Fifth-generation owner of oldest shop in NYC's Chinatown on fighting for neighborhood's survival
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- The oldest shop in New York City's Chinatown nearly closed its doors in 2016. In a bid to save her family's shop and others like it, Mei Lum turned down a spot at an Ivy League university to become its fifth-generation owner. Vlad Duthiers has the story.
Each weekday morning, "CBS Mornings” co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson bring you the latest breaking news, smart conversation and in-depth feature reporting. "CBS Mornings" airs weekdays at 7 a.m. on CBS and stream it at 8 a.m. ET on the CBS News app.
Subscribe to “CBS Mornings” on RUclips: / cbsmornings
Watch CBS News: cbsn.ws/1PlLpZ7c
Download the CBS News app: cbsn.ws/1Xb1WC8
Follow "CBS Mornings" on Instagram: bit.ly/3A13OqA
Like "CBS Mornings" on Facebook: bit.ly/3tpOx00
Follow "CBS Mornings" on Twitter: bit.ly/38QQp8B
Subscribe to our newsletter: cbsn.ws/1RqHw7T
Try Paramount+ free: bit.ly/2OiW1kZ
For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com
These are institutions worth preserving and stories worth telling - good job CBS, thanks.
This isn't. They eat dogs and cats! Save our pets!!
I'm so happy she took over for her family and is a role model for her community as well. I admire her greatly. My family has lived in the same city townhouse for 75 years. It still houses an old shop they ran for 40 years. I don't want to see them have to move out. But city taxes and upkeep are so high. And my parents are elderly. I know what it feels like to face losing a structure that's been so important to family identity.
MajorieGreene and they're still more American than you. 😂
👍👍❤️
@@Go4Broke247 you don't make sense.
When I moved to NYC in December of 1974, as a kid from Oregon, I can remember being so awe stuck walking from one end of Manhattan to the other, it was like walking through the whole world. I especially remember joyful and exciting Chinese New Year celebrations on the mesmerizing Mott Street. America's heritage is ALL HERITAGES blended into ours. Please, let's save what makes us unique. ☆♡☆♡☆♡
I totally agree with you. Embrace diversity instead of fearing it. The soup is better with many ingredients and spices.
I walked up and down Manhattan but now j can't bcuz of neuropathy and aapi hate violence. Violent Racists basically stole the city.
Now it's COVID infested
@@cooliipie No, no it is not. Don't let yourself be so fearful, so misinformed. That only leads to needless hate.
Well said, thank you. 👏👏👏👏🥰🥰🥰🥰
I remember them as kids going to school every morning . I still see their father at times . Im glad she took over the shop
How refreshing!!! A young woman looking at her cultural tradition, and stepping into the family legacy, so to say. adding a touch of her own, while she's about it....
Sadly, this happened to Little Italy which barely exists anymore. We can not lose Chinatown; it is a place of celebrations, great shopping and the food is delicious. These neighborhoods are what make New York special.
The real estate became so valuable that Italian owners decided to sell and move on. Happens often. Many die-hard have dismissed it as a “Tourist Trap” but the Mulberry Street area is still a wonderful place for lunch. Thank Gd for those tourists who help sustain it! 🇮🇹
probably didnt make much money...and got super high prices when they sold
There's a bigger and better one in the bronx though
The next generation wanted to do their own thing and didn't want to take over the family business. That's what happened to Little Italy in NYC. San Francisco Chinatown is practically gone. I was sad when I went back 4 years ago seeing all the shuttered stores, thinking about all the lost culture. But on the positive side, it means they succeeded in raising a new generation that got educated, integrated and got jobs where they didn't have to labor.
i bet it didnt make much money anyways...small business usually barely survive...small business that do well kids will fight over it
"May seem like a tall task, but legacy is on the line." This sums it up perfectly. I wish them the best.😊
I absolutely love this story of a woman doing what is best for her disappearing community and what is best for her family. True, true Americans. She is an example of how SHE chose to make America GREAT. I applauded her for her decision. 👏👏👏👏👏🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Oh shut up. This is not a feel good story it’s what’s wrong with America and it’s housing small businesses problem of disgusting tenants. Capitalism
Yes 👍🏾👍🏾
People are viewing this piece as a heart warming, family legacy and ethnic neighborhood story yet I’m certain there’s a harsh economic reality underlying any NYC Business especially in a highly trafficked, touristy area. Rents can crush businesses and they need to be flexible and adaptable to survive. Let’s all commit to buying something in this shop next time we’re in NYC’s Chinatown.
