conference earlier today, it was all about the billionaires — [76er’s co-owner] David Adelman and the others. Where were the people? Over the course of this struggle over 10,000 people have organized with us. This solidarity has brought people together in ways not seen in years. This is what it will take to fight Donald Trump.”

Wrapping up the press conference were two Youth for Chinatown speakers, Taryn Flaherty and Kaia Chau, who addressed the council and mayor with this message: “When you roll out the red carpet for the Sixers, you become the carpet they will walk over and trample.” They noted that young people like themselves were shaped into becoming leaders by this movement.

Reporters from several television stations and print media covered the event, most staying through the end to interview the activists who spoke. Workers World has been involved in and supported this struggle since it began. For photos and articles, visit workers.org and search: Save Chinatown.