Community Resilience: Recovery in NYC’s Chinatown After 9/11

Just ten blocks from the World Trade Center, Chinatown was the largest residential area affected by 9/11. Much of the impact was strikingly visible as the collapse of the Twin Towers filled the neighborhood with heavy smoke, dust, and debris. The aftermath of the attacks challenged the community as tourism declined, businesses closed, and health concerns amongst residents rose. It would also, however, spur people to action, cast light on the neighborhood's needs, and prove its resilience. To better understand the consequences of 9/11 on Chinatown, Senior Curator of Oral History & Vice President of Collections Amy Weinstein is joined by Professor of Sociology at Hunter College Margaret Chin, writer and educator Annie Tan, and retired FDNY Lieutenant Jacob Chin. Together they reflect on their own experiences in Chinatown during and after the attacks and discuss how the neighborhood was forever shaped by this tragedy.