Demonstrators Rally In Chinatown To Protest Plans For More Homeless Service Facilities
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some in a Manhattan community say the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes has them living in fear, and the city's plans to add more homeless services in the area will make matters worse.
Dozens of community leaders rallied Thursday outside 91 East Broadway in Chinatown, the site of one of three homeless service facilities planned for the area.
Demonstrators say the problem of mentally ill homelessness has been allowed to fester and their community is dealing with the consequences.
"This is not perception. This is the reality we Asian Americans facing everyday. When we are in the subway. we are being cursed, being spit on, being pushed. We are in our neighborhood being stabbed, being attacked," said Justin Yu, president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association.
The group says the area is already saturated with homeless services and is calling on the city to reconsider.