Plans for demolishing and restoring the fire-ravaged historic Mulberry Street building that housed various Chinatown non-profits were put on hold during the coronavirus crisis—but the city is ready to move forward again.
The building at 70 Mulberry is a former public school that was built in 1893 and is owned by the city. On January 23rd, a devastating fire tore through the top three floors, where several cultural and community non-profits had their homes. Though there were no fatalities, the five-alarm fire was so difficult to put out that firefighters spent more than a day extinguishing pockets of flames that lingered throughout the five-story structure. Nine firefighters and one civilian were injured.
The fire damage has been deemed so extensive as to render the building unsalvageable, and the city is planning to demolish by hand the top three floors May and June.
The non-profits displaced by the fire included Chinatown Manpower, a senior center run by the Chinese-American Planning Council, the United East Athletics Association, and H.T. Chen & Dancers company.
The Museum of Chinese in America also kept its 85,000-item archives there as part of its collections documenting the community’s early growth and life in America. Recovery efforts of the artifacts were swiftly launched, and museum officials said they were able to recover the vast majority of its collection by early March.
“MOCA was able to retrieve nearly all of its Collections (minus a few signs and boxes that were severely damaged). We are calling it the miracle on Mulberry,” museum officials wrote on Facebook March 7th.
“Since the fire, 95% of MOCA’s collections have been extracted; the process of repairing those items continues,” said MOCA President Nancy Yao Maasbach in a statement released by DCAS. “Throughout this time, MOCA has prioritized the documentation of the fire as well as the many community gatherings, events, and efforts organized by members of the Chinatown community and other Asian American organizations to support the tenants of 70 Mulberry.”
On May 14, DCAS plans to present a virtual update at 6:30 p.m. before the Community Board 3's Land Use Committee—the public is invited to join the presentation.
“City officials will offer updates on the present condition of the building, the safety of the structure, the successful removal of tenant property, and plans for demolition of the existing structure. This will be the first of several meetings being planned by the City leaders and other stakeholders to provide information about the building at 70 Mulberry and to listen to community feedback,” DCAS said.
