East Broadway Mall
From East Broadway, Chinatown
Contents |
Introduction
The East Broadway Mall is a major commercial center for the inhabitants of the Lower East Side's Chinese ethnic enclave, or simply Chinatown. It is situated on East Broadway between Market Street and Forsyth Street. Just as in any other community, the local mall is specifically tailored to meet the needs of the people who live there.
Unlike other malls, however, the level of specificity of the East Broadway Mall to the community it serves essentially severs it from any other kind of general public use. The East Broadway Mall is exclusively and unmistakably Chinese. There is almost no English at all to be found on the stores' facades. The stores themselves sell goods and services, some of which are of a general nature, others very particular to the Chinese persuasion, but all intended for consumption by the immigrants in Chinatown. Save for one security guard from a private contractor and the occasional few wayward anthropology students, there are no non-Chinese to be found.
Property Information
East Broadway is located at 59 Division Street New York, NY 10002.
The building was built in 1988.
The actual land is $2,187,700.
The actual total is $6,345,000.
Building SF 50,706
Retail SF 50,706
Lot SF 18,750
Building dimensions- 125.75 ft x 140.08 ft
Lot dimensions- 135.75 ft x 141.75 ft
Distinctions
It is worth reminding the reader that the East Broadway Mall is on the island of Manhattan and in Chinatown specifically. The traditional association of malls with mainstream commercial outlets, food courts offering a plethora of fast food options, large and spread out buildings occupying otherwise secluded space, and even larger parking lots surrounding on all sides does not hold true in the least bit and must be discarded. The East Broadway Mall is the furthest thing from the stereotypical commercial mall there is. First of all, the E B'way Mall is housed in a diminutive building. Not only that, it is located directly under the Manhattan Bridge. The building has a ground level floor, a basement floor (or rather a concourse level) and a second floor. The ground floor and councourse are configured in much the same manner. Each individual storefront is a rectangle with other rectangles on either side. There are a few interspersed oddities--a dining area on the northeast wall of the concourse whose tables take up prime walking space in the mall proper--but for the most part the mall is simple and utilitarian in its design.
The Mall and its Ethnic Enclave
When a Chinese immigrant in the neighborhood wants to buy new clothes, get a haircut, send money back to China, get his child a toy for his birthday, purchase a new phone, or relax with an acupuncture treatment there is a very good chance he will go to the East Broadway Mall. If he needs all these things simultaneously there is almost no chance he will not go to the East Broadway Mall. The examples given above were few but they do begin to give an idea of the diversity of accommodations the Eat Broadway Mall affords its customers.
The East Broadway Mall is no Canal Street. It is by Chinese for Chinese. This is not a bad thing. It may be hard for the city dwellers who frequent the area to eat the great Chinese food, drink bubble tea, and pick up some cheap merchandise to accept, but Chinatown is not simply an urban attraction. It is an ethnic enclave. A national but primarily cultural niche carved out by previous generations and enjoyed by the present of a particular group of people.
The East Broadway Mall plays an important role in the lives of the Chinese immigrants that have found themselves pulled in by the lure of the firmly established community their countrymen have created in Lower Manhattan. It is a paradigm of some of the good that emerges from the continued existence of the ethnic enclave.
Main Floor
The main floor of the East Broadway Mall is packed with a variety of stores ranging from a video game shop to a clothing store or even three different ginseng shops. The accompanying images portray various angles of the main floor.
First Floor (Lower Floor)
The lower floor is much less crowded than the main floor and includes a small restaurant which has its tables on the actual pathways of the mall. The restaurant serves Chinese food, but it is more of the local variety rather than the Americanized style that is found in most Chinese restaurants in the United States.
Upper Floor (Restaurant)
The upper level consists entirely of a restaurant which is considered an icon in Chinatown as many weddings and other celebrations take place there. Across the street from the East Broadway Mall exists a wedding shop which makes it convenient to quickly plan a wedding when necessary.
East Broadway Mall group members: Gregory Gulyan and Daniel Shporin