No.
NOPE!
I agree, but the sad and harsh reality is that people will just end up getting the items from china or somewhere where it’s actually affordable. Than a small shop like this depending on the price of a certain item.
You can buy all you want but until the federal government prevents rent from being gouged through price increases eventually all these businesses WILL close.
I was thinking the same thing. Definitely will drop in there the next time I go into the city.
I think it is city's responsibility to restore and preserve these historical neighborhoods. History isn't just told by historic buildings but also by the food and culture of that neighborhood
Greed is disgusting. Greedy landowners want to destroy family businesses and culture.
The samething can be said about business owners who sell stuff... they're trying to make a profit. renting is a business too... everyone is looking to make a profit.
@@stelitythats not the point of the persons comment, it’s about saving and preserving family businesses, especially ethnic and cultural heritage. it doesnt matter if the building owners need to make money, its not about them that this video implies on
Most Chinese store owners are greedy af too. Let's not pretend like they are not in it for money.
@@nwszEvery aspect needs to be addressed, not on one that you choose to focus.
The capitalists way. Show me the money. Show me the money.
I remember visiting Chinatown in NYC as a child and being awestruck by its environment…the many shops in exotic writing, from the aromatic smells of different foods I’ve never smelled before to the various incense, and packed with people walking by. It was bustling full of energy and to me as a child, was the most exciting neighborhood that we ventured through…a whole other world right inside the city. I remember we bought a pint of fried rice for a couple dollars (food was so cheap there back in the mid 90s).
I pray for them to prevail and flourish 🙏🏽 So sad to see this happening to so many communities with such strong cultural and historical ties.
They seem like wonderful people. I wish them continued success. Please preserve their heritage in Chinatown ( it's a special part of the fabric & diversity that is NYC ). I will make it a point to Shop there to support their business.
Major respect for her
Respect how? She ignored 50 years of Chinatown history. They brought this on themselves by listening to the city 15 years ago when the city promised they would rid chinatown of blacks, latinos and low-income ethnics. Now they're paying for it since so many high-income whites in the area have drive prices up so far that Asians can't afford to live there anymore. Puerto Ricans in East Harlem and Loisiada made the same mistake and I find it hilarious.
Thanks CBS for featuring NYC Chinatown that has such deep roots for many Chinese Americans with history that dates back to early 1900s like mine. My grandfather came here in 1926 and brought me to Chinatown every Sundays for a day of movie, weekly comic book pickup, tea and steamed buns back in 1970s. These memories are still vivid in my mind. I admire her dedication to her family and culture.
Such a rich history and a great daughter.
Im from LES, in my 40’s now, im touched. Thanks for the attention and wonderful journalism.
WOW! In the early 1980s My late mother and her Chinese neighbor used to jump on the subway to head downtown and visit this store to buy teapots. I was 10. I didn’t know it still existed. I like many former Manhattanites moved out of NY but I’d visit in a heartbeat now that I know it’s still there.
Do you miss the city
Wow!!!!❤ What an incredible story and legacy!!! Praying for this beautiful family that their legacy continue as well as all the many great families of Chinatown. Wishing them all abundance of respect , blessings and prayers. 🙂🙏
I hope businesses like these never ever closes. I want my kids, grandkids, great grandkids, etc to be able to see and shop here. If I was a multi millionaire, I would saved these businesses without hesitation. Rich people, please help.
Rich already adapted Wong Island and Flushing
Rich people help how? By lobbying for better policies for small business owners and real estate restrictions to slow gentrification?
The Chinatown in San Fran is deserted too. It's the internet and the voters. Why go to "Chinatown" when all the Instagram shots are in China? The voters voted for elected officials who seem to hate tourists, their own residents but are in favor to the mentally ill and criminals. The "rich" people are just raising the rents.
@@ometofuwong island lmfaooo
Why? Why is their neghbohood more important than others? If they can't pay, then close.
Absolutely love this story! Makes me want to go visit china town this summer!
Chinatown appreciates your support. Come get an Asian massage.
