Lower East Side Community Hero

Nominated by Mei Lum, W.O.W. Project

“I am a 3rd generation Chinatown resident. My family has owned the tenement I live in for 96 years.

We have owned numerous businesses over the years including a hand laundry, a dry cleaner, a boutique, and famous coffee shoppe called “Lonnies.”I owned a store called Sinotique, which I had for 18 years. I traveled to Asia and brought back antiques and home furnishings. Some of my clients were the top New York interior and fashion designers of the 90’s and 2000’s. 

Today, I manage our family’s property with my sister Audrey and I also own my own business, an off-shoot of my former business. I am a licensed contractor with my own wood working studio where I built custom cabinetry and kitchens for my clients, most of whom are in Brooklyn.

My partner and I both work with our hands, myself a carpenter, and he a bench jeweler. We enjoy working in each other’s studios and spending what little free time we have fishing on Long Island or Hawaii where his family is.”

 

LES COMMUNITY HERO AWARD PRESENTATION

 

INTERVIEW WITH JAN LEE CONDUCTED BY ZOE DAVIS-BOWERS AND ALLIE RUDIN, STUDENTS IN NYU’S FALL 2023 COURSE “ART AND IDEAS: WHAT IS SOCIAL PRACTICE ART?” TAUGHT BY DIPTI DESAI

Part of The Lower East Side Community Hero Podcast organized by the Art, Education, and Community Practice Program at NYU Steinhardt and FABnyc