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.”