This summer ok. Next summer u will pay congestion pricing
@@chinatownboy7482 i love asian massage🤗
DO IT!
Be careful of COVID
I can't imagine NYC without a Chinatown. One of the most fluid Chinatown's I believe in the U.S. I recall going there as a child on a school trip.
This actually made me teary eyed 😢😢😢 I am not chinese, I am Hmong but seeing this just reminds me of how the Hmong tradition and language is disappearing day by day....I wish nothing but success for you guys and your store! ❤
I feel like all culture is dying. Things used to be different.
@@qua7771 Oh Man, just reading your comment, I have all types of memories running through my head now 😅🥲🥲🥲
@@donaldkue2364 I searched Chinatown to see if such a thing still exist. The US has become one big strip-mall over the last 30 years. The narratives that we were told would save culture as killed it like the whole "melting pot" thing.
hmongs are ethnically chinese...they came from china
@@tednguyen7258ethnicity and culture are completely different.
I adore this store. It has inspired me since the 80s when I first when in.
I love those little nook and cranny shops and stores in new york. They are amazing.Small antique store, clothing shops, book stores, parts stores, toy stores, candy stores.I hope they last forever.Chinatown especually 30-40 years ago was alandmark in nyc and should be preserved
I wish her and her family well.
this melted my heart
So inspired by this! What a stunning legacy she is working to protect ❤
Her dad coming in with the impeccable NY accent 🖤
I love America. People come from all over and add their beautiful cultures to the American culture, it’s always evolving🇺🇸🧧
New York: where hardworking people from all over the world go to build their dreams, and then become dirty, disgusting, no-good Yankees fans. 😡
i saw a story about how shes kept the bowls and plates that are hand painted. these plates are not found anymore
Ai-Yah! No mass produced goods, from a factory. Factory workers will be out of work.
I remember when my parents enrolled me at the school located in the Chinatown of Lima Peru.. my sisters and I must to walk through Chinatown to go to school. Was so chaotic place with Vendors in the streets and shops..my father was a Chinese descended. We always stop to buy fresh veggies and fruit in the streets, also having snacks or food from the tradicional food vendors that was amazing see how the Chinese cooks were cooking flaming the food in the air. The fusion of the Chinese and Peruvian cuisine became a fusion of flavor so unique call Chifa. If you travel to Lima Peru stop by a Chifa you will ate the best Chinese food …I recently travel to Lima with my daughter for first time and we walk around Chinatown….was a different experience but the old shops still there and my memories of my father. The happy years of my life middle school. Love you dad Chong.
Aw. I remember in junior high school a girl arrived from Peru, speaking Spanish of course who was ethnically Chinese. You made me remember Brenda.
Prayers for your dad.
🫖
NYC Chinatown is beautiful and worth preserving.
There’s another Chinatown that NYC has to offer. It’s located in Queens on Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing on the eastern terminus of the 7 line. While the Manhattan one will always be the legacy New York Chinatown with the historic nostalgia from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the one in Flushing serves us people in Queens and Long Island very well. It is also an interesting source of contrast with the one on the Lower East Side. As it is summer, I hope we can enjoy both Chinatowns and all they have to offer.
There is also a Chinatown along 8th &9th Aves in Brooklyn...
@@IBeliEvEJesus190 That's right.
There's multiple, NYC has the largest Chinese diaspora in the US right now I think. This one is special though because it's the first, and I have a lot of fond memories here.
@@IBeliEvEJesus190 That's the Sunset Park Chinatown, and there is also the Avenue U Chinatown anjd 86th Street Chinatowens inSheepshead Bay/Bensonhurst.
@@grasmereguy5116 so I knew of the Sunset Park Chinatown in Bklyn .. but 2 others? I'm surprised. Are they large? I must go pay a visit. Thanks 🙋♀️
I think I bought rice bowls here when I lived in NYC! I hope it survives. That red teapot is the pattern of my bowls.
Great story from the OGs that started Asian communities in the US with blood sweat and tears. Many stand on their shoulders. Respect.
This is beautiful. Thank you!
💔Amazing report thank you CBS
Beautiful!!! I'm planning to shop there next time I'm in NYC!
She's got two uphill battles. Big city rents and outward migration, and Chinese stigma due to geopolitical issues. Not easy.
I visited Chinatown back in Feb. My tour guide told me about the shop & the story of this lady running the store.
I would've liked to have gone inside but they were closed to the public but open for online orders only? & trying to protect grandma from covid..
And now grandma is a Tik Tok star.
Being also named Gary and an American born Chinese, I wish him and his daughter much success in keeping tradition alive ❤
This a great story. Very inspiring. Thank you CBS.
A beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. ❤🕊
Lovely article. Inspired me to check out the shop and purchase some goodies! Thank you!
This was a great piece.
As a black woman i try to employ black tradesman and buy from black business.
Mr. Duthiers, the business is named Wing On Wo-the “and Co” on the sign is the abbreviation for “and Company.”
This and the bad pronunciation made my brain itch.
thanks Vlad/cbs for this story.
Love this family and the shop. Visit as many times as we can when downtown.
Hope they can save this wonderful community
NYC lets landlords horde empty places to keep the market artificially high. They had very little protections in place for tenants against crazy rent spikes as well.
this is beautiful and i hope she will be able to preserve it.
Thanks for sharing, wish them all the best! ❤
Wish her all the success possible. Original Chinatown must be preserved.
I love this. Good luck to them and I wish them many many more years of business and family success
This is an amazing and beautiful story I do miss the times that I was there in Chinatown new york is the best city in the world hands down
Happy the family is trying to keep their legacy!..!
I hope her the very best, maybe one day, it will qualify as an individual historical landmark. Help it expand beyond Manhattan's Chinatown the same way Pearl River Mart grew, or hownNom Wah successfully became a chain, expanding to other cities.
Good idea!!
I doubt it. People would rather pay $50 for Hollywood regency glamor glued onto particle board from tj Maxx than authentic porcelain for $5. Stechcol sold bone China at tj Maxx that I left in My Apts at 117mottstreet. They were pretty delightful. We never use our joy luck club porcelain. Tastes aren't pro Chinese. That's more for 10 downing street and colonial castles and sometimes auctions when a British soldiers attic suddenly contains summer palace loot.
So pretty!looks like everything out of a museum. Perfect for decor
Beautiful story
So much culture in one place
This is so wonderful.
Preserving a heritage is difficult when future generations lose interest. This story shows strength, and a hope for history, to remain intact. Maybe she should also consider, selling online?
🕊️ Congratulations!🎉 Chinatown
Wow! 5th generation 👪
Thank You!🌹
I want a Disney movie about this shop's history and how the current owner has sacrificed for it and her family (like a story of pride and culture and hope and all that).
Nah
@@Sndyj457 LOLOL -- why "nah" on that one? Not saying you're wrong or anything. Just curious why that one's a hard pass for you.
I support this :) A lot of people are just against hearing Asian stories on principle (of their racism staying unchallenged and unchecked)
Not surprised that modern Americans are befuddled that someone would do something selfless for family and community good..
wow, love this story, fifth generation family business is almost impossible
Years ago I visited Chinatown in San Francisco. I’m not Asian. Sadly, the people there, shop staff either ignored me or were just rude. I wish this family all the best, I hope she treats people that enter her shop with kindness.
Show them American dollars...you'll be more than welcomed.
You should have an in house herbalist again. Many look for genuine alternative medicine rather than toxic pharma meds. Family stores are treasures we need to keep. They care about community.
i really hope they do shipping because i would love some teapots but im all the way in the other side of the country
This is one of the best neighborhoods in NYC. I’m glad there are ppl preserving that history
Very nice plates and soup spoons!
I've walked past this shop at least a hundred times and never once gone in.
Same here-I might just stop in today.
@@ilttpvvmme too! Hope to stop by there later
Good story ! Thanks for posting. 😊😊
Great story and interview!
this kinda unique neighborhood makes nyc a fun place to visit or live. i hope all legit small businesses can survive.
Hopefully they get an increase in sales after this airing
What a beautiful story
I wish you all the best going forward
These should be historical preservation sites. She was the cutest little girl as a kid.
Everyone should go there and support. Fight against all gentrification. China town is a valuable piece of nyc and its history
Remember that gentrification simply means real estate values have gone up so much that some renters can no longer afford the rent. What that means is the elderly people currently living there can sell at high prices and thus have money to retire on -- what is called "generational wealth" at other times. If you are against "gentrification" you are against elderly people having money to retire.
@@jazzfan7491 The elderly are not usually the ones who own the real estate in gentrifying areas, especially not in NY. Gentrification means the owners get rich but their elderly renters are suddenly forced to move somewhere affordable, which is usually far from the city and far from the life they've known for the past 40+ years.
@@mister_manager Sounds like you've identified a problem with renting vs. owning, not something intrinsic to "gentrification". My suggestion would be: solve the problem you actually have, not a side problem that is somewhat related. If the problem is that people were forced into renting rather than buying for whatever reason, then pass a law saying if a renter has been in a unit for X years, then they get X% of the proceeds from the sale of a property.
Thanks. Very interesting story. The next time I visit NYC, I will drop by to take a peek. Thx again.
Thank you CBS Morning for such a wonderful Culture piece of warm and meaningful report !
wonderful report and the job well done.
Closing a historical monument like this would be wild. Please keep this!!
Me and my family have lived in Chinatown since the 1970's starting with my grandparents. My parents immigrated to NYC in 1984 from Taishan China with me and my older brother, and most of the population in Chinatown here in NYC during that time were from Taishan or Guangzhou(Canton). I've seen the community grow and boom in the 80's and into early 2000's, and now it's been shrinking for more than a decade and a half.
Rents are skyrocketing, the older generation (my grandparents) are all passing away, my parents generation are in their 60's and 70's now and are retiring, and my generation that grew up in the 70's and 80's most of us aren't taking the jobs our predecessors held like owning Chinatown restaurants or businesses. For every senior living in Chinatown that passes away, their rent stabilized apartment from decades ago, return back to the landlords (since their children and grand children have long moved out of Chinatown into Brooklyn to buy a house or out of the state entirely), and guess who now moves into the old $400 a month one bedroom apartment now going for 1.5-3k? Young white college students with room mates, fresh grads, or trust fund kids who are going to afford and pay the 2-3k rents.
Gentrification in Chinatown and many of NYC's immigrant neighborhoods won't and can't be stopped, because immigrant heavy neighborhoods like Chinatown rely on fresh immigrants and low rents to survive, and NYC is anywhere but "affordable" anymore. That and not many people immigrate here anymore, when there are similar if not better opportunities for success back at home, well...of course if you're seeking freedom, then yeah, get on that 5-10 year immigration waiting list.
No offense but you guys "gentrified" the areas from the Italians who "Gentrified" it from the WASPS who gentrified it from the settlers who bought it from the Native Americans. Having a rent stabilized apartment for $400 is a privilege not something that should be given. I would wish to have that but instead I have to pay my whole paycheck just to rent.
Go back home sister, your motherland is better and welcoming.
I can’t imagine turning down Ivy League dream. Respect ✊🏾!
Do they still have an herbalist? I know she mentioned they had one before the porcelain focus. With the sale of tea sets, it would be cool to see herbal tea suggestions
I was NOT expecting that accent to come out of her dad’s mouth! 😂 I totally expected a more generic US accent like the daughter had.
And the oldest chinatown is located in our country The Philippines🇵🇭💚👊in the vicinity of Binondo and Sta.Cruz Manila❤
Everyone please visit her shop!
This is beyond a piece of art 🐈⬛
An awesome story worth of sharing.
So Beautiful I must visit on my next trip downtown- I LOVE Chinatown items.
NYC needs to preserve Chinatown. It’s a true treasure we cannot lose.
Black Americans felt the same way about Harlem. Oh well.
God Bless Everyone's Story
Thank you for sharing.
I love NYC Chinatown and appreciate the Asian values that are grounded in family. Cherishing and respecting our elders honor their sacrifices in helping the next generation to make progress.
People know but forgot what a Gentry is.
A landowner in addition to holding occupations in other fields.
Easily a society can slip right back in feudalism when landlords combine into a class of landowners and buy hundreds of properties across the US. Cheaper and more in quantity the more remote you go into America, this fast deprives the chance of others to own a piece of the US and turns everyone else into non-owners of property as “forever renters”, first in the rural side of America expanding its purchases into urban America whereafter landed gentry becomes a Political Nobility.
AWESOME. I hope they can survive.